Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

I haven't read a lot of fiction set during the Punic Wars, (non fiction yep, fiction no).

This was the best offering in the fiction department. It covers the Second Punic War.
It is Pride of Carthage. A book of immense scope written by an author who now writes only fantasy fiction.
His fantasy fiction books;
Acacia: The War with the Mein and The Other Lands

An excellent book for history buffs. Gives you the Hannibal/Carthaginians side of things as well as the Roman side of things.

by David Anthony Durham
Pride of Carthage

An interesting book in this category is Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert. I'm not sure whether to recommend it, because it's pretty strange, and not at all realistic like Madame Bovary. But if you like exotic descriptions of places and people, this is the book for you.

Thanks Vicki, I have added it to the tbr...
Pretty strange?? lol. All over the place and sometimes not making sense, or strange characters doing strange things?

IN reference to Salammbô

For those who are electronically inclined..I was just handed this link in a brown paper bag in a park by a strange man..shhh ;)

Here is a free online version http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1290

Terri, thanks for the link. When I tried to find the book on Gutenberg, I was directed to the German version and couldn't find an English one.

You're welcome. :) And I am guessing you aren't fluent in German? lol

I found out that unfortunately my library doesn't have Salammbo, so I may have to read it as a pdf one day. erg.

Vicki wrote: "Terri, thanks for the link. When I tried to find the book on Gutenberg, I was directed to the German version and couldn't find an English one."

Hi Vicki and Terri. This is the place where I should put my comment about German version of SALAMMBO. Thank you for sending this post to me. This clear up the mystery. Truly, I apologize to anyone and everyone I offended.

That is okay Linda. I know you are still finding your way with Goodreads.

I have been looking for something from the Carthaginian point of view. I'm not a fan of the bullying Romans and prefer seeing their rears kicked. I'll have to check out Durham's novels. Thanks for the link.

I hope you find it and get to read it once your book is done J.R.
Pride of Carthage is a terrific book for the viewpoint of the Carthaginian. Absolutely. I highly recommend it for that.

Thanks for the recommendation, Terri. I'm finding way too many books to read around here. This is one I'm really looking forward to.

And I am looking forward to hearing what you think of it.
It is often overlooked and I don't know why.
There is no doubt it's epic. Long and detailed. But when you get passed the sections where the author bogs down it is one fabulous story.

I posted this under the Roman Empire section and just now realized I should have posted it here:

I've heard really good things about The War God's Men which is on my TBR list. I can't personally recommend it since I haven't read it yet, but I like that it seems to be as much from the point of view of Carthage as Rome. It sounds really interesting.

Very little is written from a Carthaginian point of view which i think is an extreme lack since the importance and prominence of Carthage can hardly be overstated.

THE YOUNG CARTHAGINIAN by G.A. Henty is an old book, but it looks interesting to me.

Uh, about that posting thing, thank heaven I am not alone. You will probably never make a posting error again while I will continue to do so. But for one day...Santa came early. Thank you. All said and written is in jest. HAPPY HOLLIDAYS TO THE GROUP!

here's that link for you Linda. In case you're add book/author wasn't working. :)
The Young Carthaginian


Happy holidays to you too, Linda.

Hitting my forehead with pAlm of my hand. Well, it will be forgotten someday. This is not the time or place but hell I am going to say it anyway . Is it hot where you llive? Do you go to the beach. We are a little cool up here in the deep south. I love summer.

It is hot where I live, which isn't too far from the beach and I get to the beach every now and then. :)
It is summer here.

I finally posted my review of Pride of Carthage!

I meant to months ago but I have been deeply into completing my own next novel .

Excellent novel! There were a few things I didn't care for which kept it from a 5-star review, but for anyone interested in the Ancient World, I really recommend it.

*shuffles onstage* My book, Hannibal: Enemy Of Rome is set at the time of the beginning of the Second Punic War. Its heroes are both Roman and Carthaginian, and it has been a Sunday Times bestseller here in the UK.

Ben wrote: "*shuffles onstage* My book, Hannibal: Enemy Of Rome is set at the time of the beginning of the Second Punic War. Its heroes are both Roman and Carthaginian, and it has been a Sunday Times bestselle..."

Congrats!

Looks very interesting. It says series in the summary, how many books are you planning on writing for it?

How remiss of me. I knew of your book, Ben, but forgot to mention it when I started the thread. Thanks for mentioning it.

I loved studying the Punic wars. If Livy could make them breathlessly fascinating, a good, red-blooded storyteller makes them mesmerizing. There are so many setbacks, defeats, characters that come upon the stage -

It's stunning. One example that I always liked was Hannibal outside the gates of Rome (he did get there) learning of a commotion and asking what it was. He was told that an army was leaving to fight the Gauls (or was it the Celts?) and his response, phrased more majestically, was "What's WITH these people???"

I loved reading of Tiberius Gracchus' army of rabble and how he whipped them into shape (THERE's a hero for a novel!)

Well, anyhow, Welcome, Ben. Step lively - no need to shuffle in view of what you've written.

I enjoy the story of him crossing the Alps with his army and his Elephants. Now that was a moment in history and is my favourite part of the Hannibal true history.

I'm actually reading Ben's Hannibal at the moment and it's a storming book. Not read his Spartacus yet, but otherwise Hannibal's his best so far.

Thanks, Dawn, Terri, Diana and SJA!

Hannibal is to be one of four books. The first covers from 219 BC to December 218 BC, ending with the battle of the Trebia.
Book Two, which I am just starting, will cover Lake Trasimene and finish with the momentous battle at Cannae, in August 216 BC.
Books Three and Four will cover the remaining 12 years of the conflict!

S.J.A. wrote: "I'm actually reading Ben's Hannibal at the moment and it's a storming book. Not read his Spartacus yet, but otherwise Hannibal's his best so far."

Welcome S.J.A., I see you're a big Roman history fan, we hope to see your recommendations and comments in the threads. And just because this looks like an awesome site and I hope to visit some of these myself this is a link to Simon's webpage (aka S.J.A.) http://www.roman-sites.com/. I do love the google earth link showing all the locations!

An interesting book from the POV of ordinary Italians during the Second Punic War is The Coin of Carthage by Bryher. Hannibal is only dealt with marginally, as he comes into contact with some of the characters.

Here's a review from the Neglected Books Page.
http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=968

Fantastic website, S.J.A!

Hi Ben,
If there are more to come in the Hannibal series I had better pull my finger out and knockover the first in the next few months. Before I get too far behind. I am already behind on a lot of good historical fiction series'.

Vicki wrote: "An interesting book from the POV of ordinary Italians during the Second Punic War is The Coin of Carthage by Bryher. Hannibal is only dealt with marginally, as he comes into contact with some of t..."

I see Dawn gave Coin of Carthage only one star.

Yep, one star is synonymous with unfinished for me. Found it boring and I didn't have the patience to see if it was going to get better.

It looks dry.

That's a good word for it.

Dawn, sorry it wasn't your cup of tea. I did find it interesting, if not really gripping. I liked reading about "the little people" caught up in momentous events of history.

I couldn't finish The Coin of Carthage either, sadly.

I Marched With Hannibal by Hans Baumann is a little known YA book from the 60s, set in/after the Second Punic War. It's worth a read, and it was well researched. I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars out of 5.

No worries.

Here's the book Ben mentioned. I Marched With Hannibal
I had not heard of it.

Chris wrote: "How frequently do other Goodreads folks click on Worldcat and find no listing for the title linked from GR?."

Never. *grins* I never click on Worldcat for anything. :)

I think I'm afraid to click Worldcat. Sounds like a virus!

If you are looking for more good books set during the Punic Wars, there is a great trilogy by Ross Leckie, entitled Hannibal, Scipio, and Carthage respectively. I really enjoyed them and the different perspectives that each book provided.

I second Adam's recommendation of the Leckie books - they were really well written.

The links for the previously mentioned books: by Ross Leckie

Hi ya Adam, :-)
Here's how to link to books or authors in posts.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

I'm currently in Italy, in Puglia to be precise. I'm researching for the final part of my second Hannibal novel, Fields of Blood. Today, I went to the Cannae battlefield, which is an amazing place. I shot a windy, hoarse-voiced (have laryngitis at the mo') video, which is on Youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91-xrP...

Awesome. Thanks Ben. this one I am very, very interested in.

Help anyone ?
I heard of the existance of Hanno The Navigator's accounts (a trip around the seashores of north africa during it's punic period) but I can't seem to find any book title. Any help ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_th...

Hi Amine,
I'm afraid I have not seen anything on Hanno The Navigator. Hope you find something.

Just bought - can't wait. Hannibal is a real hero of mine. Don't know if I can stand the end. Can he triumph in the last battle perhaps this time? I won't mind if David Anthony Durham fiddles things for me.

I even got the more expensive cover, that I find atmospheric.

amine wrote: "Help anyone ?
I heard of the existance of Hanno The Navigator's accounts (a trip around the seashores of north africa during it's punic period) but I can't seem to find any book title. Any help ?"

Seems obscure but there are versions under the author name Hanno

Here's the results of an Amazon search for 'The Voyage of Hanno': http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...

Bryn wrote: "
Just bought - can't wait. Hannibal is a real hero of mine. Don't know if I can stand the end. Can he triumph in the last battle perhaps this time? I won't mind ..."

I love that cover. It is the cover on the one I own too. (That's the cover you mean?)

I am afraid there is no avoiding the ending. I shed a couple tears in the end.