Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion
Monthly Group Reads
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JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2015 are our Read a Group Read Book You Missed Months!
It has been an overwhelmingly popular book Rebecca, hopefully you can get a hold of it.
My pick is
because Pötzsch german, like me. ;) Aaaaaaaaaaaand I still dont read ANY of his books. Wich is ... a sacrilege of some kind ... ;)
I should read it in german but I dont like the Cover
:P
The background of the German edition is gorgeous, shame about the green-haired man and the bright red dress. Had potential that did.Good pick btw. :)
Anell wrote: "My pick is because Pötzsch german, like me. ;) Aaaaaaaaaaaand I still dont read ANY of his books. Wich is ... a sacrilege of some kind ... ;)
I should r..."
I've read three of these books on Kindle (no good bookshops close to where I live) so there are no gruesome covers to put me off. I have certainly enjoyed them, and currently have The Ludwig Conspiracy on my reading list. His descriptions of the area have also stirred my desire to visit that part of Bavaria to see the towns myself. I hope you enjoy all these books Anell.
Jerry wrote: "Anell wrote: "My pick is because Pötzsch german, like me. ;) Aaaaaaaaaaaand I still dont read ANY of his books. Wich is ... a sacrilege of some kind ... ..."
Oh Shame!
I´ve read The Ludwig Conspiracy and forgott about it!
:O (I found it okay. Ludwig II is a big deal here in Germany. My mother adore him, for ... reasons. Mainly the Castles, and Sissi and stuff. I dont like him so much. Mainly because of Wagner. I HATE Wagner down to the bone)
So no harm done ... I´ve read a Pötzsch-Book. The angry mob of german booknerds can put the pitchforks down. ;)
Bavaria is freaking lovely. I live in Rhineland-Palatinate and damn, we have lovely places everywhere here (Vineyards and the Rhine and so on) but they have the Alps. And I´m so freaking jealous !
Where to begin? What a list! I recommend A Burnable Book, from this year. Think it's time to read In the Name of the Rose.
I have The Name of the Rose out from the library right now. I'm hoping to get it read by the end of the month.
Martha wrote: "Starting a new book one that is also on my want to read list 
hope it's good."Please let us know what you think, Martha. I really liked that one. Really like the whole trilogy. But then I have a big interest in the Vikings.
Terri wrote: "Martha wrote: "Starting a new book one that is also on my want to read list hope it's good."Please let us know what you think, Martha. I really liked that one. Reall..."
Loved this series as well.
Anell wrote: "Jerry wrote: "Anell wrote: "My pick is because Pötzsch german, like me. ;) Aaaaaaaaaaaand I still dont read ANY of his books. Wich is ... a sacrilege of ..."
Wagner himself was an absolute creep, a 3d class person, but I love his music! :)
I'm new to this group, but I love historical fiction, especially if it's got plenty of history in it. Unlike some of the posts I've read here, I don't mind romance. Sometimes it seems the only way you ever get details of women's lives. But I prefer books light on romance but still able to give me a sense of how people lived and thought. Anyway, I've just started The Last Kingdom, so that will work for my January read. I've read Cornwell before - all the Sharpes, Agincourt, and a few others. I'm enjoying Kingdom, though occasionally I have to put it down and pick up a book where people talk to each other. lol So far this one is very much hunt, fight, hunt, fight, go viking...
I don't know what book I'll choose for February. I live in a county with only one part-time library, so I have to get most of my books through OverDrive. I'll see what's available. This group is a great resource, I look forward to finding many good books thanks to you all.
Hi there Teri-k, If you are hunting for more women and interaction between women and men, maybe you'd like these from our past reads?
I didn't find much romance in the Shrewsbury read, but if you are looking for more of a Classical style of innocent romance, its there.
Oh..and welcome Teri-k. :) Don't worry, while the book group doesn't cater to romance centric reads, it isn't frowned upon by most members. There are plenty of women (and a few men) around here that also like some romance in books. They have their other book groups for those reads and come here to satisfy their desire for the kinds of reads we cater to. :)
Terri,Thanks for the reply. I have A Bloody Field coming in the mail, and Lionheart on my TBR list, and I'm looking forward to them! I'm not familiar with Susan Fletcher, so I'll look into her book, too. It's not so much that I necessarily want romance, as that I like reading about women, too. And the little people, and every day life. I like knowing how things were made, what it was like to travel, what they did when they were sick, and such. So sometimes I get tired of the books that are just about men and rulers and wars.
I really liked Here be Dragons, my first Penman, partly because she included family and friends in her story. Plus I appreciate how she didn't make John one sided. Right now I'm reading When Christ and His Saints Slept and A Place Beyond Courage, both about Stephen & Maud.
But I'll read about just about any time frame out there, I'm not too picky. :)
You aren't alone in what you like in reads. Know members here who are the same. Everyone has personal taste needs that must be met. Half the fun of these GR book groups is the chance to hunt down books and authors that meet your needs. :)I can also recommend Pompeii. Light romance and no wars, battles. Male lead. Female support character. But the male lead is not some butch warrior type and the girl has her own storyline going on.
Corrag doesn't have a great deal of romance. It does have elements if love (emotional, not physical). It does have a lot of the other elements you're looking for.
Thanks, Darcy, I couldn't recall if others said there was physical romance, but I do recall that some felt it laden with emotional romance. Thanks for clearing it up.
Great - more books for the TBR pile. :)
Darcy wrote: "Corrag doesn't have a great deal of romance. It does have elements if love (emotional, not physical). It does have a lot of the other elements you're looking for."I really enjoyed Corrag, recommended.
I'm now over 60% through The Last Kingdom and it has picked up considerably. It feels a bit less repetitive to me, with some things going on besides simply fighting and hunting... :)I've read all the Sharpe novels and like how Cornwell developed Sharpe's personality and character, so I have hopes of seeing the same type of thing in this series now.
Good luck with it.I have always said about this series that the first book is more of the set up book.
When I first read it I liked it, but wasn't in love with it. I gave it 4 stars and at times could have given it 3.
When i read it the second time I changed that to 5 stars because I had read the rest of the series by then and realised how important The Last Kingdom is as a series lynch pin.
That's very interesting. I know that first books carry a heavy burden, especially in a long series. So I'll be interested to see what I think as I read on. I finished Kingdom about an hour ago and ended up giving it 4 stars, though at times I was at three. I felt the last half was really strong and it left me wanting more, though not necessarily right away. The next book is on hold on OverDrive, and I'm content to wait a bit before I tackle it. I'm #5 on the list and there's only one copy, so it may be a while before I get it. But there's plenty more to read while I wait, including A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury which just came today.
(I want to finish When Christ and His Saints Slept first, though.)
Terri wrote: "Good luck with it.
I have always said about this series that the first book is more of the set up book.
When I first read it I liked it, but wasn't in love with it. I gave it 4 stars and at times c..."
ooooo. I can't wait to hear what you think of A Bloody Field by ShrewsburyIt is also one of my favourite books, but it also is not to everyone's tastes due to the highly technical writing style.
I hope I like it. I've had my eye on it literally for years. :)
Finally picked up Pompeii from the library...along with three other books. ;) I'll get to it in the next couple of weeks and put my comments in the appropriate thread.
Brilliant, thanks Catherine. That will help others in future as they find those threads and read through them. :)
To help find them. Here's the Pompeii thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...And Teri-k, if you aren't feeling too shy to post your thoughts there when the time comes, this is the Blood Field thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Terri wrote: "To help find them. Here's the Pompeii thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...And Teri-k, if you aren't feeling too shy to post your tho..."
Thanks, Terri, for that link to the thread.
Teri-k wrote: "That's very interesting. I know that first books carry a heavy burden, especially in a long series. So I'll be interested to see what I think as I read on. I finished Kingdom about an hour ago an..."
Loved When Christ and His Saints Slept. I was not as crazy about Time and Chance and then Devil's Brood was the best of all three.
Thanks, Terri. I realized I should have asked if we're supposed to talk here or there... :)If Devil's Brood is the best - well, I'm impressed. Though so far Here be Dragons is my favorite. :)
Terri wrote: "To help find them. Here's the Pompeii thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
And Teri-k, if you aren't feeling too shy to post your tho..."
You can talk here. Go for it if you prefer. Only thing is, that your thoughts will get lost in time. Whereas when people post their thoughts on the actual past group read thread, it helps others forever more. Anybody who goes to that thread in future, or even now during the 'Past reads' month, can read your thoughts along with everybody else's.But if you prefer to post here about past reads, you go for it. :)
I shall take my Bloody Field talk to the appropriate thread when I start it, thus preserving my precious thoughts for all time. lol
I read The Gates of Rome. Did not like it. 1 star.Am now reading
The King's Hounds which was our December group read. It isn't on the list as it is still an active thread due to it only being the December read.So far not so good with King's Hounds either.
Did you talk about Gates on the thread? I'm wondering why you didn't like it. I'm slowly working my way through his
. It would probably go faster if the entire topic/setting wasn't so new to me.
I did, yes. I couldn't make it passed halfway. Writing wasn't awful, but I am sooooo over historical fiction series' that devote the first book to pretty much only childhood. It feels like a way for an author to make more money when they spend too much time on the boyhood of characters. They can squeeze an extra book into a series by wasting the first one on the childhood.
I didn't mind the one you are reading. I may feel differently now however.
I read it when I was first starting to find the Historical Fiction genre, and I wasn't as jaded with authors making the first book of their series about the main characters childhood.
Nowadays I find it such a common device that I am sick to death of it. lol. :)
You make an interesting point about books we read early as opposed to after more exposure. There was a time, (a long time), when I read almost only cozy mysteries. Now I hardly read the new ones and when I do they don't impress me at all. Am I more discerning, or as you say, jaded? I don't know. But throwing in some recipes or details about a craft project don't make a better mystery, IMHO.I'm much newer to the hard-core military-oriented historical. So, like with Genghis, it's all pretty new and thus perhaps more interesting. OTOH I can get lost or overwhelmed with details in a way that I wouldn't with genres and times I know better.
Maybe discerning is a word that is interchangeable with jaded. When we first start reading a genre or sub genre we ard trying something new. Once we are old hands in that genre or sub genre we start to learn more about our likes and dislikes. And we certainly begin to notice overused plots or methods.
Terri wrote: "Maybe discerning is a word that is interchangeable with jaded. When we first start reading a genre or sub genre we ard trying something new. Once we are old hands in that genre or sub genre we star..."Funny.
I´m not a huge fan of series. I dont know why, but I like just books. A new series means, just more books on the TBR List :O
So I havent noticed, that these "first book = Childhood" is like ... a rule, or some often used method. :D
The only book I can remember is The first of the Saladin Series.
I must admit, I dont like Children in books. I dont know why, but ... meeeeh.
I think that in stand alone books, authors will often wrap up the childhood part quicker than an author writing book one in an intended series. The stand alone author knows they have only one volume to tell the story. Unless the book is intentionally about kids, ie Lord of the Flies, The Body of course. :)
Whereas the series writer doesn't think he/she has to wrap it up. They know if they drag it out then they get to publish an extra book in their series.
I think that not enough authors who plan on writing more than a trilogy, are using the unorthodox chronological method.
I mean, maybe some should keep the childhood to a quarter of the first book and then come back at a later date and write a prequel of sorts.
They still get their extra book, only it is at the back end or middle of a series instead of the start. Or it can be marketed as a stand alone/tie in.
Then, of course, there's the basic question, "Is there enough about this person's childhood to require an entire book?" In some cases there might be. If the MCs childhood was unusual enough and molded them enough, and really makes a great story that needs to be told, then do it. But a book should be written for a better reason than that the author has enough info/ideas to fill the pages.
Can I beg to differ a bit here, as I'm not convinced that a first book in a series covering childhood or adolescence is necessarily something just to pad out a series. It is a long time since I read The Gates of Rome, but I cannot recall being particularly put off by the content. I certainly went on to read the rest of the "Emperor" series. With Genghis: Birth of an Empire the childhood part was absolutely vital as it did so much to explain the personality of the MC. I also thought the adolescence of Ughtred in The Last Kingdom was a vital part of establishing his character.The trouble with introducing a fully-formed adult MC into the first book of a series is that you wonder why he/she acts as they do, so a certain amount of "Back-story" becomes necessary. In the first book of the Inspector Pekkala series Eye of the Red Tsar, I thought this was overdone, and it became a bit tedious. The following books in the series are a lot better, and I'm glad I found these in mid-series instead of at the very start. "Back-story" needs to be handled with care and in small doses to avoid distracting from the main thrust of the book (although that is only my opinion).
I am no longer a fan of "Young Adult" historical fiction these day, although it caught my imagination in my pre-teen and teenage years. I didn't consider The Gates of Rome to be particularly young adult in approach, and it led easily into the others in the series. Sorry Terri, but I guess we will have to agree to differ on that.
The Last Kingdom isn't all Uhtred's childhood. He grows up in that book and becomes a fully formed adult. That is what I am talking about. I never said first books should introduce fully formed adults. I said the authors should only spend a certain amount on the childhood. Not the whole book, or nearly the whole book.The Last Kingdom is also narrated by an adult voice, old Uhtred, and Uhtred's childhood is written in a mature way.
But one of the things I don't like about TLK was the childhood. I was glad when he grew up. Too much child Uhtred nearly killed that first book for me.
It is fine for people to say we'll agree to disagree, but I don't disagree with you. I hate to use that term with personal taste issues.
To disagree means I feel you are wrong. I am not wrong aboutthe book, and neither are you. you just had a different experience with the book because you are a different person to me. With different tastes.
Wahoo. I have now completed two past group read books. I have to get to a book now that I was given to review. Once I've read that one I'll be back into past group reads in the form of King Hereafter
I am excited to be on my second missed group read. I decided to start The Coffee Trader (Sorry. Using that stupid smart phone). I have already finished 12 books this month. I might have to edit my yearly goal!
Good stuff! I look forward to seeing another view on The Coffee Trader. Not your average book. A little different. Didn't work for me, but worked for others.
I am not really big into 17th century Netherlands but the title says "coffee" and I am big into that.
That is precisely what lured me too.
Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
Blind Justice: A Novel (other topics)Under Enemy Colors (other topics)
Blind Justice: A Novel (other topics)
Under Enemy Colors (other topics)
The King's Hounds (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Edith Pargeter (other topics)Robert Harris (other topics)
Christian Cameron (other topics)
Christian Cameron (other topics)
Christian Cameron (other topics)
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I have been wanting to read Pompeii, I need to see if I can get it from the library!