'My Top Ten Summer Reads: Shardlake, Genghis, Sharpe and more' blog discussion

jezebel

I read a lot of urban fantasy and Kelley Armstrong is one of my favourites. Also ditto the recs for True Blood novels, nowhere near as sex-filled as the HBO series but definitely a good read.

I absolutely recommend Mike Carey's Felix Castor novels or David Devereux's Hunter's moon as well as the ones people have previously mentioned, althose these have some 'adult' content.

Also, not for the squemish but would recommend the Anita Blake books 1-8 by Laurell K Hamilton for those that like Vampires and Were-animals - although not for the kiddies

Mum_of_3_3

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Of Cornwell, I like the harlequin series, not done arthur and didnt enjoy the US civil war one (part from the sidelong mention of sharpes son)

You have to read the Warlord Trilogies (the Arthur books) Martin they are imho the best books he's written and the most gripping historical fiction I have read. The King Alfred series is fabulous too.

Shardlake is a great and really got me hooked into the whole Tudor thing. I've just finished reading Wolf Hall and I thought it wasn't as hard going as I thought it would be and did enjoy it as I found it interesting to read about Cromwell et al from the opposite point of view of the Shardlake books.

I've just read The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel and have just ordered the next two books in the series. It's all about a Cro-Magnon girl that gets found by a Neanderthal clan. Also just finshed The Sea Road by Margaret Elphinstone, it's all about a Viking woman called Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir. She was one of the first Vikings to settle in Greenland and then travel to the United States!

I have just started Warrior Daughter by Janet Paisley, it's set during the Iron Age on the Isle of Skye and the main character is a young girl who is the daughter of the queen warrior. After her Mum dies she gets sent back to her Dad who she doesn't know to study to become a blacksmith and that's as far as I have read!

Thanks Martin for reminding me about Conn Iggulden. He's on my to read list and seeing as I'm off to Waterstones tomorrow to get some books for my girls, I think I may have to get some of them (after all you have to buy at least one book per visit to a bookstore, it's the law isn't it?!

Books is one thing that I will happily spend loads of money on and I hate to part with them, so all of my bookshelves now have books in front of books and on top of books, drives my oh mad. I have now started to be a bit more MSE in my book buying ways and eBay is fab (although how can anyone part with books is beyond me :rotfl: )

Glad to see there's other historical fiction nuts out there!

M_o_3

MSE_Martin

Im really enjoying this thread. Its a bit like our own book club. Lots of good reading suggestions for my next holiday

Errata

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Im really enjoying this thread. Its a bit like our own book club. Lots of good reading suggestions for my next holiday

It's nice to get some appreciative feedback

I'd really like to get you interested in recent UK social history because it helps to explain how we got to here from there. Austerity Britain and Family Britain cover ther period 1945-1951 and 1951-1957. Erudite writing, superb research and even some good jokes !
He has a doctorate from the LSE, and plans a further four books to cover '57 up to Thatcher.

Wee_Pea

I'm amazed that no-one so far has mentioned Dorothy Dunnett's books so far... Martin, tell me that you've read them?!

While CS Forrester introduced me to historical fiction with the Hornblower series, she was the catalyst for a definite obsession with the genre!

She has two historical fiction series - the Lymond Chronicles and the House of Niccolo. I could wax lyrical about them all night, but I will restrain myself... Wiki describes them more succinctly than I ever could:

The Lymond Chronicles is a series of six novels, set in mid-sixteenth century Europe and the Mediterranean, which follows the life and career of a Scottish nobleman, Francis Crawford of Lymond, from 1547 through 1558. The series is a suspenseful tale of adventure and romance, filled with action, intense drama, poetry, culture and high comedy. Meticulously researched, the series takes place in a wide variety of locations, including France, the Ottoman Empire, Malta, England, Scotland and Russia. In addition to a compelling cast of original characters, the novels feature many historical figures, often in important roles.

The House of Niccolo is a series of eight historical novels set in the late-fifteenth century European Renaissance. The protagonist of the series is Nicholas de Fleury, a talented boy of uncertain birth who rises to the heights of European merchant banking and international political intrigue. The series shares most of the locations in Dunnett's earlier series, the Lymond Chronicles, but it extends much further geographically to take in the important urban centres of Bruges, Venice, Florence, Geneva, and the Hanseatic League; Burgundy, Flanders and Poland; Iceland; the Iberian Peninsula and Madeira, the Black Sea cities of Trebizond and Caffa; Persia; the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Rhodes; Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula; and West Africa and the city of Timbuktu.

I'm actually jealous of people who haven't read them yet.

Wee_Pea

Some new books already ordered! I would also like to throw in recommendations for Steven Pressfield's 'The Gates of Fire' that recounts the battle of Thermopylae and David Gemmell's 'Troy' series. You won't be disappointed...

thestoat_2

I'm with Katiepoppycat - the Arthur books (Warlord Chronicles) are amongst the best I have ever read. Totally absorbing. Also take note of Brethren - the first in a trilogy by Robyn Young.

mavzus

Love the suggestions so far - I would recommend Lindsey Davis' Falco series (of which there must be around twenty books so far)

Set in roman times it follows the life of private detective (of sorts) Marcus Falco. It's at times serious and often humerous, I'd never took an interest in this period of history before but she brings it to life, touching on all aspects of society and the empire. They had me hooked very quickly.

Ginger_Prince

Matilda33 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me whether any of Martin's recommendations would be suitable for older children?
I'm looking for some new stuff for my 12 year old son to read. he loves historical adventures.

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of Historic/Fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, rip roaring read and good knowledge of Oxford too :-) again no sloppy stuff but some fighting.

HTH

GP

Ginger_Prince

babshe wrote: »

Martin,
There are four Shardlakes: (in order) Dissolution, Dark Fire, Sovereign and Revelation. I can see why Errata found them dull: they can be a really slow burn at times. But Sansom has clearly done the research and the result is, IHMO, stunning historical storytelling. Definitely not for under 12s, Matilda33.

The good news about Shardlake in the MSE forum is that I regularly see them on sale in my local charity shops. My GF just called up 5 mins ago asking if I'd read Dark Fire (I have).

So my biggest recommendation for MSE Forum dwellers is browse the shelves in your charity shops - my bookshelves at home have got a very eclectic mix of books on them now mostly read them too ;-)

GP.