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I have always enjoyed historical fiction that was well-researched and created memorable characters--not necessarily historical figures--but "real" people...of course I want that in any novels I read...
I love the novels of Mary Renault and have all of them multiple times over the last 40 yrs I guess...
Right now I am reading "Last of the Wine" about Ancient Athens in time of Sokrates who is a character but not the main narrator...I just finished "The Praise Singer" also about Ancient Athens in an earlier time...Theseus figures in a pair of Bronze Age novels "The King Must Die" and "Bull from the Sea"...with a different take on what it takes to be a hero...
Renault has a series about Alexander, one of which is from POV of a youn Persian eunuch Alexander takes into his household...
Even though many of the characters in her novels are homosexual (tied to the times) she doesn't dwell of sex--one benefit of being written in an earlier era...
She has an uncanny ability to create real people--even the minor characters--and her historical accuracy is spot on...
If you enjoy the American Revolution, I recommend Kenneth Robert's novels--
He has probably 5 or 6 of them--historically interesting, some famous and infamous characters but usually the narrator is an "average" person of the era...
Northwest Passage, Oliver Wiswell, Arundel, Rabble in Arms, I enjoy the most
Lydia Bailey and Captain Caution and The Lively Lady I don't enjoy that much but have read...
Roberts is able to take what most people assume is "factual" about history and bend it until we see something new--or at least see something familiar from new vantage point...
His portrait of two famous heroes -- Robert Rogers and Benedict Arnold--have made me question many other more current heroes who are pushed forward by the press or the establishment...
A writer more current that I have come to enjoy is Christian Cameron--
He has a series of novels about William Gold, an Englishman who starts out as a cook's boy and due to skill, luck, tenacity, and honor, he becomes a knight in the time of the 100 Yrs War and heads a company of Knights...Gold is an historical warrior and an interesting man...
Cameron also has a series with adventurer named Tom Swan, bastard son of Henry VIII's bastard brother, who becomes a spy for a Cardinal in Italy city states...
This storyline is serialized--right now I am on maybe book 5 with more to come...
Cameron also has a series of novels based on Ancient Greece with a warrior called Arimnestos of Plataea...famous battles like Salamis and Marathon as well as seafaring exploration and even a couple of stints as a slave provide a well developed, real-world view of history in pre-Roman times...
I also enjoy Roberta Gellis's historical novels--Tapestry of Dreams, about England during King Stephen's time, Fortune's Bride, about a forced marriage between a young Englishwoman shipwrecked in Portugal during Wellington's campaign against Napoleon and a British cavalry officer. Gellis's also writes a series of 4 novels set in England/France during the time of Henry III (son of King John). Some recurring characters--mainly from nobility and told from female perspective--but one of the books is told from that of illigitimate daughter of a count (Fire Song). These novels might be tedious to some readers since Gellis includes enough historical events and characters involved in the plot that you are grounded in the era...but that is why I enjoy them...
Cecilia Holland's always historically accurate--
Love her novel about the Mongols called "Until the Sun Falls" and "Great Maria" about the Normans in Sicily during the 11th century--told in first person by young girl whose father (a robber baron) marries her to one of his cut-throat Knights who becomes a king during the course of the novel---with her help.
The historical accuracy of how women were treated/subjugated by men in their lives will grate on some readers--but Holland does her character justice by not resorting to romantic escapism to allow Maria to achieve her goals and happiness...
I also found a series of novels set in Elizabethan England by P.F. Chisholm, about Sir Robert Carey,a cousin of the Queen, who becomes a Warden (kind of sheriff) in the north of England-
Historical person with many stories taken from the records kept during that era...
He is unusual for the times because he believes in Justice via law enforcement vs clan vengeance...
Go to Historical Novels.com and search for novels in different eras--there are divisions like Prehistoric, Renaissance, The Old West, Asia...
I recently finished Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman, which focuses on King Richard I of England and his quest to help liberate Jerusalem from Muslim forces led by Saladin.
The book paints a very interesting portrait of the time period and also details dozens of supporting characters, including King Philip II of France and the animosity he and Richard had for each other, as well as Richard's wise and headstrong mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine and scores of others.
The book talks about how Richard and Saladin had a great respect for each other though they were enemies, and the intense rivalry the English and French had which made them very uneasy allies in their crusade.
This is a long and detailed book that goes far beyond descriptions of battles and the motivations of men and kings. It also explores the motivations and precarious position of women during that era, focuses some on romance and the frailties of alliances -- and of life itself in harsh conditions.
If you enjoy historical fiction set in Europe and the Mideast (this takes place in the late 12th Century), I recommend it.
I have just begun Penman's follow-up novel, A King's Ransom, which talks about Richard's great difficulty in returning home after the crusade. In a way, it's reminiscent of The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer. Sometimes, the journey home can be filled with danger and turn out to be much more difficult than one might have imagined -- in some ways, more challenging than the war itself.
I recently finished Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman, which focuses on King Richard I of England and his quest to help liberate Jerusalem from Muslim forces led by Saladin.
The book paints a very interesting portrait of the time period and also details dozens of supporting characters, including King Philip II of France and the animosity he and Richard had for each other, as well as Richard's wise and headstrong mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine and scores of others.
Richard was really surrounded by astonishingly interesting characters:
Henry, the Old King, struggling to contain his rebellions sons.
Henry, the Young King, eager to rule but incompetent, and ultimately more interested in the pageantry than both the hard work and deft touch required of a monarch.
Eleanor, the wise matriarch.
John, the conniving and utterly unscrupulous younger brother.
Philip, the perfect French foil.
Saladin, the perfect heathen foil.
William Marshal, perhaps the greatest of all knights and toiling servant of five kings.
And Richard himself, brilliant strategist and tactician, fearless and skilled warrior. Of all medieval kings, Richard is real-life at its most entertaining and storybook best!
Richard was really surrounded by astonishingly interesting characters:
Henry, the Old King, struggling to contain his rebellions sons.
Henry, the Young King, eager to rule but incompetent, and ultimately more interested in the pageantry than both the hard work and deft touch required of a monarch.
Eleanor, the wise matriarch.
John, the conniving and utterly unscrupulous younger brother.
Philip, the perfect French foil.
Saladin, the perfect heathen foil.
William Marshal, perhaps the greatest of all knights and toiling servant of five kings.
And Richard himself, brilliant strategist and tactician, fearless and skilled warrior. Of all medieval kings, Richard is real-life at its most entertaining and storybook best!
I've always thought Eleanor of Aquataine, his mother, was a fascinating woman. I've read several of her biographies.
Richard was really surrounded by astonishingly interesting characters:
Henry, the Old King, struggling to contain his rebellions sons.
Henry, the Young King, eager to rule but incompetent, and ultimately more interested in the pageantry than both the hard work and deft touch required of a monarch.
Eleanor, the wise matriarch.
John, the conniving and utterly unscrupulous younger brother.
Philip, the perfect French foil.
Saladin, the perfect heathen foil.
William Marshal, perhaps the greatest of all knights and toiling servant of five kings.
And Richard himself, brilliant strategist and tactician, fearless and skilled warrior. Of all medieval kings, Richard is real-life at its most entertaining and storybook best!
Think there is any truth to the rumor that Richard was homosexual?
Have read several well researched historical fiction novels that carry that premise--
The fact that he had no children--legitimate or illegitimate--doesn't really mean much pro/con...
It is something he definitely would not have wanted to be open about I imagine with the Church so opposed and most of society...
I see that historical novels .com doesn't exist any more.
I'm searching for novels that take place at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century. The time period after the American Revolution and before the War of 1812. I've read Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles but I'm searching for something a bit more historically accurate.
I get my money out of Unlimitrd cost
In july I read enoughbooks to cover several months' costs even at their lower prices
The Candace Robb Owen Archer series was very good
Read three modern series set in FL recently that were Unlimited that I likely wont want to reread so why buy
Amazon just put Unlimited on sale so paid for 12 mo subscription up front for a discount
Not every book is great but enough that I just buy new ones by favorite authors now
I did buy The Alienist based on comments here and couldnt finish it -- just too slow moving
Maybe I will try again later...
It is rather dark, but I enjoyed reading about the new investigative techniques at that time. I wouldn’t put it in a favorites category though. It was interesting.
Caleb Carr - The Angel of Darkness (continuation of same main characters as The Alienist)
John Jakes - The Kent Family Chronicles
Martha Mitchell - Gone With The Wind
Alex Haley - Roots
I love that you put Gone With The Wind and Roots in the same post. I think GWTW was such a well written book, but very much a product of its time. I try to remember it was written about a specific time period by a woman who grew up during a very racist time period. Still it makes me a little angry how they talk about slaves, and even worse how they talk about freed slaves during reconstruction. I believe it’s an accurate depiction of southern white people’s thoughts of the time, but it’s hard to take them glorifying the Klan. If you’re going to read it, you absolutely should read Roots first in my opinion.
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