Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion
General Discussions
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What Are You Reading Right Now? ( Hwæt béon ðu bocrædung?)
Just started
because I´m ill and come on les Miserables. So cool.I will finish it today and then start with
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M.L. Gardner1930 Aryl's Divide - Book Three.I have jumped off the deep end again. The book is more historical romance than historical fiction. It is set in the depression of 1930. Crime escalated, there were no jobs. People who could farm and fish could at least eat.
Robin wrote: "Can anybody recommend a similar series to Bernard Cornwell's Saxon tales series starting with The Last Kingdom. I very much enjoyed this series, can't find anything similar though."Robin, this request will get lost in this thread. It's not really it's purpose either. But if you want to start a new thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... (in the Looking for a book about folder) I know you will get a ton of suggestions.
Tim wrote: "Robin wrote: "Can anybody recommend a similar series to Bernard Cornwell's Saxon tales series starting with The Last Kingdom. I very much enjoyed this series, can't find anything similar though."..."
Tim I've read two of the three books in the series. I loved the protagonist of the books.
Robert wrote: "Tim wrote: "Robin wrote: "Can anybody recommend a similar series to Bernard Cornwell's Saxon tales series starting with The Last Kingdom. I very much enjoyed this series, can't find anything simila..."Hey Robert thanks for the shout. I think I've seen this trilogy around but I haven't actually got to reading any of them so far. If I remember correctly this trilogy is about the Norman conquest of Britain. I'll put this trilogy on my TBR shelf.
I finished up with The Last Kingdom. Still working through Wolf Hall. I should get more time with Wolf Hall now that I've been to the doctor and told I have strep throat. That means I pretty much have to quarantine myself from my girls. I wouldn't mind a vacation once in a while but this wasn't what I had in mind. I've also started A Pawn for a Queen. I'm quickly losing interest in Ursula Blanchard and her adventures. It seems like with every book a part of her character grows weaker and weaker. There just isn't the promise of intelligence and wit there once was. I may have to throw the towel in on this series.
I don't like how Ursula is presented as a woman who is suppose to be so like Queen Elizabeth I in terms of intelligence and independence, yet Ursula spends most of her time pining after one man or another. For a woman who is suppose to be as smart as Ursula is said to be, she makes some really dumb choices. However, they have proven to be quick reads and that's why I keep coming back to them. I got through 100 pages while I was waiting at the doctor's office today.
I read The Poyson Garden and I didn't care for it enough to move on to the second novel. Maybe I just need to stick with men like Uthred and Gordianus for a while.
Try Paul Doherty - his sleuths are excellent. My personal favourite is Brother Athelstan & Sir Jack Cranston set in London during the regency of John of Gaunt. :)
Candace Robb's Owen Archer series is pretty good also. It is centered in York at the end of Edward III reignhttps://www.goodreads.com/series/4141...
It's not bad. I've read a few of the books, but the characters never really captured my imagination.
happy wrote: "I likeed the Owen Archer series, but her other one never grabbed my imagination."That the one with the woman in Scotland?
YepAs far as I know the 2nd and 3rd volumes were never published in the US and I didn't care enough to go find them.
Darcy wrote: "OOh, I'm interested to know how that one goes Jane."So far, 47 pp. in, my only comment: strange. Nothing is what is seems... I'm wondering what a tarot card [the title] has to do with the book.
Just when my tbr list was getting smaller than my read list.....thanks for all the suggestions guys!
I skimmed through this a few years back for references to support a paper I wrote, but figured I should actually read it
Glencoe: The Infamous Massacre 1692If you're familiar with the event, then probably not much is new, but if not, it's a very good work on the history that led up to the massacre. Mind the typos though (which I'm interpretting as type-setting issues since they're all at the end or beginning of lines.
Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth. All about Catherine Gordon and 'Perkin Warbeck'/Richard IV. Decent so far.
Finishing up Mr. Emerson's Wife, which I sort of like. It's not a romance, despite the title, but I find the main character rather annoying. Otherwise, it's an interesting window on a world largely unknown to me.More soon.
Darcy wrote: "I skimmed through this a few years back for references to support a paper I wrote, but figured I should actually read it ..."That looks really good - added to the ever expanding TBR list :)
I finished the biography of Francis Drake I was readng - a little dry in spots, but an interesting take on the man.
One tidbit of info - for fans of Micheal Jecks Templar mystery series - Drake was born on land his parents leased from Tavistock Abbey ( I just love it when real history touches the fiction I'm reading)
Currenlty reading George Will's look at Wrigley Field
OpiumColin Falconer Started this book today after finding it free on Amazon. It is about the opium trade in Laos, Viet Nam, and surrounding peninsula countries beginning in 1959. I expect to get some history in the yesteryear of the trade.
77 Days in September I finished yesterday. It is free on Amazon. How long would it take the USA to recover if our electricity grids were fried? How would our neighbors to the north and south be affected? Pretty good book.
I just finished both
by Bernard Cornwell (My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and
by Morgan Llywelyn (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)I thought both were great reads.
Now I'm reading
by C.C. Humphreys
Linda wrote: "How would our neighbors to the north and south be affected?..."Well, we'd have to sell our power to someone else for one. :)
Just finished Worthy Brown's Daughter by Phillip Margolin. Lots of plot, minimal romance, so it may appeal to those in this group who like U.S. history—murder and skullduggery in the second year of Oregon's statehood.I also liked Amy Belding Brown's Mr. Emerson's Wife for its look at the world that Louisa May Alcott grew up in (about which I knew distressingly little).
Trying to decide what to read next.
Frog Music- I think I need to take a step back from some of the hyped books. This one was reviewed so well and came pretty highly recommended. So far I'm just not getting into it. It's possible it's because I'm reading it on my kindle. For whatever reason I find it more difficult to really get into books on my kindle. I feel like I'm constantly skipping over important details. The Red Lily Crown: A Novel of Medici Florence- An interesting look at a period in Italian history that often gets overlooked because it happens to coincide with Elizabeth I's reign in England. Loupas has a way with her characters.
Gretchen wrote: "Frog Music- I think I need to take a step back from some of the hyped books. This one was reviewed so well and came pretty highly recommended. So far I'm just not getting into it. I..."I think most of the bestsellers are overhyped, so I try to stay clear of them.
Gretchen wrote: "Frog Music- I think I need to take a step back from some of the hyped books. This one was reviewed so well and came pretty highly recommended. So far I'm just not getting into it. I..."I'm thinking of giving a try in writing; it didn't go well as an audiobook. And I found that in the first bit there was a lot of chaos with not a lot happening. I don't usually mind first person narratives, but the main character just came off as having a naive hubris (didn't think it was possibly myself). And given her career choice, she's pretty ignorant of the human condition. Maybe it gets better?
"Chaos with not a lot happening." That is a great way to describe how the book is going for me right now.
Anvil of God by J. Boyce Gleason is set in the eighth century one generation before Charlemagne. The book starts slowly with emphasis on Charles the Hammer being Christian and Sunni, his wife, being Pagan while the Muslims are knocking on the door. *Sex Alert!* There is some fornicating going on, but it may be used to show the differences among the religious sects.
I finished George Will's ode to Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs
If you are a baseball fan - this is a must read!
Currently reading #9 in Susanna Gregory's Thomas Chaloner series
I finished Frog Music and thought I should share my review just in case anyone was considering reading it. I tried to be nice, I really did. I was by no means as harsh as I could have been.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The only thing that got me to the end was the desire to answer the "who done it" question. It was pretty bad. I am surprised so many people have said as many positive things as they have I didn't see any of the things others have talked about.
Books mentioned in this topic
M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (other topics)A Court of Betrayal (other topics)
Imperium (other topics)
The Handfasted Wife (other topics)
The Swan-Daughter (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert Harris (other topics)Carol McGrath (other topics)
Carol McGrath (other topics)
Carol McGrath (other topics)
Ken Follett (other topics)
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Loved it, its a great read"
Have ..."
Have got book 2 lined up to read shortly, it'll be library for me but if they didnt have it I would defo purchase as so much to like it that first book. there's an infinite number of cameo's & short stories/adventures within the overall concept.
One of the reads of the year so far for me.