Who is the best Historical Fiction author?

[Parmenion]

i thought this historian was way over hyped, far too flowery some what patronising to the reader and didnt have an end...it just stopped...but hey each tom their own

 

[Talysia]

I would have to say Bernard Cornwell. A good second would be James Clavell, followed by Takashi Matsuoka for his Cloud of Sparrows book. Another good book I've read is Fish of the Seto Inland Sea by Ruri Pilgrim, although she said that she was inspired to write an historical story from her mother's experiences during the war.

 

[Ragnar]

Another Cornwell fan here. He does tend to be a bit formulaic but I always enjoy reading his stuff.

 

[Myth]

I love Alexandre Dumas, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alan Furst, George Eliot and many others—can't name them all in such short time.

 

[Alcibiades]

Once I saw this forum I simply HAD to register at once. Especially since Marry Renault has only been briefly mentioned. She is an English writer best known for her novels set in Ancient Greece. Many of her books feature male homosexuality as a major theme.

Check out:

The Last of the Wine - Set in Athens after the Peloponnesian War.
The King Must Die - The mythical Theseus up to his father's death
The Bull from the Sea - the remainder of Theseus' life
The Mask of Apollo - an actor at the time of Plato and Dionysis the Younger
Fire from Heaven - Alexander the Great up to his father's death
The Persian Boy - Alexander through the eyes of his lover and servant after the conquest of Persia
Funeral Games - Alexander's successors
The Praise Singer - the poet Simonides of Ceos

 

[murphy]

Once I saw this forum I simply HAD to register at once. Especially since Marry Renault has only been briefly mentioned. She is an English writer best known for her novels set in Ancient Greece. Many of her books feature male homosexuality as a major theme.

Check out:

The Last of the Wine - Set in Athens after the Peloponnesian War.
The King Must Die - The mythical Theseus up to his father's death
The Bull from the Sea - the remainder of Theseus' life
The Mask of Apollo - an actor at the time of Plato and Dionysis the Younger
Fire from Heaven - Alexander the Great up to his father's death
The Persian Boy - Alexander through the eyes of his lover and servant after the conquest of Persia
Funeral Games - Alexander's successors
The Praise Singer - the poet Simonides of Ceos

I always loved her books on ancient Greece. Read and reread them.

 

[aarti]

I have now purchased a third copy of Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet, as the first one I lent out (never came back) the second one read so many times, it fell apart. For anyone who has never read it, please do!!!!! It is the best historical novel
London - Edward Rutherfurd is also good but not in the same league as "Pillars" and one I read recently comes close
The Historian - Elizabeth (i've forgotten her last name) Its not to bad, the ending lets it down a little but its well written, its not Pillars but its not bad.

Wow- I had the complete opposite reaction to Pillars of the Earth! I had a fairly lukewarm reaction to it, and I don't think it was very historically accurate, in some parts. I think you'll be interested to know, though, that a sequel is in the works.

I also really didn't like The Historian, so maybe we have very different tastes!

As for favorite historical fiction author, I think it really depends on the time period you are looking for. It's a bit of a big range to choose from

 

[Connavar]

Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel is a true classic and a series that when i was younger made me interested in books.

Of Dumas i have only read The Count of Monte Cristo which actually was that first book i read as a kid. My teacher in school nagged at me enough to read. Its prolly my fav book of all time. About his historical fiction, are you guys talking about The Muskateers?

 

[svalbard]

Dorothy Dunnett is an excellent read. Her book on Macbeth, King Hereafter is outstanding.

Another one but it might be hard to get is called In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hellas Haasse. It is about Agincourt and the final years of the Hundred Years War.

 

[tangaloomababe]

I have to agree with Rosemary. I have read Sarum and London by Edward Rutherfurd and loved both. He usually starts his books at the beginning of time and works progressively through the ages, covering some well known historical facts. I still have a couple of his novels to read.

Im sorry you didnt like Pillars of the Rarth Aarti however you have to give me some idea of what you like to read then I can figure out if our tastes are so very different.

 

[murphy]

Dorothy Dunnett is an excellent read. Her book on Macbeth, King Hereafter is outstanding.

Another one but it might be hard to get is called In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hellas Haasse. It is about Agincourt and the final years of the Hundred Years War.

Absolutely love Dunnett. Have read and reread all her books many times. In fact, it seems to me it's time for a reread of The House of Niccolo.

 

[svalbard]

Yes, the Niccola series was inspired. My favourite was the one set in Trebizond.

 

[murphy]

Yes, the Niccola series was inspired. My favourite was the one set in Trebizond.

The Spring of the Ram. Her writing is so rich and textured. Those are the words that come to mind when I think of her.

 

[Connavar]

So far Conn Iggulden is by far the best one i have read.


His style is great special when its about greater than life characters like Ghengis Khan,Julius Ceasar,Sula,Marius etc

 

[Parmenion]

what do we define as the best?

most acurate?
funniest?
most prolific?
best battles?
most authentic..(not to be confused with historical accuracy)
most contempary style?

me i love simon scarrows work.

His eagles series is utterly brilliant...the characters are ones you can empathise with, the dialogue is something that would be applicable in any age in any army. and the plots are pacy and gritty...each book gets better and better.

and to prove he can do the more researched book, look to his wellington and napoleon series young bloods and generals)...utter class.

 

[Mary Hoffman]

Delighted to find this thread already here but, as a recently joined member, who should be writing her current novel (deadline 3 weeks away) I have read only pages 1 and the last.

Surely someone must have mentioned Mary Renault in the pages in between? And I also vote for Rosematry Sutcliff.

I alternate writing fantasy novels with historical fiction now. The first published one came out thjis year - The Falconer's Knot - and is set in 1316 in Umbria. I did more research for that than for any other book. The next will be set about a hundred years earlier.

But last year I finished my first adult novel, set in 1980 with flashbacks to 1950, and I have to say that was almost as research based! Because there are people who remember that time and will quibble if I have something wrong.

For instance, my heroine runs a bookshop and it's quite easy to find out which books were publishged in a particular year. But to find the MONTH, so that she doesn't have piles of books displayed in July that weren't published till October, you have to contact the individual publisher for each title.

And this is not interesting - just background detail - but it has to be right.

Mary

 

[Connavar]

what do we define as the best?

most acurate?
funniest?
most prolific?
best battles?
most authentic..(not to be confused with historical accuracy)
most contempary style?

me i love simon scarrows work.

His eagles series is utterly brilliant...the characters are ones you can empathise with, the dialogue is something that would be applicable in any age in any army. and the plots are pacy and gritty...each book gets better and better.

and to prove he can do the more researched book, look to his wellington and napoleon series young bloods and generals)...utter class.

For me the best one is the one can write the best stories. Historical Accuracy is good and all but it doesnt make a story good on its own.

Simon Scarrow is my second fav cause he is very good at writing at military history and the way he writes their battles,military life in the times he writes about and so.

For example I adore his Macro and Cato series. He tells the story about the normal soldiers so well. In Young Bloods he made Napoleon come to life very very good.

I made my younger brother a fan too that he has bought 3 new of his Legion books this weak. He also thinks like me that he isnt great prose wise but he is very good writing military life and the battles.

Conn is the best i have read so far cause he does the best world for example Rome and Sea of Grass aka the steppes of the Mongols come to life so vividly. Characters he is great at specially at side characters like Tudruk,Renius etc

Actionwise he is very hard to beat too. You can almost feel the killing blow

 

[Parmenion]

Simon Scarrow is my second fav cause he is very good at writing at military history and the way he writes their battles,military life in the times he writes about and so.

For example I adore his Macro and Cato series. He tells the story about the normal soldiers so well. In Young Bloods he made Napoleon come to life very very good.

Have you read Eagle in the Sand yet? if not you will meet a certain Centurion Parmenion... thats me...well im the inspiration for the name anyway...(one of my fav little claims to fame) {Big grin}

 

[Connavar]

I have only read the first two books so far.

Will be interesting to see Parmenion, i mean he must be something special to inspire your name.

 

[Snowdog]

Surely someone must have mentioned Mary Renault in the pages in between?

Yes Mary Renault has got a mention

I like Scarrow. He tells a good story and is a page-turner. I could be wrong, but from what I've read so far, his books are pretty much alike. Nothing wrong with that - it worked for Bernard Cornwell and I've read most of his.

Some other authors not yet mentioned that are worth a look -

Winston Graham for his Poldark series - the first few books are a particularly good read
Georgette Heyer - OK they are mostly historical romances, but not all, and for my money she has written one of the best re-tellings of the battle of Waterloo in An Infamous Army
R. Farrington - Robert Farrington wrote the best account I've read of the life of Richard III in his book The Killing Of Richard III. Anyone interested in this subject and other books about this era of history should check out the books listed here Richard III Society - New Zealand Branch