Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion
General Discussions
>
What Are You Reading Right Now? ( Hwæt béon ðu bocrædung?)
Just finished Paul Doherty's "Dove Amongst Hawks" and loved it. Started it and read until it was finished. It fits into the genre of Doherty's solving an historical mystery---this one is good medieval history and a great mystery. Concerns Edward and his brothers Richard and George, and the tale end of the Wars of the Roses. He uses the current state of knowledge and interweaves fictional characters to help solve the mystery. For anyone who has enjoyed Cadfael, this is a good try though much later in history.
Oh, now you're going to start Margaret off on how much she loves Paul Doherty...... :)Link: Dove Amongst the Hawks
A couple of days ago I watched Part II of a two-part TV historical series titled "The Hollow Crown - The Wars of the Roses", which was based on the Shakespearean plays about Richard III and Henry VI. In this version, Richard III was the one who murdered Henry VI.
Alice wrote: "A couple of days ago I watched Part II of a two-part TV historical series titled "The Hollow Crown - The Wars of the Roses", which was based on the Shakespearean plays about Richard III and Henry V..."Darn, I missed Pt. 2 -- I forgot about it.
I saw about half of Part II - I didn't realize it was being broadcast - shoot, shucks and other assorted comments :( I've got parts II and III set to record - hopefully they will rerun part I soon
I hadn't watched Part I :( Hopefully there will be a re-run later on. I'm looking forward to watching Part III.
Ah crap! I wanted to see that!! What is it being shown on?
I finished The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination by Barry S. Strauss. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished In the Company of the Courtesan. The first two-thirds is a bit slow, but it picks up like lightning in the last third. 3.7 stars.My Review
Making my way through Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. It's very light-hearted, comical, satirical and a must-read for any Bibliophile. Thursday is a literary detective and can actually enter books to help out Jurisfiction - the group responsible for policing all of literature. It's an alternate dimension and quite whacky but a lot of fun. The plot line of the series is heavily political (a fictional character has escaped to Outland [London] and is attempting to have himself elected Dictator. I was highlighting up a storm as The events and things said reminded me of another megalomaniac about to take a government office...and this was published in 2004!
Kimber wrote: "Making my way through Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. It's very light-hearted, comical, satirical and a must-read for any Bibliophile. Thursday is a literary detective and can actually enter ..."I have had them on my shelf for a long time, and it looks like they may need to be moved up on my TBR pile!
^^^Mine as well!I'll be starting
this weekend.
I was sent an ARC of
and I will start reading this weekend while traveling. I don't understand who makes the decision to issue ARCs at this publishing house. I haven't exactly given the previous novels glowing reviews. I could just not read the book but at this point I'm committed to the train wreck.
The follow up to the brilliant "The Physician"
Set in the Mid-west frontier lands of the USA in the 1800s, and definitely living up to expectations.
Let me kind of reword that...the plot of the third or fourth book in the series is political and that is the one I was highlighting but the rest are also tons of fun. The first one takes place before she learns how to voluntarily book hop and it lays down a lot of the framework for the rest so if you don't love The Eyre Affair then keep going. Jurisfiction comes in to play in Book 2. Warning ⚠️ This series is extremely hard to explain to someone not reading it and even harder to explain that what you are explaining is hilarious so be prepared for lots of disingenuous 'Okay, I get it's and beyond confused looks.
In the Name of Lykourgos: The Rise and Fall of the Spartan Revolutionary Movement / Miltiadis Michalopouloslong decline of Sparta after Leuktra, through the conquest by Rome.
I finished my first book of 2017 - a bio of Frederick the Great
Not great - 3.25 star read, decent intro to the man and his times (mid 1700s), but lavishly illustrated, maybe half the pages are illustrations!
currently reading
this series in flashmanesque, so don't take it seriously. The series is set in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. The background history is sound (as far as I can tell), but the adventures take a whole lot of liberty with that history!
happy wrote: "I finished my first book of 2017 - a bio of Frederick the GreatNot great - 3.25 star read, decent intro to the man and his times (mid 1700s), but lavishly i..."
I admit to Dietrich as being one of my guilty pleasures, so I am willing to give him leeway on his Gage adventures. I am reading him for fun, though I do find myself checking on the history sometimes just to see how far afield he has gone, if at all.
Lariela wrote: "Reading Remembering Hypatia: A Novel of Ancient Egypt by Brian Trent."Hi Lariela! Would love to hear your thoughts on this one. Last year I read the non-fiction title Hypatia of Alexandria by Maria Dzielska, which was very good in weeding out myth from fact.
I've finished reading the classical Chinese play The Peony Pavilion: Mudan ting written in 1598 by the iconic Ming playwright Tang Xianzu. Apart from telling a fantastical tale of romance set in 12th century China with an explicit theme of female rebellion against social conventions in the pursuit of true love, the play also sets out a historical background of the Jins' (Jurchens') invasion of Southern Song. I read the play in the original Chinese classical text in order to savor the lyrical metaphors, layered with historical allusions.My review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just had to share it! I've just discovered this incredibly beautiful piece of artwork by Jason Pym - "The Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu Silk Scarf", the design of which combines scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Peony Pavilion: Mudan ting:-http://www.jasonpym.com/blog/2016/09/...
I finished The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall by Christopher Hibbert. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Lariela wrote: "Reading Remembering Hypatia: A Novel of Ancient Egypt by Brian Trent."Looked this one up and just bought it on Amazon. Thanks for mentioning it!
Gretchen wrote: "I was sent an ARC of and I will start reading this weekend while traveling. I don't understand who makes the decision to issue ARCs at this publishing..."Do they possibly just pick names from a hat? :)
Jane wrote: "Gretchen wrote: "I was sent an ARC of and I will start reading this weekend while traveling. I don't understand who makes the decision to issue ARCs a..."Maybe. I went back to my review of the second novel and I noticed I made the comment that I wouldn't be reading the third novel. Oh well. Yet another broken promise.
I finished The Three Emperors - fun read! Ethan is trying to find is family at the same time his wife is looking for an ancient automatron that can see the future. While this is going on he gets caught up in the battle of Austerlitz - in the front line of an infantry regiment no less :)Kind of silly fun, I thought it was 4 star read
Currently reading a NF look at the last 18 month or so of FDR's life
I'm about half way through and I can say that public disclosure was not the same in 1944 as it is now is a major understatement!
The people around him kept almost everything about his health (not just his paralysis, but his heart problems also), where-abouts and various other things secret from the public. Some of this can be rationalized by war time necessity, but not all of it!
Reading my first Jean Plaidy book The Plantagenet Prelude and not sure I like her writing at all.....which sucks because I own an entire series of hers!!
Allie wrote: "Reading my first Jean Plaidy book The Plantagenet Prelude and not sure I like her writing at all.....which sucks because I own an entire series of hers!!"Some of her books are slow starters. I have a soft spot for Jean Plaidy books because my grandmother owned so many of them and I would sneak them off the shelves to read with the flashlight under my blankets.
Reading "The Voyage: A Historical Novel" of the Holocaust
Having read all of the Uhtred books I am now halfway through "The Winter King" about King Arthur
Really enjoyed the King Arthur trilogy, particularly his depictions of Lancelot & Guinevere. Looking forward to your reviews!!
Steve wrote: "Having read all of the Uhtred books I am now halfway through "The Winter King" about King Arthur"Good grief there are a lot of books titled "The Winter King."
Violet wrote: "Steve wrote: "Having read all of the Uhtred books I am now halfway through "The Winter King" about King Arthur"Good grief there are a lot of books titled "The Winter King.""
But I suppose no others by Cornwell except this one.
My students are doing state mandated testing this week so I'm reading The Iron King. At the rate it is going, I could probably knock out the entire series by the time testing is done.
Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction
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)
More...
Hi Bobby welcome back. I see you just rated [book:Dark Matter|2783367..."
Better not have much else to do once you start this one, Ace!