# Is there a name for this style of historical novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091 "2015-04-08T02:24:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/1 "2015-04-08T02:24:35Z")
The kind with a storyline of centuries or even millennia, telling the story of a given city or region or country over many generations, perhaps using related characters with a given genealogy. The most famous author of this kind of novel – and, for all I know to the contrary (I’d be happy to be proven wrong), its inventor – was the late [James Michener](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja,mes_A._Michener). A living one is [Edward Rutherfurd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rutherfurd). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/2 "2015-04-08T02:31:09Z")
I think you gave away the term already. Generational. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/3 "2015-04-08T03:19:45Z")
“Epic” – perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![McGuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@McGuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McGuffy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/4 "2015-04-08T04:23:02Z")
Saga ? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/5 "2015-04-08T13:35:40Z")
“[Family saga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_sagas)” is in the same ballpark, but I think the OP is looking for a work whose unity is primarily based on geography rather than genealogy. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/6 "2015-04-08T15:39:29Z")
Ken Follett transitioned from spy thrillers to these types of novels. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/7 "2015-04-08T15:46:08Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “[Family saga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_sagas)” is in the same ballpark, but I think the OP is looking for a work whose unity is primarily based on geography rather than genealogy. Right. Michener’s _The Source_ is the story of Jews in all countries, but what ties it together is the archaeological site at Makor in Galilee. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/8 "2015-04-08T16:11:00Z")
Similarly, Michener’s _Chesapeake_ is the story, not even of the bay as a whole, but of a small chunk of land on the Eastern Shore, and the people who live there at different times. IMHO, the genre should be named after Michener. ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/9 "2015-04-08T17:23:12Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > “Epic” – perhaps? “Epic” already has a literary genre definition focusing on a hero’s journey (a bit of a there and back again approach). ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-style-of-historical-novel/717091/10 "2015-04-08T17:31:32Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Ken Follett transitioned from spy thrillers to these types of novels. I loved his Pillar of Earth books. His thrillers are rather meh.