Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

I have always liked the cover of this book. Very well done, and I am indeed a sucker for a nice cover.
Covers are the window to a books soul...sometimes.
I have never added it to my tbr though. I am not sure why. I think my library has it....but...I'm not sure if I want to read it yet.

Fires in the Dark

I started reading this a very long time ago and never finished it. It was not the book's fault it was the times I lived in.
It is a classic none the less, by James Clavell who you may know better by his his books Shogun and Tai-pan.


King Rat
James Clavell

Since I started a ww2 thread, it would certainly be remiss of me not to mention The Winds of War. A mighty classic.


The Winds of War

I don't often see new WW2 or WW1 fiction around...of course I don't actually seek it out as it isn't really my thing....but I did see this one in the bookstore today. It was a different cover (it was better than this one I feel).

The Black Jackals

That is a tough one.

Shōgun by James Clavell
goes in this era thread doens't it? Or is it earlier again?

Whereas Daishi-San is much much earlier.

Perhaps just make a post about Clavell's Japan books and make mention of it there do you think?

I stumbled upon this WW2 series, starts in Norway.

Rebecca Cantrell has a new book coming out in her Hannah Vogel series. This one is set in Poland and Berlin on the eve of Krystallnacht. I love the way Cantrell gets in big ideas and themes into nail-biting, exciting reading. She's a favorite of mine these days. My review of A City of Broken Glass.

That series looks goooood. I have added the first to my tbr. Thanks Judith.

Terri wrote: "That series looks goooood. I have added the first to my tbr. Thanks Judith."

Have you not read Rebecca yet? Start with A Trace of Smoke. Rebecca went to school in Germany and she writes with genuine understanding about the period and place. Actually I think she's just moved back to Berlin after living in Hawaii! That's got to be a big change. You'll love her books.

My problem is that I don't often read female authors. I am not sexist. Lol :-) It is personal preference. They tend to be a bit more emotional and over dramtaic. Talk about things I am not interested in like love and romance and outfits and hair and dirty fingernails. And loneliness (because women without men apparently are lonely in their apartments at night, not laughing in a street cafe with friends)

I looked at the books, and the first one of that series, and didn't see any trace of love story or romance, and I am tempted.

I like the crime thriller genre (non historical and historical), I like historical fiction and I am a war buff, so if this series is as good as it looks then it may be for me. :-)

Terri wrote: "My problem is that I don't often read female authors. I am not sexist. Lol :-) It is personal preference. They tend to be a bit more emotional and over dramtaic. Talk about things I am not interes..."
You're right--Her books don't have a romance feel. Pretty masculine feel I'd say, despite the female heroine. There is sex and love, but not, I'd say, romance at all.

Masculine feel is what I am after. :-)

Terri wrote: "My problem is that I don't often read female authors. I am not sexist. Lol :-) It is personal preference. They tend to be a bit more emotional and over dramtaic. Talk about things I am not interes..."

I'm pretty intrigued by why you feel this way... is there a thread to discuss? I guess I'm fairly similar. With the exception of 'love' from your list (nothing against intelligent love stories. They have to be unusual) - the others are put-offs for me: and add a focus on husband/marriage/children/home and the f word, family.

Mind, there must be a fair percentage of women whose interests are elsewhere, which includes the writers? I can't say I avoid women as authors, just a type of book. - It's more that if there's a girl main character I have to vet her.

We did have some discussion on this recently in the Random Thoughts thread. If you scroll back maybe, oh, 10 posts, maybe more, you'll catch the start of the convo, Bryn.

Judith wrote: "Terri wrote: "That series looks goooood. I have added the first to my tbr. Thanks Judith."

Have you not read Rebecca yet? Start with A Trace of Smoke. Rebecca went to school in Germany and she wri..."

I just ordered

A Trace of Smoke from the library yesterday. Unfortunately it is the only one they have so I guess I'll have to go the ILL route to read the others.

Anne wrote: "Judith wrote: "Terri wrote: "That series looks goooood. I have added the first to my tbr. Thanks Judith."

Have you not read Rebecca yet? Start with A Trace of Smoke. Rebecca went to school in Germ..."
I hope you enjoy A Trace of Smoke. Maybe you can persuade your library to order the rest of her books, although I'll grant libraries don't seem to have budgets for much anymore.

It certainly does look like an interesting series. I was only thinking about that first book again this morning. Wondering when I could fit it in.

I notice my last comment here was on a series set at the outset of WWII. This time I'm moving across the Chanel and a little back in time, not much. If you like mysteries set in the period of the lost generation, post WWI, when the world had to rebuild its sense of self (not unlike the mood today), Elizabeth Speller's books will interest you. She's especially good at rich character development as well as unconventional plots. Her second book with Laurence Bartram as a somewhat uncertain sleuth is called The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton. Here's my review.

I found a book on canadian women in WWII . Looks interesting....

Sounds like a sad story.
When the Emperor Was Divine

Terri wrote: "I have always liked the cover of this book. Very well done, and I am indeed a sucker for a nice cover.
Covers are the window to a books soul...sometimes.
I have never added it to my tbr though. I a..."

That looks so interesting, Terri. The holocaust from the gypsy point of view. Many people have forgotten that trhousands of them were also destroyed along with the Jewish population. On my TBR.

If you check you library has it and you read it, you must keep us up to date on what you think. I haven't known anyone who has read it yet, although it is has been on my radar for a while.

Terri wrote: "If you check you library has it and you read it, you must keep us up to date on what you think. I haven't known anyone who has read it yet, although it is has been on my radar for a while."

Of course they don't why am I not surprised. I have several on ILL so will have to wait a bit to put this on. They do have three of her books, but not this one-Durnit!

Oh. Pity. I have been waiting for feedback on this book from someone I know.

Set in Moscow, 1936 looks like an interesting read. It is a mystery, could be a little more on the thriller side but I haven't tried it yet though I did add it to my TBR.

1920's Wall Street, Paris and Vienna. Includes a little on the newly emerging science of psychiatry......Could be interesting??

Dawn wrote: "Set in Moscow, 1936 looks like an interesting read. It is a mystery, could be a little more on the thriller side but I haven't tried it yet though I did add it to my TBR."

Holy Thief, Holy Thief...this looks so familiar to me. I don't know why. I haven't read it. I think someone I know well on GR must have read it.

I checked. Must have been Bernie that once mentioned it.

Terri wrote: "Oh. Pity. I have been waiting for feedback on this book from someone I know."

I felt bad for you Terri, so I went to my library ILL and ordered it. Since they already had a couple of her books, it shouldn't be hard to find.

Nicely done, Anne! :-)

:)

Terri, I just got from my library on ILL. I'll let you know about is as soon as I can. Have about 8 books on my table now.

I look forward to what you think about that book Anne. Not one I would read but I am curious about the culture, especially at that time in history.

Good news, Anne. Finally someone I know is going to read it!

Here is a mystery series I discovered out and about today. Set in the late 1930's.

It's like a sequel to the Lord Peter Wimsey series. Very interesting. :)

Terri wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Set in Moscow, 1936 looks like an interesting read. It is a mystery, could be a little more on the thriller side but I haven't tried it yet though I did add ..."

I don't know how I missed this. I read this one as well. There is a sequel to this book
.
Oddly enough, I got this one at the same time as The Sleepwalkers and they both published their second books at the same time as well. They will forever be linked in my mind. heh

Did you like Holy Thief, D?

I did. It had been a while since I'd read a book set in Russia and had forgotten about the whole multiple name thing (based on who is addressing whom), but I liked the story. The description of the political changes taking place (post-revolution) and the well placed paranoia is palpable. Because of how secretive Russian law enforcement is, the reader is never really on aid ground. At least I wasn't. I like when a story isn't quite so predictable.

Dawn wrote: "I look forward to what you think about that book Anne. Not one I would read but I am curious about the culture, especially at that time in history."

Just thought I would give you a heads up on "Fires in the Dark." I am about 2/3 through, and is is a very well written but sad book. I will post a review when the Olympics is over and I can catsh up-LOL

Errr..sad hey? I thought it might be. I try to steer clear of anything too sad. Life is stressful enough. lol

I also avoid sad books, I'm such a baby I just read and cry. I find it too tramatizing. :)

I'm glad it's a good book though.

Traumatizing is the word I would use too. I get traumatized by sad books and movies and if I can, I avoid them like the plague.

I had an interesting recommendation come up today, by Stefan Zweig. Looks quite good, I added it to my TBR.

Gee that sounds interesting. And what a wild cover!

I am a huge fan of the Goodreads Recommendations feature. I've found some good books that way.

It came up because I have Perfume: The Story of a Murderer on my bookshelves. I thought it sounded original.
I am constantly looking at the recommendations, I get some great ideas. :)

There's one good thing to come out of Perfume. :D

Just saw an author in our members list who has this book (has it showing as currently reading)


A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

Not the kind of butch book we like to post about in this group, but I figured, screw it!. Why not. I also thought if I said 'screw it' it would butch up my post enough to compensate for the ladylike nature of the book.

Hmmm, not sure if that was butch enough but I think we'll allow the book based on the location anyway. :D

*hawwwwwk* *spit*
What about that? :-)