Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

Hmmm, I never thought about that distinction. So I guess a Period piece is under the Historical heading? In my shelves I have one for historical and one for classics, but my division is vague. Jane Austen is a classic because her books were written a long time ago, but they are about the time period she lived in. Something like Mr. Darcy's Daughters (published P&P fanfic continuation) is historical because it was written now, but takes place at some point in history. I think I have some books I classify as both, but I can't think of them now. Like I said, it's vague.

I fold together both under the heading "historical fiction." For me the big distinction is that the setting has to be historical in terms of the writer. If they were writing about their own time, to me it's not historical. I wouldn't consider Miss Austen to be historical fiction, and only two of Mr. Dickens (Barnaby Rudge and A Tale of Two Cities, which both have an 18th-century setting). Their books would all be classics, of course, in my book.

Having said that, I like both "historical" and "period" books.

I think we're all in agreement, we're just explaining how we came to it in different ways.

I was just wondering that! I was even going to ask this group, so I'm glad you brought it up. Just bought the book today.

I normally consider the books that deal with P&P characters to be historical, because they take place in the past and pay attention to those details. However, zombies are usually sci-fi/fantasy. But these are historical zombies, so what does that make them? And it's also about killing zombies, so there we get the subheading of action/adventure, or even alternate universe.

Aren't the lives of Dickens' characters awful enough without the undead trying to eat their brains?

You might like The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding. While trying to picture Dickens with zombies, I realized I was picturing that. Here's my review.

To me, a Historical Novel is a book that takes place in the past, and either focuses on a real figure from history (like Henry VIII) or a real historical event (like WWII).