Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

I had to add a Regency era if only to mention Bernard Cornwell's Gallows Thief.
It is not everyone's favourite Cornwell, but I am happy enough to buck the trend. I liked it.

Are you just looking to start a fight now?

Too inflammatory? :D

We'll see...

lol. I'm good for a tousle. I have my cricket bat.

Incidentally, that's an awful cover on that version.

But better than the other's don't you think? I feel the others look like early Dean R Koontz or V.C. Andrews novels.

erg


This is better. A bit of a David Copperfield or tale of Two Cities feel.

p.s That was the cover I have. This one
I think it is the only cover you can get over here these days.

That second one's the one I have ( ). I hadn't seen the others before.

I just started Gallows Thief - about 1/4 through. A lot of cricket talk that I don't understand. Looks like the story is about to break open. Good so far......

I have this version:

That is good to hear, CB. yep, just ignore the cricket stuff, it isn't that prominent later on.

Yep, I don't get cricket either. It doesn't interfere with the story.

He's not lying either, CB. He really doesn't.

I've got Gallows Thief on audiobook and I have no idea how far I am into the story but I like it so far.

Another who likes it! See Lee, turns out I wasn't being inflammatory when suggesting that it was a good book. :)

Didn't it kick off once in another thread? Maybe whoever that was has left now.

Yep. It was the Farnsworth author fellow.
But I expect others may come who don't like the book because it doesn't follow the formula that many BC fans seem to need from him.

I thought so, but I decided not to mention names.

I don't think he'd mind. :)

It would be hilarious if he did, frankly.

It would be! Yes! :)

Someone has to do it, and it may as well be me.
The Sharpe Series by Bernard Cornwell.
I was hoping someone else might be inspired by the thread and save me all this work. lol

The Sharpe Series on Cornwell's site.
http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index2...

Here is the order in which a person would read the Sharpe books if they were to start at the beginning.
(Don't ever say I don't do anything for you lot). ;)

Sharpe's Skirmish
A short story by Bernard Cornwell 2002

Sharpe's Christmas
Two short stories by Bernard Cornwell 2003

Sharpe's Story 2007
Sharpe's Tiger 1997
Sharpe's Triumph 1998
Sharpe's Fortress 1999
Sharpe's Trafalgar 2000
Sharpe's Prey 2001
Sharpe's Rifles 1988
Sharpe's Havoc 2003
Sharpe's Eagle 1981
Sharpe's Gold 1981
Sharpe's Escape 2004
Sharpe's Fury 2006
Sharpe's Battle 1995
Sharpe's Company 1982
Sharpe's Sword 1983
Sharpe's Enemy 1984
Sharpe's Honour 1985
Sharpe's Regiment 1986
Sharpe's Siege 1987
Sharpe's Revenge 1989
Sharpe's Waterloo 1990
Sharpe's Devil 1992

Terri wrote: "Someone has to do it, and it may as well be me.
The Sharpe Series by Bernard Cornwell.
I was hoping someone else might be inspired by the thread and save me all this work. lol

The Sharpe Series o..."

Yeah, the BC party never really happened did it?

Sharpe's Skirmish and Sharpe's Christmas: Two Short Stories are both short stories originally (and bizarrely) commissioned by the Daily Mail while the TV programmes were so popular. They were only ever printed in paperback, but if you can get hold of them you can read them in the correct part of their internal order - see the Sharpe series page on GoodReads.

Sharpe's Story had me for a moment there, as I completely missed its publication. I've done a bit of detective work though, and found out that it's a non-fiction work by Bernard Cornwell about creating the character, published by the Sharpe Appreciation Society. So, not widely distributed or essential to the stories. If you are interested in the background though, there's also The Sharpe Companion: The Early Years, a book written by a historian (approved by BC) which delves further into the history of each battle featured in the original series of books (those published up to 1992).

It is a lot of fun for the mega Sharpe fan.

But to anyone who has never read a Sharpe novel..you can pick them up and read them and enjoy them without having to a) read them in order or b) be learned of the world of Sharpe. :)

I bought my Dad a couple a year or so ago. A couple bargain bin books. He had already read and liked all the BC I had lent him over the years (Grail series, Warlord Chronicles and Saxon Series) so he was familiar with BC.
So, take heart punters, despite how intimidating it all looks, you can read one or two and still have yourself a good story that you can follow.

Terri wrote: "That is good to hear, CB. yep, just ignore the cricket stuff, it isn't that prominent later on."

I thought you said there wasn't much cricket stuff. It's everywhere!

Oh. *gulp* how far in are you?

Terri wrote: "Oh. *gulp* how far in are you?"

Well, I finished it. I guess I'm spoiled from Uhtred. Gallows Thief is not his best effort.

Not his best, no definitely not his best. Just different to his normal stuff and still quite good and, for me, enjoyable if you don't have a problem with the cricket references. If you do, you simply aren't going to appreciate it. It would seem.

There's obviously a lot more of that stuff in there than I remember!

I don't remember there being that much cricket in it and I only read it late last year.

Maybe any cricket is too much cricket? Or am I just being a crickety critic?

Did you say clickety clicket? No, crickety critic. Maybe. Maybe clicket is just not for you. :)

CB wrote: "Maybe any cricket is too much cricket? Or am I just being a crickety critic?"

No, you're spot on.

This one was recommended to me a while back. For some reason I never got around to mentioning it here.
It is on my tbr.


This Thing Of Darkness

Has anyone read Sea of Poppies

It was shortlisted for the Booker prize and i see there is now a sequel.

River of Smoke

The books sound intriguing.

Wow, you'd think it was me suggesting all these books with ships.... :)

Darwin doesn't hold much interest for me but it would probably make a really good HF.
I like the look of the two on China.

I have a book for this thread as well, . A mystery set in 1811 England.

Lee recommended the Darwin to me earlier this year. I think he was shocked that I so easily added it to my tbr. Lol. Maybe the book didn't look like me? :-) I am saving it for a day when I feel like getting, mentally, on a ship. Which is not often as you know. Books on ships restrict my imagination too much.

Yes, I was pretty surprised myself to see it on your TBR. :)

Haha. You and Lee. I surprised you both. :D

One of my GR friends really liked this and rated it a 5star.I liked the looks of it too and put it on my TBR list.

5 star is a very good sign. I'm on a new series kick so I might get to it this year sometime. :)

Interesting to hear, Chris. Thanks.

This series is set in my own country - Australia - and is set in the 1820's.

Terri wrote: "This series is set in my own country - Australia - and is set in the 1820's.

"

They seem to have quite mixed reviews Terri, but the first one sound good so I've added it to my TBR.

That's precisely why I have not gotten to the first one. I love the sound of them and I think it is fantastic to see a hf series like this being written by an Australian. As far as I know there are no others like it.

....but those ratings....they are a classic case of how too many poor ratings on GR can turn people off. They have turned me off.

Found this one. Sounds really unique.

The Emperor's Gold

I thought the title dull but the subtitle catches your interest: (Archives of the Comptrollerate-General for Scrutiny and Survey #1). As for the cover - green + storm at sea = perfect for me.

Also has a great review by Manda Scott.

I only just noticed your post down here in the Regency period. :)

Looks great doesn't it and I love that subtitle. That's what caught my eye too....after the exquisite cover that is...

A new book (the third one) in the Patrick Easter series called Tom Pascoe due out November 2013.




The Watermen
The River of Fire
(The NEW ONE): The Rising Tide

I'm still waiting for someone to read this and let me know if it's a good series. :)