In this threadfolks discuss historical fiction they don’t like…
Over hereis a set of Best New Historical Fiction recommendations on The Daily Beast - I just stumbled across it while checking the site out and thought folks would be interested. I haven’t read any of these but a couple seem interesting…
Just an FYI-thread for interested Dopers…
Thanks, I’ve heard of the Pope Joan book.
Would this would be a good place for people to recommend new historical fiction they do like?
I like C.J. Sansom’s new murder mysteries set in Tudor England. I know, in the other thread we proclaimed ourselves Tired of the Tudors, but this series isn’t about Henry. The protagonist is a hunchbacked lawyer and a former staunch religious reformer. It’s set during the later years of Henry’s rule, when he is backpedaling on some of those religious reforms. The first book centers around the dissolution of the monasteries in England, and is called, appropriately, Dissolution. These are very well-written, if a bit star-studded for my taste (cameos by everyone from King Henry to Lady Rochford).
I also enjoy C.S. Sansom. I picked up the middle book in the series on vacation and liked it so much that I’ve gone back and bought the first two as well. I plan on getting around to reading them soon.
I also like one of the series mentioned on the Daily Beast: I.J. Parker’s Sugawara Akitada books (they mispelled his name in the blog post). It is set in 11th century Japan and the protagonist is a minor imperial official who unravels various murders and political intrigues. One thing I really enjoy is that there is an epilogue where the author explains what we know about the customs and culture of medieval Japan and her classical sources (usually Chinese) for some of the subplots. It is light reading, but I found it very fun. I’ve read the first four books in the series and I need to get cracking on the fifth since number six is coming out this month.
I’m reading Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears. I’m only a third of the way through, but so far, I’d recommend it. It’s a mystery of sorts, narrated by three very different characters. I’ve only gotten to the first two narrators, and I’m amazed that Pears is able to give them such different voices. He’s probably my favorite historical fiction author right now.
I like C. J. Sansom too.
I’m checking out the books mentioned in the OP. I always start with the one-star reviews. Saves a lot of money that way, when reviewers can be specific about what they didn’t like, with examples.
Eleanor of Aquitaine asks
and I’d like to quote her from the other thread. . .
I came here to recommend her early work, especially the Welsh/De Montford novels but also “The Sunne In Slendour”. As with a lot of historical novels I would suggest not reading them too quickly one after the other as the last chapters do tend to read a bit “let’s tie up all the ends” formulaic.
Bernard Cornwell’s original “Sharpe” novels are fast, all action with nice historical notes at the ends.