# Need book recommendations! Light-hearted fantasy or historical fiction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244 "2010-09-10T00:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/1 "2010-09-10T00:21:46Z")
Thread title’s about the gist of it. I’m running out of ideas from my local library and I’d love to get into some new series. 🙂 In sci-fi/fantasy territory: I’ve read and really enjoyed, so far, the books from Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Jasper Fforde, Christopher Moore, and David Eddings. I loved the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold and I thought _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ by Heinlein was okay (_Stranger in a Strange Land_ wasn’t my cup of tea). I finished _A Game of Thrones_ but haven’t picked up the second one yet; right now I’m just getting into the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (so good!). As for historical fiction, I read through the entire Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brian and really like both _Pillars Of The Earth_ and _World Without End_ by Ken Follett. I love anything set in medieval or renaissance England, but I’m not picky. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/2 "2010-09-10T00:24:52Z")
Try the fantasy works of Chris Bunch and Alan Cole (“The Far Kingdoms”). Or Tom Holt. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/3 "2010-09-10T00:28:53Z")
Perhaps Fantastic Historical Fiction? **The Baroque Cycle** by Neal Stephenson or **Mr Norrel and Johnathon Strange** by Susanna Clarke would probably qualify and are amongst my favorite books. They’re light in the sense of being fairly playful and fun (though not in the sense of being easy to carry around, The Baroque Cycle probably runs north of 5,000 pages.) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/4 "2010-09-10T00:52:15Z")
“Age of Unreason” series by J. Gregory Keyes. Its an alternate history/fantasy with Benjamin Franklin as our sexy young action hero. 🙂 The first book is called [Newton’s Cannon](http://www.amazon.com/Newtons-Cannon-Age-Unreason-Book/dp/0345433785) ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/5 "2010-09-10T01:00:22Z")
Anything by Tamora Pierce. OK, most of it is found on the Young Adult shelves of your local library. And so the heroines (and heros) are often teens and sometimes younger. But it’s short and fun and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Most of her books are set in more or less the Middle Ages, just with Magic. Many of her books are written in Quartets, and a whole Quartet is more or less equivalent to one Adult book. In fact, I’m told, her first quartet (the story of Alanna) started out as one adult book and when she was told it would be more likely to be published as YA lit ( which has more stringent length limitations), she divided the book in four and got them published as a quartet. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/6 "2010-09-10T01:11:46Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > I love anything set in medieval or renaissance England, … > > Any thoughts? I hesitate, he’s been out of fashion for a long time, but [Thomas Costain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Costain) wrote some very enjoyable historical novels in the 50s and 60s. And some decent history, if you remain aware that he was not a historian, and have grains of salt handy. He was a very Anglocentric Canadian author. _Below the Salt_ and _The Black Rose_ are my favorites. I also enjoyed both volumes of _The Tontine_; it’s set more at the dawn of the industrial age in Britain. _The Silver Chalice_ is good also, if you can set aside the religion, and especially if you’re lucky enough to check out the original version from the library, and not the version edited to add more religion. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/7 "2010-09-10T02:41:38Z")
for historical fiction, try Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances - she pretty much invented that genre; good light reads; excellent dialogue. going further back, there’s the Brother Cadfael series of historical mysteries, set in mid 12th century Shrewsbury and environs; written by Ellis Peters; very much in the “English cozy murder” tradition. Another historical mystery series, set about 30 years later, is the Queen’s Man series by Sharon Kay Penman; a bit more gritty. If you like the O’Brien series, you may find the Hornblower series by Forester, and the Ramage series by Pope of interest. I find the Hornblower series the best of the lot; Pope’s plots are interesting, but his dialogue is a bit stilted and his narrative can be a bit repetitive, as he over-uses similar phrases. And of course, depending how recently you define “historical fiction” there’s always P.G. Wodehouse, whose stories are essentially set between 1910 and 1940, regardless of the actual publication date. This sort of inquiry often brings out people recommending the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser; personally I don’t like that series at all, but it’s just a question of taste. (I just don’t find the concept of a villain as hero that interesting or amusing.) You might find them worth a try. ETA: meant to say that I agree with **Frank’s** comments and qualifications on Costain. Also, a lot of historical fiction in English is written from the English perspective. You might find Nigel Tranter’s series of historical novels, set in Scotland, to be interesting; written from the Scots perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/8 "2010-09-10T04:25:15Z")
Some possibilities for light-hearted fantasy: James P. Blaylock–_The Elfin Ship_ and its sequels. Also the “Langdon St. Ives” books (this is steampunk). Ernest Bramah–The “Kai Lung” books. James Branch Cabell–_Jurgen_, _Figures of Earth_, and _The Silver Stallion_. These are all part of the “Biography of Dom Manuel of Poictesme” collection. L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt–The “Enchanter” stories. Arthur Conan Doyle–_The Lost World_ Lord Dunsany–_The King of Elfland’s Daughter_ as well as any of his early short stories. Also the “Jorkens” stories. Robert E. Howard–_A Gent From Bear Creek_ or _The Riot at Bucksnort_ (They’re the same thing; _Gent_ is just a fix-up novelization where _Riot_ is the anthology) L. Ron Hubbard (yes, really)–_Slaves of Sleep_ or _Typewriter in the Sky_ Keith Laumer–_The Time Bender_ and _The World Shuffler_. There are two more in the series, but skip them. Fritz Leiber–The “Fafhrd & Grey Mouser” stories. A. Merritt–_The Face in the Abyss_, _The Moon Pool_, or _The Metal Monster_ Martin Millar–Anything he’s written. Urban fantasy for the counterculture. Martin Scott–…is Martin Millar doing by-the-numbers schlocky fantasy noir. It’s fine if you’re into that sort of thing. Michael Shea–The “Nifft” stories. Thorne Smith–_Topper_; _Topper Takes a Trip_; _The Stray Lamb_; _The Night Life of the Gods_ Jack Vance–The “Dying Earth” stories. And if you haven’t read _Three Men in a Boat_ by Jerome K. Jerome, you owe it to yourself to do so. It’s a travelogue with the boring bits edited out. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/9 "2010-09-10T05:19:04Z")
The Drawing of the Dark, by Tim Powers was the first book that came to my mind. It is a sort of historical fantasy adventure, set in 16th century Vienna. Very entertaining, I couldn’t help but read it one sitting. Also, for light hearted fantasy, I can recommend most of James Blaylock’s books. ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/10 "2010-09-10T07:22:30Z")
I’m working on something! Be about a year though. To tide you over, I heartily second Fritz Leiber’s “Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser” books. I think the Game of Thrones has collapsed in it’s own epicness. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/11 "2010-09-10T10:33:35Z")
If you like the Patrick O’Brien books, you might as well go back and read the original Horatio Hornblower books by CS Forester. Or the Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell, or better yet the Flashman books by George McDonald Frasier. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/12 "2010-09-10T10:36:04Z")
If you don’t mind GN’s, [The Desert Peach](http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Peaches-First-Desert-Episodes/dp/1892253127/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284114598&sr=1-1) follows the adventures of Erwin Rommel’s flamboyant younger brother, Pfirsich, and his misfit soldiers in North Africa during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/13 "2010-09-10T11:58:34Z")
If you liked Patrick O’Brian’s naval stories, I’d strongly recommend C.S. Forester’s fiction, especially his Horatio Hornblower novels. Most of his stuff is out of print, sad to say (and he wrote quite a bit of other stuff, both naval and otherwise, including _The African Queen_), but I know the Hornblower novels still are. Have you read all of Chris Moore’s books? Because he has a couple of new ones out. A lot of great fantasy and SF is out of print, but you might find reprints or used copies of these: _Robots Have no Tails_ and other stories by “Lewis Padgett”, which is a pseudonym used by the husband-and-wife team of Henry Kuttner and Catherine l. Moore. They both wrote quite a bit besides, both together and apart. But the stories in this series are funny Anything by Robert Sheckley. He was a BIG influence on Douglas Adams (I swear he ripped off Sheckley’s _Dimension of Miracles_ for his Hitchiker’s Guide, although Adams claimed he wrote his book before he read DoM) and others (if King didn’t get a lot of ideas for Running Man from _The Prize of Peril_, a lot of people are mistaken). Most of the movie _Total Recall_ feels ripped off from Sheckley’s \* The Status Civilixzation\*. Shecklery’s work has been nominally filmed many times, but so completely changed that you’d never recognize it. And nobody seems to get his irony and wit. Look up especially his short stories from the fifties, which appeared in a number of anthologies. Also good, witty short stories fro the fifties – Fredric Brown. And not only his short stories, but novels like **Martian, Go Home** , **What Mad Universe** , and others. The guy wrote Science Fiction, Fantasy, and straight Mysteries with equal facility and wit. I don’t know of anything in print currently, but his stuff is definitely worth digging up. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/14 "2010-09-10T14:10:41Z")
Light fantasy? A. Lee Martinez is your man. Standouts are **Gil’s All-Fright Diner** (about redneck vampires and werewolves), **A Nameless Witch** (less funny, but still light) and **Monster** (superb). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/15 "2010-09-10T14:34:58Z")
Simon R Green’s _Blue Moon Rising_, _Blood and Honour_, and _Beyond the Blue Moon_ are all enjoyable reads. Very light - but fun - reading are the Thraxas books. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/16 "2010-09-10T15:45:51Z")
For historical fiction you could try [Dorothy Dunnett’s](http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/)\*Lymond \*and \*Niccolo \*series. Set across Europe in the 16th and 15th centuries respectively. Not everyone’s cup of tea but if you get into them very addictive. High politics, romance, action, good history and very high quality writing. (Do read the \*Lymond \*books first. Although later historically they were written first and best to stick to the order of writing.) On an entirely different note, how about James Clavell’s Asian saga, _Tai Pan_, _Shogun_, and _Noble House_? (The series contiues with \*Whirlwind \*and \*Gai-Jin \*but I don’t recomend them so much.) Just about the opposite of Dorothy Dunnett, the writing is iffy (not Dan Brown bad but not literary) and the history is, well, shakey but great page turners. \*Shogun \*and \*Noble House \*are each over a thousand pages but hold the interest throughout. \*Tai Pan \*covers the founding of Hong Kong as a British colony in the 1840s, \*Shogun \*is set in feudal Japan at the begining of the 17th century, and _Noble House_ picks up the story of the Hong Kong in the early 1960s. Each self contained but links between them, particularly \*Tai Pan \*and _Noble House_. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/17 "2010-09-10T15:57:08Z")
For light fantasy, I can recommend John C. Hines, especially _The Stepsister Scheme_ and sequels–Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty as kick-ass action heroines. John Moore is also good, though fairly forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/18 "2010-09-10T16:01:25Z")
Thank you, everyone, I really appreciate this! I owe you all snogs and brownies 😃 I’ve read a lot of P.G. Wodehouse and loved it, and I thought _Three Men in a Boat_ was hilarious. The new Flavia de Luce series (_The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie_ and _The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag_) has the same sort of tone, and it’s too fabulous for words. How about historical fiction-mystery mashups? Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/19 "2010-09-10T16:51:45Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Thank you, everyone, I really appreciate this! I owe you all snogs and brownies 😃 > > I’ve read a lot of P.G. Wodehouse and loved it, and I thought _Three Men in a Boat_ was hilarious. The new Flavia de Luce series (_The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie_ and _The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag_) has the same sort of tone, and it’s too fabulous for words. > > How about historical fiction-mystery mashups? Any thoughts? Connie Willis’s _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ is almost a homage to _Three Men_. Mystery, time travel & a touch of romance. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/20 "2010-09-10T16:52:55Z")
Light fantasy: Tanya Huff’s _Summon the Keeper_. I’m currently rereading it. There are sequels but I haven’t read them yet. Fantasy/history blend: _The Sarantium Mosaic_, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Set in an alternate Byzantium. I really enjoyed it, though I didn’t care at all for the Follett book, so take this recommendation with a grain of salt. The Matthew Shardlake historical mystery series set during the reign of Henry VIII is outstanding. Starts with _Dissolution_. I also love the Joliffe books by Margaret Frazer, which are mysteries set in medieval England around an acting troupe, but they are fairly slow for some tastes. They start with _A Play of Isaac_, though later books are stronger. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244.md?page=2)