Any historical fiction readers on ATOT?

[Encryptic]

Specifically, I'm looking for some good book recommendations. I'm more interested in stuff that deals with the ancient world such as Greece or Mexico, but books that deal with more recent history are also welcome.

Also, has anyone read any of Steven Saylor's stuff? I happened to see his books mentioned in the back of a book I'm reading right now (The Ten Thousand) and they sound pretty interesting.

Any and all recommendations are welcome.

 

[StageLeft]

I read a book a few years back about a guy and it was set in greece or something, kind of like a fantasy alexander the great something or rather. I don't read now except atot.

 

[Encryptic]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I read a book a few years back about a guy and it was set in greece or something, kind of like a fantasy alexander the great something or rather. I don't read now except atot.

Great review. I'll have to check it out.

 

[PatboyX]

well, the killer angels, of course.
i recently read In The Heart of the Sea by Philbrick. i dont think its really that fiction-y. i mean, he uses a lot of sources and i think at times his metaphors bog down the reading. and he tries really hard at some chapters to make historical connections that may or may not be there. but the bulk of the book was enjoyable.

edit:
I almost forgot! the best historical fiction ever written: I, Claudius!
read it!!!

 

[DaveSimmons]

How about alternate histories? S.M. Stirling's The Peshawar Lancers was excellent.

SF / fantasy set in ancient times? Alice Borchardt's Night of the Wolf set in ancient Rome was quite good.

 

[stormbv]

Historical fiction of Ancient Greece? I'd say Homer would be a good choice.

 

[lukatmyshu]

Do you count Michener as Historical Fiction? Or just boring fiction.

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
How about alternate histories? S.M. Stirling's The Peshawar Lancers was excellent.

SF / fantasy set in ancient times? Alice Borchardt's Night of the Wolf set in ancient Rome was quite good.

the man in the high castle?
isnt that the name of the world war two the other way one?

im so bad with titles anymore.
speaking of war, i dont know how much these count but they are fantastic books: all quiet on the western front and ANYTHING by tim o'brien specifically, if for history, the things they carried. about vietnam written by him while over there.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I assume you've read Orson Scott Card's "Pastwatch - The Redemption of Christopher Columbus"? If not, that is definitely on your "want" list.

For novels set in the ancient world, the list is too big to be posted here... books like "Quo Vadis" by Henryk Sienkiewicz are the norm. In more modern times, did you read Alexandre Dumas' "Three Musketeers"? There are many other novels he's written, and they all paint an interesting image of 17th and 18th century France, Spain and Italy... Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" is also definitely on your list.... I'd delve into Zola as well, although not all of his stuff is historical.

 

[CubicZirconia]

ANYTHING by tim o'brien specifically, if for history, the things they carried. about vietnam written by him while over there.

The Things They Carried is an excellent book. It has been awhile since I've read it, but I definitely reccomend it if you are at all interested in war or Vietnam. It's very loosely based on the author's experience with Vietnam- before, during, and after. He made up a lot of what happens in the book, but it seems real enough.

 

[Encryptic]

Cool, good recommendations.

 

[allisolm]

The Iliad....Homer
The Odyssey....Homer
A God Against Gods...Allen Drury
The Song of Troy....Colleen McCullough
The Grass Crown...Colleen McCullough
The First Man in Rome...Colleen McCullough
Fortunes Favorites...Colleen McCullough
Caesars Women...Colleen McCullough
Caesar...Colleen McCullough
October Horse...Collen McCullough
The Sand Reckoner....Gillian Bradshaw
The Bull from the Sea....Mary Renault
Fire from Heaven...Mary Renault
The Persian Boy...Mary Renault
Tides of War......Steven Pressfield
Gates of Fire.....Steven Pressfield
Alexander of Macedon...Harold Lamb
Goat Song...Frank Yerby
Besieger of Cities...Alfred Duggan
Three's Company....Alfred Duggan
The Ides of March....Thornton Wilder
Cleopatra....Emil Ludwig
Memoirs of Cleopatra...Margaret George
The Roman...Mikita Waltari
The Story of Damon and Pythias...Albert Terhune
Glory and the Lightening...Taylor Caldwell
The Conspiracy Theory.....John Hersey
Hannibal....Harold Lamb
Hannibal...Ernle Bradford
I, Claudius...Robert Graves
Claudius the God...Robert Graves
Dreaming the Eagle....Manda Scott
Throne of the World...Louis De Wohl
The Year of the Horse...Rita Ritchie
The Silver Chalice...Thomas Costain
Julian....Gore Vidal
Under the Eagle...Simon Carrow

 

[HOWITIS]

harry turtledove is an amazing writer. try out his world war series about aliens coming to earth during ww2. or his great war series were the south won the civil war and the north/south are fighting each other in ww1.


also consider s.m. sterling the sea of time. the island of nantucket goes WAYYYY back in time. the uk is still a bunch of tribes and egypt seems top dog. also there is a series out called 1618 or something like that were a west virginia town is thrown into the middle of the 30years war.

 

[HOWITIS]

also, don't forget harry turtledove's guns of the south. the south get ak47s which enable them to win the civil war.




edit: wait a second, why am i helping you? arn't you doing my mom?

 

[MaxDepth]

from allisolm

The Ides of March....Thornton Wilder

Good book.

If you want historical fiction with a twist (alternate universe type), try some of the books by Harry Turtledove. Right now he has a series of 'what if the South had won the Civil War.'

 

[Encryptic]

Originally posted by: HOWITIS
also, don't forget harry turtledove's guns of the south. the south get ak47s which enable them to win the civil war.




edit: wait a second, why am i helping you? arn't you doing my mom?

Your mom kicked me to the curb, although your sister is very "accommodating".

 

[AMCRambler]

That new movie that came out Master and Commander is based on a series of books by a man named Patrick Obrian that are very good. I had been reading the books before the movie came out so I was pretty excited about the movie. The movie was good but still not as good as the books in my opinion. They take place during the Napoleonic wars and give an excellent feeling of what life was like back then, particularly in the Royal Navy. Obrian keeps them historically accurate too, the major sea battles and fleet engagements, even the ships names. There are about 16 books in all I think. I learned a lot of interesting things about everything from how the ships worked and were run to tactics to how the Royal Navy operated. It sounds boring but it is really quite interesting. For instance the reason they measure a ships speed in knots today is because they used to have a rope with a log tied on the end of it with knots tied on the rope at measured intervals and they would throw the log overboard and the rope would run off a reel. There was a smaller version of an hour glass(I forget how long it measured) and when it ran out, they would grab the line where it had reeled out to, pull it back in and count the knots that had gone out. That was how they measured their speed.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: HOWITIS
harry turtledove is an amazing writer. try out his world war series about aliens coming to earth during ww2. or his great war series were the south won the civil war and the north/south are fighting each other in ww1.


also consider s.m. sterling the sea of time. the island of nantucket goes WAYYYY back in time. the uk is still a bunch of tribes and egypt seems top dog. also there is a series out called 1618 or something like that were a west virginia town is thrown into the middle of the 30years war.

Props, kudos, and all kinds of other praise to you for mentioning Turtledove...

:beer:

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: HOWITIS
also consider s.m. ( stirling ) the sea of time. the island of nantucket goes WAYYYY back in time. the uk is still a bunch of tribes and egypt seems top dog. also there is a series out called 1618 or something like that were a west virginia town is thrown into the middle of the 30years war.

Eric Flint, 1632, a fun book that's much lighter than Drake and Stirling.

Striling's Draka novels are excellent alternate history taking place from a very different WW2 up to the near future. There's a hardocver collection of the 3 (The Domination?)

 

[Encryptic]

Good responses so far. I'll have to print this thread out at the end of the day and keep it handy next time I go to the library. Thanks!

 

[HOWITIS]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33

Originally posted by: HOWITIS
harry turtledove is an amazing writer. try out his world war series about aliens coming to earth during ww2. or his great war series were the south won the civil war and the north/south are fighting each other in ww1.


also consider s.m. sterling the sea of time. the island of nantucket goes WAYYYY back in time. the uk is still a bunch of tribes and egypt seems top dog. also there is a series out called 1618 or something like that were a west virginia town is thrown into the middle of the 30years war.

Props, kudos, and all kinds of other praise to you for mentioning Turtledove...

:beer:

turtledove rules all indeed. i have the world war series, colonization series, great war series, american empire series, and guns of the south. the world war series is the best imo.

 

[HOWITIS]

double post