Historical Fiction Novels

[Steppe Merc]

I was wondering if any one has read any good historical novels, particulary in Ancient or Medieval times. It's really hard for me to find some. I try and search on Amazon, but I can't narrow it down it historical fiction that takes place when I'm interested.

I've read a number:
Steven Pressfield's
Virtues of War (Alexander)
Last of the Amazons (Greeks vrs Amazons) Not really historical, but good
Tides of War (Pelopisian War, Alcibades)
Gates of Fire (Thermonyplae)

Colleen McCullough's Series about Gaius to Caesar, haven't finished it yet.

[Gregoshi]

I've not read much historical fiction, particularly in the time periods you specified. The only ones I can think of are I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves. I enjoyed those two books very much.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

wait untill I can finish writing somthing publishable
that be my life goal, to write a good book
and to acheive a zen like fart.
Edit: The Sharpe Series is ok, er... hemmingways WWI book (Farewell to Arms I think)
never read the hemmingway one tho

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

With a few historical inaccuracies aside get conn iggulden Emperor trilogy on Gaius Julius Casaer, i 'm reading the third at the moment and enjoying it emmensely.

[Strategy]

Some suggestions related to Caesar can be found on my site here: Selected Reading on Caesar (http://www.fenrir.dk/history/bios/caesar/reading.php)

Anything by Mary Renault is worth getting; she's the undisputed monarch of historical novels. Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games (on Alexander), The King must Die and The Bull from the Sea (on Theseus), The Last of the Wine (Peloponesian Wars), The Mask of Apollo (4th Century Syracuse), and The Praise Singer (pre-democratic Athens).

For some reason, Wallace Breem's classic historical novels have recently started being re-issued. "Eagle in the Snow" and "The Legate's Daughter" are both great adventures set in the Roman Empire of Augustus.

G. A. Henty classical tales (really "Fiction for Young Boys", but well worth reading nonetheless) are also being reissued these days. "The Young Carthaginian" is particularly noteworthy, focused as it is on Hannibal's campaigns.

"The Long Ships" by Frans Gunner Bengtsson is the only historical fiction on the Vikings you ever need to read. Best read in its original language (where you can really enjoy the "Norseness" of its writing), but still good in English. Ignore the horrid Hollywood thrash that was produced from it.

Among the more modern writers:

Steven Saylor's "Whodunit's" with Gordianus the Finder are quite entertaining, even if the protagonist is sometimes a little too modern in his outlook.

Harry Turtledove has a quite nice series under the pseudonym Turtletaub of a Rhodian merchant family in the time of the Diadachoi: "Over the Wine Dark Sea", "The Gryphon's Skull", and "The Sacred Land". He also has "Justinian" on Justinian II.

Simon Scarrow has been quite successful with his "Eagle" series (starting with "Under the Eagle"); a kind of copycat of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books (and this is meant in a positive way), but set in the legions of Caligula and Vespasian.

Bernard Cornwell has two excellent ancient/medieval series: "Harlequin" (aka "An Archer's Tale"), "Vagabond", and "Heretic" (on a HYW Archer), and "The Winter King", "Enemy of God", and "Excalibur" (probably the most historical Arthur fiction yet; and pretty excellent too). "Stonehenge" is an excellent tale about the building of the former, and "The Last Kingdom" is the first book in a new series on the England of King Alfred.

Those are the ones I can think of just now (I might think of a few more if I looked in my bookshelf).

[frogbeastegg]

:cracks knuckles: You came to the right frog. Most of these are of assorted quality; some very good, some merely acceptable, but I am a picky frog so others may have different results.

Medieval

By Helen Hollick:
The Hollow Crown (story of Emma, queen of England and wife of Ethelred/Canute)
Harold the King (the life of King Harold I of England)
The Kingmaking/Pendragon's Banner/Shadow of the King (A king Arthur trilogy set in post Roman Britain with none of the Merlin type fantasy. Far better than Cornwall's similar trilogy IMO, far better)

Sharon (insert a K here if you are in the USA) Penman
When Christ and His Saints Slept/Time and Chance (first two books of the trilogy on Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II)
The Sunne in Splendour (Richard III)
Here Be Dragons/Falls the Shadow/The Reckoning (The Welsh Trilogy covering the last 3 Welsh kings of England and their interactions with the English kings)

Elizabeth Chadwick (distressingly close to romance but (big redeeming factor IMO) she really *knows* her stuff and creates realistic medieval worlds)
The Conquest
The Champion
The Loveknot (ignore the title; it's one her better ones IMO)
The Marsh King's Daughter
Shadows and Strongholds (the other title tied for best of her IMO)
Lords of the White Castle (sequel to Shadows & Strongholds)
The Winter Mantle
The Falcons of Montabard (sequel to Lords of the White Castle, her worst IMO)

Ken Follett
The Pillars of the Earth (just got it, not read past a few chapters but it's really very good so far)

Bernard Knight (I call him 'fluff' reading; it's not great but it passes time. A series of medieval mysteries based around a king' s crowner (coroner). It does work chronologically so try to read in order)
The Sanctuary Seeker
The Poisoned Chalice
Crowner's quest
The Awful Secret (an Awful book IIRC)
The Tinner's Corpse
More I don't have

Ray Bryant (hard to get, I think)
Warriors of the Dragon Gold (another end of Anglo Saxon England book. Ages since I read it; it was reasonably good IIRC)

Ellis Peters
Her Cadfael series; some 21 books I won't list. Medievla monk sloothing, but very ... pleasant somehow. Again they are quite chronological so start with 'A Rare Benedictine'.

Brain Wainwright
Within the Fetterlock (The beginning of the Wars of the Roses)

Jan Guillou
The Road to Jerusalem/The Knight Templar/The Kingdom at the End of the Road (Originally in Swedish but an English translation is available. I have recently picked this series up on someone's recommendation and the first two books are good)

Anya Seton
Katherine (unfortunately something of a romance, but also the story of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt. I am not crazy about it but it's a famous, popular book)

Sandra Worth
The Rose of York: Love and War (first in a series on Richard III. Not bad)

NB: I really do not like Cornwall's medieval books.

I'll do Roman later. My opinion on the authors mentioned: I didn't like Iggulden, Scarrow was great with his first books but went downhill slightly with each successive one, Robert Graves's Claudius books were very good, Steven Saylor's good (at least his first book, 'Roman Blood'. Haven't read the rest yet).

I have plenty more books; later ....

[Steppe Merc]

Thank you all! Unfortunatley, as you have shown me, most of the Ancient stuff is around Rome or Greece... not exactly my favorite places, really, especially Rome. But I shall indeed look into the books mentioned, and thanks again! :book:

[Krusader]

Just to wish add Robert Graves' Count Belisarius too.

As you can see by the title it's about Belisarius, Emperor Justinians little brilliant general. Book is written from his wife's eunuchs perspective.
Belisarius is shown in a good light, and Justinian in a bad light.

[Hosakawa Tito]

We picked up my wife's new car today, and we had a couple of hours to kill while waiting for the dealer to prep the car etc... We headed over to the Borders Book Emporium and I got to enjoy some quality browsing time in one of the biggest and best bookstores I have ever been in (if I ever run away from home, she knows where to find me). Picked up two new interesting historical fiction titles. "Empire of Ashes" by Nicholas Nicastro. 323 B.C. The great Alexander is dead--and the uneasy peace in his former empire is unraveling. Machon, the late emperor's renowned friend and ally, is the scapegoat for Alexander's downfall, charged with the capital crime of the corruption of a god.
"Nero's Killing Machine" by Stephen Dando-Collins. Beginning with the disastrous day in 54 B.C. when, led into a trap while serving under Julius Caesar, the legion was wiped from the face of the earth. For decades, the legion struggled to regain its lost status, treading a blood-soaked path and slowly climbing back to glory by fighting first under Germanicus Caesar against Hermann the German, then under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus against Queen Boudicca. JOY :jumping:

She gets a new car, I get some new books, everybody is happy. ~D

[Steppe Merc]

That Empire of the Ashes looks sweet... I always wondered how exactly the different splittings took place and stuff among the Generals.

[Strategy]

That Empire of the Ashes looks sweet... I always wondered how exactly the different splittings took place and stuff among the Generals.

If you're interested in the Diadochoi, I would again recommend "Funeral Games" by Mary Renault; its on precisely this topic, and she is the superior author on anything Hellenistic.

Asking for non-Greek and non-Roman fiction from Ancient Times is a tall order, but some suggestions are "River God" by Wilbur Smith (a fairly entertaining tale of Ancient Egypt during the invasion of the Hyksos) and "The Song of Troy" by Colleen McCulloug (a "historical" retelling of the Illiad). You could also try the many books on Ancient Egypt by Christian Jacq; didn't like the one volume I tried (translation wasn't too good, IMO, and some liberties with history were taken), but you never know.

On Medieval Times, I can't believe I forgot these two classics:
"Sir Nigel" and "The White Company" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Forget Sherlock Holmes; these two historical novels on the Hundred Years War rates as probably the best stuff he wrote (and Doyle preferred them himself over most of his other work). You seriously haven't read Historical fiction from the Middle Ages, if you haven't read "The White Company".


"Now order the ranks, and fling wide the banners, for our souls are God's and our bodies the king's, and our swords for Saint George and for England!" --- The White Company

It can be found on Project Gutenberg, I believe, if you have trouble finding a hardcopy.

[Steppe Merc]

Ancient Egypt is even worse for me than Greeks and Romans. What's so interisting about them? I mean Persia was far more important and interesting, but they never get any of that kind of cudos that the Egyptians did.

Ah well.

[Sethik]

Shogun by James Clavell is an amazing look into 1600 Japan. If you like S:TW, then you'll love this book. It is a hefty load (1210pages) , but it is definatly worth it.

It follows the travels of John Blackthorne, an English pilot who gets shipwrecked in a hostile Japan. At the time, he is the only Englishmen to set foot on the place and his presence causes all kinds of controversy and drama.

The book is definatly up there on the top 10 best books I've ever read.

[Kalle]

Apart from Frans G. Bengtssons book that was mentioned above there are some other very enjoyable reading available on the vikings, they should all be available in english allthough im not sure of english titles.

The actual vikingsagas written down on Iceland in 12 - 13 century are great. Heimskringla (nordiska kungasagor in swedish) by Snorri Sturlasson is great history (allthough later research has proven him wrong on many things) and can be read with great entertainment.

Egil Skallagrimssons saga
Gunnlaug Ormstungas saga

and so on are equally litterary masterpieces but also has solid foundation in actual history.

Kalle

[Steppe Merc]

I got the Funeral Games, and I'm really loving it. When I finish it, I will probably pick up Persian boy, and mabye the first one in that series.

[Strategy]

Although the books do not necessiate reading in sequence as such, I'd recommend reading "Fire from Heaven" before "The Persian Boy"; "Fire from Heaven" deals with his youth and upbringing, while "The Persian Boy" deals with the invasion of Persia to the end of his life, but with Bagoas (a Persian Eunuch) as the viewpoint character.

[Steppe Merc]

I know that. And I like Persia a lot more than Greece, which is why I'm more interested in Persian boy. ~;)

[Strategy]

I know that. And I like Persia a lot more than Greece, which is why I'm more interested in Persian boy. ~;)

Well, Persian Boy is also reputedly the most popular book; though this may be partially be because its somewhat of an icon in gay circles. Myself, I think each of the books are very different; Fire from Heaven is a traditional "Coming of Age" story, Funeral Games is more of a political novel (probably the best description of the Successor era in or outside of fiction), and Persian Boy is the more psychological novel - all good in their own way.

[Suppiluliumas]

For the midieval period, try Ivanhoe by Scott. I enjoyed it a great deal. It is very lyrical and descriptive, with a good bit of humor to boot (and plenty of action as well, never fear). What I enjoyed the most about the book, were the glaring character flaws of the heroes and the redeming qualities of the villains. It was very refreshing in that respect.

[Steppe Merc]

Finished reading Funeral Games, really liked it. Too short though... it was just getting interesting when it ended. And it's a shame they didn't describe the battles at all... oh well. Still good, though.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Here is a link to books/source material used by the author Steven Saylor in his Roma Sub Rosa series. I'm on his latest one now, "The Judgement of Caesar", and I highly recommend this series.http://www.stevensaylor.com/StevensBookshop.html These books seem to cover a nice variety of ancient culture & subjects. Enjoy!