Historical Fiction

[Tonichelle]

Some other really good authors I like are Tracie Peterson, Judith Miller, the late Jane Peart, and Julie Klassen. Julie writes either Victorian or Regency (I can't remember which) and the others do a variety of time periods. My favorites are Judith's "Home to Amana" and "Daughters of Amana" trilogies about a fascinating German Christian communal society in the late 1900s.

Tracie's got some GREAT books that take place in Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush and then later building Anchorage, AK from a tent city into a real town... LOVE her books. (I think she also has a series that takes place in Sitka...)

 

[Interspectator]

I agree with LRK's list.
And I'd also like to add the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. Great historical adventure.
--And the TV show is excellent to.
Sean Bean
The author even dedicated one of his novels to Sean Bean -that's how good the TV series was.

Now I want a T-shirt with Sean Bean on the front and Mr.Bean (Rowan Atkinson) on the back. One can dream.

 

[LRK]

I agree with LRK's list.
And I'd also like to add the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. Great historical adventure.
--And the TV show is excellent to.
Sean Bean
The author even dedicated one of his novels to Sean Bean -that's how good the TV series was.

Now I want a T-shirt with Sean Bean on the front and Mr.Bean (Rowan Atkinson) on the back. One can dream.

Or Blackadder? You could have Sharpe on the front, and Blackadder in his Georgian version on the back.

 

[Interspectator]

Or Blackadder? You could have Sharpe on the front, and Blackadder in his Georgian version on the back.

Yes! That would be great too.
I wish BBC had made more than just 4 seasons. Best historical comedy TV EVER.

 

[LRK]

I'm re-reading "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson at the moment. I remembered it was good - but not this good!

 

[Alba]

I'm sure everyone has probably read Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, but they are absolutely wonderful. Can't wait for the third in the Cromwell Trilogy.

There is an upcoming British miniseries, a six-part adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, that will broadcast on BBC Two on the 21st January, April 5th in USA.
Damien Lewis is Henry VIII of England. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[iluvtodd]

Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry. It's about the rescue of Danish Jews & the role of the Danish resistance during WW2

 

[Kitt]

Feast of all Saints, by Anne Rice. She is the author of the vampire books, Lestat et al, so years ago I was surprised to see that she also wrote historical fiction.

This one was a real eye-opener for me at the time, as I didn't realize there was a free and educated in Europe black society. It has one scene in it, that to me was the most satisfying scene in fiction ever.

Recommended!

 

[Meoima]

I am reading this one, in my language of course. I have no heart to read all the translation names in English. Any Chinese readers here? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_the_Grand_Historian

 

[thoakun]

I am reading this one, in my language of course. I have no heart to read all the translation names in English. Any Chinese readers here? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_the_Grand_Historian

I've read a bit of this work, because it hasn't been translated fully into Vietnamese. The names are translated into Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary so I often have a hard time deciphering their English names.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

Feast of all Saints, by Anne Rice. She is the author of the vampire books, Lestat et al, so years ago I was surprised to see that she also wrote historical fiction.

This one was a real eye-opener for me at the time, as I didn't realize there was a free and educated in Europe black society. It has one scene in it, that to me was the most satisfying scene in fiction ever.

Recommended!

yes, this is an awesome book! the family dynamics are far superior to any thing I've ever come across previously...

I also love anything Tudor, so while its not cool to be a fan, I adore Phillipa Gregory - I know she's considered the Danielle steele of the genre, I still love her stuff and just inhale it... then I go and do the research...which, I think, is kinda the point.

 

[LRK]

Gayle Buck: "The Fleeing Heiress" - Light, fun, traditional Regency romance.

 

[dorispulaski]

The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson. It was originally written in Swedish. I am reading the Michael Meyer/ Michael Chabon English translation.

The Long Ships is Bengtsson's only novel; he was a prolific translator, and translated The Song of Roland. He did his doctoral work on Chaucer. The book is set in the tenth century and concerns the travels and general doings of Red Orm Tostesson as he ranges from Cordoba, Spain, to hinterlands of Scandanavia.

It is just a great book. It has everything, murder, romance, the difficulties of being a priest tasked with converting Vikings and various pagans, and the peculiarities of historical, ancient kings, including Ethelred Unrede of England, all in a lovely, clear prose that somehow retains the flavor of medieval epics.

 

[LRK]

My husband listened to the audiobook of that (in Swedish) - he quite enjoyed it, and would give me recaps on what had happened. It's a book I do hope to read.... one day.

 

[dorispulaski]

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Ships-Re...qid=1424050455&sr=1-1&keywords=the+long+ships

It is still in print/ebook

 

[LRK]

Victoria Holt: "Mistress of Mellyn" (re-read) - Gothic Romance. Martha Leigh arrives at Mount Mellyn as governess for 8 year old Alvean, daughter of Connan TreMellyn, who is a widower. But... what happened to Alice TreMellyn... really?

 

[WeakAnkles]

I've become totally obsessed with the Outlander tv show. Has anyone read the books? Are they worth reading? There's a truism in moving pictures that the best shows are made from the worst books, and that great books seldom make great shows. Is that the case here?

 

[elbkup]

Anything by Canadian Robertson Davies but especially The Rebel Angels and The Cunning Man

 

[rosacotton]

I just read For Such a Time by Kate Breslin which is the biblical story of Queen Esther set in World War II, and loved it. It is one of my favorite retellings of the book of Esther.

 

[LRK]

Dorothea Donley: "A Doubting Lady" - Cosy, light, feel-good Regency. Nothing much happens in it, and the characters are all really quite nice, so this book is not for the reader who craves action of any sort - but I myself enjoyed my quiet, peaceful time with it.