Book Club: Historical Fiction

[MrJim]

Looking for recommendations for some well-written historical fiction (my favorite genre). I especially like those with a nautical theme. To return the favor, here are a few that I particularly enjoyed:

The "Master and Commander" series

The "Hornblower" series

Conn Iggulden's Julius Caesar series

Bernard Cornwell's "King Arthur" and "Grail Quest" series. I found the King Arthur series a particularly interesting take on that legend.

Robert Parker's "Appaloosa" series (not particularly a fan of westerns, but I enjoyed these and am currently reading my second Elmore Leonard western).

The "Game of Thrones" and "Lord of the Rings" series. I know, not "historical fiction," but they read like it and I enjoyed them.

I'm not particularly looking for "series;" these are just the books that come to mind right now.

 

[HopCar]

Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe Series. Look for one of C.S. Foresters characters, Rifleman Dodd, to show up in one of the books. A little tribute to Forester by Cornwell.

 

[FBoykin]

Sharpe series is excellent. Try to read them in chronological order. Large municipal library likely to have some of the books in the series if you want to read before you buy. Sharpe was also made into a TV series, those are darn good too!

 

[MrJim]

Yes, I read one or two of the Sharpe books. For some reason, I couldn't really get into them. Should try them again, I guess. Maybe I've just had my fill of the Napoleonic era with the Hornblower and Master and Commander series.

Anything else?

 

[Padeen]

+1 Cornwell's Sharpe
Leon Uris: all
Ken Follet: Kingsbridge series, The Century Trilogy
Jeffrey Archer: The Clifton Chronicles
Wilbur Smith: The Courtney Series, The Ballantyne Series

 

[Nomad Willy]

I'm rereading Diana Gabaldon's books starting w "Outlander". Five books in all and is best to read them in order.

A war nurse in 1943 Accedentially falls back in time to 1743 and gets picked up by some Scottish Highlanders stealing cows from the Brittish. And it goes on and on through some five paperbacks about 1500 pages long. A great read.

 

[windled]

Outlander is superb! I had a personal connection being 50% McKenzie, but that aside, this is an awesome and very historically accurate read.


(yes, I wear the kilt)

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

Not historical fiction, but all great reads:

James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, if you're into detective stuff in the New Orleans area.

Robert Crais' Elvis Cole and/or Joe Pike series if you're more into detectives in LA.

Nelson DeMille's John Corey series if you're more of a NY guy.


And, of course, any of James Michener's historical fiction works.

 

[BruceK]

Anyone get a copy of "Go Set a Watchman"? I think it`s out in softcover here. Like it?

 

[janice142]

The Earth's Children series by Jean Auel... tells of prehistory with the premise that both Neanderthal and Modern man existed for a time in parallel. Set in Europe. I loved it -- this is the reason I wanted a Kindle. The hard-covers take about 15" or shelf space, and on Seaweed that was too much.

I loved Jeffery Archer's "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" book and any of his red herring anthologies. The finish of Penny was spectacular. It's the sort of book I could well imagine as a movie.

Historical fiction of a nautical flair? Definitely chose any and all by Admiral Daniel Gallery, USN. However, be prepared to laugh out loud so where you read is important. His U-505 is fact, not fiction and tells of the capture of a German submarine during WWII, including her all important code books. Herman (who wrote Kane Mutiny) did a biography of Gallery that is quite good.

Given a choice on the Gallery books, opt for hard-covers for Eight Bells and U-505. The photos add a great deal and are not included in the paperback versions.

Have fun and happy reading.