Historical Tour de Genre discussion

Still in the process of chosing some of the books...I am already reading Devil's Brood by SKP and The Other Queen by PG.....I don't think either of these would fit in any of the categories --- please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Other Queen might fit into 'Romance/Regency' I haven't read this particular PG, but her other novels would be considered historical romance.

Charlie wrote: "The Other Queen might fit into 'Romance/Regency' I haven't read this particular PG, but her other novels would be considered historical romance."

It's historical romance, but not Regency. It's actually Ricardian/Yorkist.

/historical nitpick :-)

Right, but the category is Romance/Regency so you can pick either one.

Charlie wrote: "Right, but the category is Romance/Regency so you can pick either one."

Ah. Thanks for clarifying. :-)

JoLene wrote: "Still in the process of chosing some of the books...I am already reading Devil's Brood by SKP and The Other Queen by PG.....I don't think either of these would fit in any of the categories --- plea..."

SKP is one of my favorite authors!! Have you read any of her other books? Sunne in Splendour and Here Be Dragons are my personal faves.

Jenny wrote: "JoLene wrote: "Still in the process of chosing some of the books...I am already reading Devil's Brood by SKP and The Other Queen by PG.....I don't think either of these would fit in any of the cate..."

Not yet, I have Sunne in Splendor on the bookshelf as well. I have read When Christ and His Saints slept and Time and Chance. I really LOVED the first one. The 2nd was really good, but not great.

Historical Fantasy
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
4 stars

This book is the first in a series set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. In this world, dragons exist and are used for military combat. The story centers on Capt Will Laurence in the British navy, who captures a French frigate which has a dragon egg as her cargo. Capt Laurence's life changes when the egg hatches and the dragon Temperaire enters his life. This initial story is about the development of the relationship between the two as they go through military training together. The descriptions of how the dragons are used in battle are captivating. I will continue to read this series.

Taliesin by Stephen Lawhead
4 stars
The book is the first in the Pendragon Chronciles by Lawhead. It is a retelling of the Arthur legend. An interesting twist to Lawhead's version is that he starts with the story of Merlin's parents (in this book). Merlin's mother is from Atlantis and his father is Welsh (Cymry). Much of the historical touchpoints seem a bit inaccurate --- but the story/characters are compelling enough that they can be easily overlooked.

NOTE: Lawhead is a Christian fantasy writer so there is a fair amount that is devoted to Christain believes.

JoLene wrote: "Historical Fantasy
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
4 stars

This book is the first in a series set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. In this world, dragons exist and are used for militar..."

Your first 2 sentences make me want to read this book (if I can find it). I usually read only the first couple of sentences of a review as I want to know as little as possible and I also write short reviews. Thank you for this suggestion. I'm going to Amazon now and see if I can get it for Kindle.

I read it on my Kindle ---- my husband actually has the book, but it was dusty and was making me sneeze so I downloaded :-D

Young Adult HF
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
5 stars

This is a story about how the Danish people helped save their jewish countrymen during the German occumation of Denmark (WWII). The story focuses on one families efforts and while it is fiction, it was rooted in some real stories that Lowry had heard from a friend.

I have recently rediscovered YA fiction due to several other challenges. I have a hard time being critical of the writing style is in most cases it is simplified for the audience. However, I think that the sensitive handling of the a difficult subject was done well and more importantly, I feel that it is critical that the stories of what happened during WWII not be forgotten (or other human atrocities in other wars).

General HF (War HF --- not sure if that's a category)
City of Thieves by David Benioff
5 stars

This is the story of Lev, a jewish teenager, who gets arrested during the siege of Lenningrad (WWII). In jail, he meets a Cossak soldier named Kolya. The two are given a task to find a dozen eggs in exchange for their freedom. The story of their adventure is riveting and at times, absurd and other times tragic. I am not usually a fan of absurdist fiction (example, The Russian Debutante's Handbook), but in the context of war, it somehow makes sense.

The tale also has an interesting set-up in that Lev is re-telling the story to his adult grandchild. I highly recommend this book.

Western
True Grit by Charles Portis
3.5 stars

Under full disclosure --- I'm not a fan of westerns, movies or books. I have not seen either movie made from this book. This was the June pick for my F2F bookclub. I ended up liking the book --- it's probably a 3.5 for me rather than a full 4. The story is told from the perspective of Mattie Ross, a 14 year old girl, who is trying to avenge the death of her father. There is a lot of humor, but also a lot of violence. I found the pacing to be a bit off --- sometimes very quick but there were some lags, but it is a short book so a very quick read for me.

General HF
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
3 stars

NOTE: Much of this book is set in the 1950's - 70's so I am noting it here, but it probably doesn't fit the exact definition of HF.

This is a sweeping saga of family and betrayal with a backdrop of medicine and Ethopian history. I really liked learning about Ethopian history and customs (although some of the customs were very grim). Unfortunately, I didn't really care for the main character nor many of the other characters in the book; the characters were very one dimensional. Also some of the scenes actually made me very squirmish. I think that this book could have used a good editor as it was quite long and had some uneven pacing. As an example, the first 200 pages are really focused on what takes place in about 5 days --- although there were flashbacks during that period.

General HF - pre-WWII Europe
The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst
5 stars

Alan Furst is a master of the spy thriller set in the period leading up to WWII. This is the 2nd that I've read and have read the blurbs on several of his other books; the books are set in different countries describing the events leading up to and/or including WWII.

This particular book is a story about a french military attachee deployed in Poland. France and Poland were on fairly friendly terms prior to the WWII and Mercier is trying to find out as much about German military actions as possible by cultivating a spy network. While reading, I can picture a black and white movie running in my head filled with spies, desparate men and woman as well as fancy parties. If you are interested in this period, the books are well researched, well written and very informatative (as well as entertaining).

True Crime
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
5 stars

This non-fiction book interweaves two tales taking place in Chicago at the end of the 19th century. The first is the tale of Chicago winning the bid for the World's Columbian (as in Christopher Columbus) Fair of 1893 and second is a story of Dr. HH Holmes who charmed and swindled his way into building a "hotel" near the fair and then killed an unknown number of people (mostly woman).

I loved the justaposition of the two stories and as noted in the afterword, Larson was playing with the idea of pride. The pride of the city of Chicago which had the audacity to think that they could create a fair to rival the previous Paris exhibition, the pride of the architect in assembling a team to create and run the fair and the pride of a serial killer whose motives are lacking ---- he just wanted to see what he could get away with. I think the interplay between the two stories was a key to the book's success: the darkness of the serial killer with the glowing brightness of the "White City" created for the fair as well as many of the common place things that debuted there

Young Adult Historical Fantasy
by Scott Westerfeld
5 stars for each book and the series

This is an alternate history trilogy written for YA with a steampunk backdrop --- it really has it all :-D
This is the story of Daeryn (Dylan to the British air corp) who has disguised herself as a boy so that she can be an airman and the story of Alek whose father is Archduke Ferdinad, who just got murdered kicking off the events that start WWI. The story is told in alternating chapters between these main characters.

In this version of history, the english are Darwinist and have developed bio-engineered "beasties" by combining species. The germans (and other axis powers) have created mechanical wonders to aid in their military might. The books had illustrations to help visualize the fantastic creatures and mechanical marvels. The series is a wonderful fast-paced adventure around the globe as Daeryn and Alek become great friends (despite being on different sides of the growing conflict) and try to prevent the all out war.

I highly recommend this series and am sad to finish up the last book.