Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose was brilliant - a kind of medieval who-done-it taking place at a monastery with a really cool Sherlock Holmes style monk trying to solve mysterious murders at the monastery.
Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose was brilliant - a kind of medieval who-done-it taking place at a monastery with a really cool Sherlock Holmes style monk trying to solve mysterious murders at the monastery.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." - C.S. Lewis
Yeah, he also did another medieval one entitled Baudolino, though it met with far less success (I still enjoyed it, though I know many who didn't).
I would toss in there Sir Walter Scott's Histories (most notably Rob Roy and Ivanhoe) and of course Salman Rushdie's work, more specifically Midnight's Children (though not really historical fiction, it deals a lot with the history of India).
Rafael Sabatini is my hands down favorite. Captain Blood, St Martin's Summer, Chilvary are personal favorites. Scaramouche seems to get all the attention though.
C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblover series and Bernard Cornwell for the Napoleonic wars are excellent especially Forester.
The Heart of Midlothian - Scott
Patrick O Brien's series of novels
August 1914 - Solzhenitsyn
Have mentioned this one before; The Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguritte Yurcannar although historical fiction is the genre if you have any knowledge of this period of Roman history, she really gets it spot on, in my view. Another book which is real history, also previously mentioned, is The Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman, about the 14th century. Great stuff. RJS
bernard cornwalls grail quest trilogy
"Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
W.B.Yeats
"If it looks like a Dwarf and smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf (or a latrine wearing dungarees)"
Artemins Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
my poems-please comment Forum Rules
Have you read anything by Margaret George? She does kind of autobiographical novels of historical figures like Mary Queen of Scots, Henry VIII, Cleopatra etc. She's really good because it's fact but it reads like an ordinary novel.
Hi All,
Can some post the URL for Historical Novels.
Regards
Like mtpspur mentioned earlier, the Hornblower series on the Napoleonic wars are good. I would also suggest A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens (on the French Revolution).
~The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar WildeTo get back one's youth, one has merely to repeat one's follies.
jean plaidy did a lot of historical novels also.
"Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
W.B.Yeats
"If it looks like a Dwarf and smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf (or a latrine wearing dungarees)"
Artemins Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
my poems-please comment Forum Rules
Hi everyone
I have just published my first book and wondered if you would read the sample chapters on the website and leave some feedback for me?
Decision Most Deadly follows the life of Sir Charles Berkeley as he lives through the pivotal year of 1641, and mixes an exciting and intriguing plot with rich historical details which allow you to fully experience the era. While England is on the brink of civil war, the book shows how Sir Charles's life is affected by the twists and turns of a stormy period in our history.
I deliberately picked the time because England was heading for civil war, and I wanted to show how this affected the country, and just what events sparked it. I felt there were already books out there about the war itself, so enjoyed writing the plot around the intrigues of such a tense period.
{edit}
Kind regards
Mark Turnbull
Last edited by Scheherazade; 05-26-2009 at 07:29 PM. Reason: url
I also HIGHLY recommend Shogun, along with the rest of the series (particularly Taipan and Noble House). They're just fantastic.
I love reading James Michener's books. The Source, which is the history of Isreal and the Jews through all of history, is great; Chesapeake, which is about the colonization and life in Maryland, is also good; Hawaii, is also fantastic. He has a bunch of other cool-looking books, like one about South Africa (the covenant) and some about Poland, Alaska, the wild west and the Caribbean.
I'm also going to throw in Leon Uris because Mila 18 was an amazing book.
Ps: To Most Deadly, your book looks fascinating.
Thanks for the feedback Chilly - did you read the sample chapter?
One of my favourite historical novels is 'King Hereafter' by Dorothy Dunnett. It is extremely well researched and tells the story of the historical MacBeth as opposed to Shakespeare's character.
More recently, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Kate Grenville's novels, 'The Secret River' and 'The Lieutenant' both of which start in London but tell the story of the early settlers sent out to colonise Australia. Her description of the Australian landscape and of the relationships that existed between the British and the Aboriginal people at this time makes extremely good reading.
Last edited by blithe_spirit; 05-09-2009 at 03:27 PM.