# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/21 "2010-09-10T18:06:08Z")
John Varley writes in a style inspired by Heinlein while leaving out Heinlein’s tendency to preach. Check out his Mars books: _Red Thunder_, _Red Lightning_, and _Rolling Thunder_. S.M. Stirling writes books that cross over between science fiction and historical fiction. Start out with his solo novels like _Conquistador_ or _The Peshawar Lancers_. Then if you like him, you can try Lords of Creation - _The Sky People_ and _In the Courts of the Crimson Kings_ - or the Nantucket trilogy - _Island in the Sea of Time_, _Against the Tide of Years_, and _On the Oceans of Eternity_. Then if you get ambitious you can start the Emberverse series, which is currently up to seven books (and is going to nine). ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/22 "2010-09-10T18:09:44Z")
Love Raymond Feist - his Midkemia books are awesome. Faerie Tale is also a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/23 "2010-09-10T18:29:12Z")
Roma for historical fiction: > [@](#): > > sprawling novel tracing Rome’s extraordinary development over five centuries, as seen through the eyes of succeeding generations of one of its founding families. Skipping over several generations at a time, Saylor puts the Potitii family descendants at the side of Romulus and Remus at the official founding of the city; of Scipio Africanus during the Punic Wars; of the legendary reformers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus during the turbulent second-century B.C.; and of Julius and Augustus Caesar as the Republic ebbs into Empire. Solidly anchored in fact and vividly imagined, this long book moves at a sprightly clip and features some vibrant personages > **[Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome: Saylor, Steven: 9780312328313: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Roma-Novel-Ancient-Steven-Saylor/dp/0312328311)** > > Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome \[Saylor, Steven\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome Great read - I flew through it when I was backpacking through Greece, reading while riding on trains and ferries, lying the beach, and lounging around town; it’s tough to put down, telling a great story, developing characters well, building attachment to the families, and dragging you through Roman history. Good times. ---
**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, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/24 "2010-09-10T18:32:29Z")
I like Saylor’s mysteries, too, though I can’t read too many one right after another. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/25 "2010-09-10T19:51:55Z")
I’m re-reading the classic Treasure Island, and really enjoying it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/26 "2010-09-10T22:12:36Z")
Sinceyou liked the VorKosigan series, go for her 2 fantasy series, [Wide Green World series and Chalion/Five Gods series](http://www.dendarii.com/biblio.html). Hm, [Lindsay Davis](http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/) has a mystery series set in Rome, Marcus Didius Falco is a good read. David Drake and Eric Flint have a fantasy/sfional series set in 500 ad [Byzantium](http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/) that is an interesting alternate universe sort of deal. ---
**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 11, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/27 "2010-09-11T00:40:27Z")
just thought of a fun historical fantasy: Poul Anderson’s _A Midsummer Night’s Tempest_ - the premise is an alternative time-line where every word Shakespeare wrote is historically accurate, meaning, for example, that 17th century technology is a bit further along than in our timeline. It’s set in the English Civil War, with Prince Rupert as as the protagonist. Puck and Ariel both put in appearances, since they are real personages. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/28 "2010-09-11T01:38:33Z")
I second Lord Dunsany and the Sharpe novels. Ellis K. Meacham wrote three novels concerning an East India Company naval commander. They had warships! Cool! Sylvia Townsend Warner wrote _Kingdoms of Elfin, Lolly Willowes,_ and other very good fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/29 "2010-09-11T01:54:25Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > > [@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.. Actually his actual Histories (THE CONQUERING FAMILY, THE MAGNIFICENT CENTURY, THE THREE EDWARDS and THE LAST PLANTAGENETS) are better. 4 books in the series. There’s also the “Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Althelstan” Paul Doherty > **[The House of Shadows (Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan): Doherty, Paul:...](https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Sorrowful-Mysteries-Brother-Athelstan/dp/0755307771)** > > The House of Shadows (Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan) \[Doherty, Paul\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The House of Shadows (Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan) I also suggest the SPQR mystery series by John Maddox Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/30 "2010-09-11T03:19:29Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > …How about historical fiction-mystery mashups? Any thoughts? Robert Harris’s _Fatherland_ is an alt-history murder mystery set in 1964 Berlin. The Nazis won World War II, President Joseph Kennedy is coming for a summit meeting with Hitler, and an SS criminal investigator is trying to figure out why several senior Nazi bigwigs have met premature deaths. Very, very good stuff. Nicholas Meyer’s _The Seven Percent Solution_ posits that Sherlock Holmes got treatment for his cocaine addiction from Dr. Sigmund Freud. A wonderful, fun book. For a straight historical novel, you can’t beat Gary Jennings’s _Aztec_, which is an epic, compellingly readable account of the last days of the Aztec Empire, told through the eyes of a peasant who rises to the uppermost levels of society just as the Spaniards show up. I reread this every eight years or so, and it just keeps getting better. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/31 "2010-09-11T03:40:17Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Robert Harris’s _Fatherland_ is an alt-history murder mystery set in 1964 Berlin. The Nazis won World War II, President Joseph Kennedy is coming for a summit meeting with Hitler, and an SS criminal investigator is trying to figure out why several senior Nazi bigwigs have met premature deaths. Very, very good stuff. If you liked _Fatherland_ you should check out _Resurrection Day_ by Brendan DuBois. A very similar feel - a mystery in an alternate history setting with some government conspiracy thriller thrown in. But the setting here is the United States ten years after the Cuban missile crisis led to a limited nuclear war. Well written. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/32 "2010-09-11T13:29:02Z")
I keep forgetting to mention Guy Gavriel Kay, who definitely deserves it. Avoid his Fionavir Tapestry, which I didn’t like, but I love the rest of his stuff. It’s all set in a world very similar to ours, with a few minor changes, including some fantasy elements, like some mild magic. Each book is based on an alternate version of a medieval European country. There’s an analogue of Spain, Italy, England, etc. But that description doesn’t do it justice. His stuff is very literary, almost poetic. My personal favorites are Sailing to Sarantium and its sequel, Lord of Emperors, based on the Byzantine Empire. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/33 "2010-09-11T16:38:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > … If you liked _Fatherland_ you should check out _Resurrection Day_ by Brendan DuBois. A very similar feel - a mystery in an alternate history setting with some government conspiracy thriller thrown in. But the setting here is the United States ten years after the Cuban missile crisis led to a limited nuclear war. Well written. I think you and I already discussed this on another alt-hist thread. I was actually very disappointed in _Resurrection Day_. I’ve long been interested in JFK and have read a lot about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I thought the author fell well short of the mark - cardboard characters and an implausible plot. _Fatherland_ is, IMHO, far superior (although of course it’s comparing apples and oranges). ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/34 "2010-09-11T17:26:58Z")
Piers Anthony - Xanth series. If puns annoy you, don’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/35 "2010-09-11T19:59:37Z")
I’ve really gotten into Bernard Cornwell’s books–especially the series beginning with the Last Kingdom (10th century England) and the Grail Quest series (sounds fanatsy-ish, but its not) (100 years war). Angincourt is also very good, and its being made into a movie next year. If they stay true to the book, it will be awesome. ---
**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 12, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/36 "2010-09-12T00:22:26Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > My personal favorites are Sailing to Sarantium and its sequel, Lord of Emperors, based on the Byzantine Empire. I thought these were brilliant. I read them just a couple of months ago. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/37 "2010-09-12T01:33:20Z")
I heartily recommend [the Ethshar series](http://www.ethshar.com/) by Lawrence Watt-Evans starting with _The Misenchanted Sword._ ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/38 "2010-09-12T02:21:07Z")
I recommend longtime YA fantasy writer Dianna Wynne Jones. Standouts are Howl’s Moving Castle (the movie was loosely based on her novel), and its sequel, Castle in the Air; the Chrestomanci series; and standalones Dogsbody and Deep Secret. I also recommend Barry Hugart’s Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China that never was. I read a fair amount of fantasy in my teens and a lot of it was mediocre and stale (it was easy to avoid from the really awful stuff) but these works are fresh and often humorous and are still fun to reread. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/39 "2010-09-12T02:35:19Z")
> [@Arien](#): > > I also recommend Barry Hugart’s Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China that never was. Yes! The gunpowder helicopter! Woof! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244/40 "2010-09-12T03:05:50Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Connie Willis’s _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ is almost a homage to _Three Men_. Mystery, time travel & a touch of romance. And extremely light-hearted. Very humorous. Very worth reading. And if you read _Doomsday Book_ (time travel to the plague in an English town, while a simultaneous plague takes place where she came from) first, you’ll be in desperate need of light-hearted. (As I suspect Willis was after she wrote it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-light-hearted-fantasy-or-historical-fiction/553244.md?page=3)