Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

Has anyone read any good books that take place in the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, Middle East, Persia or Central Asia? I read the Inspector Yasim series from Jason Goodwin and I have read The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk. I am looking for more of a sword and sandal epic set in these regions, maybe post rise of Islam.

Thanks,

Josh

Hi Josh,
Sword and Sandal epic hey. Are you hunting for a new series or one offs?

I can definitely recommend the book I am reading now as a one off swords and sandals epic battle type read.

Men of Bronze by Scott Oden

Part set in Egypt, but also covers through into Palestine.

There is also

The Afghan Campaign

There is this author that may be interested in;
Yashar Kemal

And to Byzantium;

Strategos - Born in the Borderlands

My fellow mod reviewed this one last month and posted the review in the group here;
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

This is Egypt, which I know you didn't technically specify, and is by the same author that I mentioned earlier as having written the book I am currently reading, Men of Bronze, Scott Oden

The Lion of Cairo

The Lion of Cairo/Yashar Kemal is more what I am looking for. Less ancient world more Middle East is Middle Ages to Renaissance.

I liked The Lion of Cairo
It had a bit of a YA feel at times and sometimes the writing wasn't as tight as his other books, but it was still a good tale.

Has anyone read The Sword and the Scimitar (also known as Ironfire) or Bartle Bull?

Hey Joshua, could you put in the links for the books? It makes it easier to look them up to see if anyone has read them. :)

Ironfire: A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades

Bartle Bull

Here's the links for the book and author mentioned and I haven't read them myself. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions either but I'll try to think of some.

I haven't read either the book or the author. I haven't even heard of Bartle. That's quite a name.

Bartle Bull is the most fake sounding name for an author since Beetle the Bard.

Hahaha. You're not wrong there! Lol!!

By the way, Josh.
Here's the thread to explain the add book/author feature. :-)
It's no biggie. Don't need to post links every post, only when an author or book has not been mentioned in the last four posts.
It really helps people new to the thread to follow the discussion and see the books etc. And those in the discussion, are less inlined to check a bo out if they have to punch in a search themselves.
I meant to show you the link to the add book/author explanation yesterday. I forgot. :/
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Now, other stuff...
Do you read non fiction, Josh?
If you do, or even if you don't, I want to highly recommend Arabian Sands.
It is not stuffy. Completely relatable to current generations. It is unforgettable and one of my favourite books.

I read nonfiction frequently. While I have not read a ton of history related to the Near East, I took a class in college as part of my major and have visited Turkey, Morocco and Israel. The reviews of Arab Sands make it sound quite interesting.

Joshua wrote: "I read nonfiction frequently. While I have not read a ton of history related to the Near East, I took a class in college as part of my major and have visited Turkey, Morocco and Israel. The reviews..."

You are very lucky. I would love to see all three of those countries.

All of them are on my list of places to go......so many places, so little money. :)

These days, poor Morocco seems too dangerous for me. You never know if you're going to be targeted because you're a westerner. But oh boy, I would love to see the Souks and old buildings. I get whimsical just thinking about it.
Israel, I'd liked to go, but I don't hunger for it. Turkey however, I want to go badly.

Morocco was like visiting the wild west. I did not feel unsafe because I was American, I was more perturbed at the constant attempts to shake us down for money (usually by getting you to go shopping which does not sound too bad but trust me it is stressful).

I love Istanbul as much as Rome, Paris or London. Everyone there is extremely friendly and the City is magical. The food is also terrific (better than Morocco).

My parents went to Turkey a couple years back. They loved it too. There is a lot of WW1 history for Australians in Turkey and we flock there in droves to visit battle sites and memorials. The food and the history in Turkey is such a big draw card.

How long ago was it that you went to Morocco? There has been an increase in targeting of westerners in the last 24 months.

I've wanted to head to Instanbul ever since we read . Didn't like the book but I really want to see the place.

I hope Morrocco will be okay in a couple years, I want to visit when we see Spain and Portugal.

And don't Aussies just go everywhere?? I was worried when I didn't hear any in Eastern Europe but then on our way to Prague we shared a night train compartment with one who was traveling for 5 months through Europe and all was right with the world again.

Hahaha. :D I think it would have to be ski season to see a lot of Aussies in Europe. Lol
I hope the Aussie you met was nice to you!
But it is true I'm afraid. Aussies do tend to wander around the globe. I did when I was 17, I only got as far as New Zealand though before I ran out of cash and came home. I was there for nearly a year though. :-)

I'd dearly like to see the Hagia Sophia in Instanbul.

She was very nice, she was just happy to be hanging out with some other girls for awhile.:) And seeing as I live a couple hours from Whistler, BC (prime sking country) I know all about Aussies and they're love affair with snow.....and pubs. :)

Terri wrote: "I'd dearly like to see the Hagia Sophia in Instanbul."

Yep, that's what I want to see to.

I can't count on my fingers and toes how many Aussies I know who have gone to Whistler, either for the snow or for a working holiday at the snow. Lol. There must be more Aussies on Whistler in snow season than Canadians!

Yep, it's like a little Suburb of Australia in Canada. Good thing you guys are all so nice, you fit in around here quite well.

Aw. That's nice that we're nice to the locals. :-) It's why we love Canada, because we are welcomed there.

I highly suggest Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres. Defintely a very gorgeous novel!!!!!!!

That sounds like a good book, Erin. Nice cover art too.

Terri wrote: "That sounds like a good book, Erin. Nice cover art too."

A really really good book. Highly recommended. All the books by Louids de Bernieres are really good... The characters of Birds Without Wings are both Christians and Muslims... Very lovely names like Philothei, etc... I think it was set sometime when there was a war between Christians and Muslims... I cannot remember exactly but this is really really good =P

I guess if I had to say what type of feel I was going for, maybe a Prisoner of Zenda type book set in the Near East. Some sword play, intrigue and adventure. Maybe I should just write it myself?

I don't know what prisoner of zenda is. Is it a game or something?

Don't know if this is your thing, but others who see the thread title may find it suits them..

Amazir

Prisoner of Zenda:


The Prisoner of Zenda

One of the great adventure stories. There is a sequel that I have not yet read.

Ah, I see. Well maybe that Amazir is more your thing than I thought. There are similarities, love, adventure, desert.

What about this series?


Flashman

Already love it. I highly recommend these books. One caveat is that part of the humor is that Harry Flashman is a sexist monster.

Maybe we need a sub-forum for swashbuckling. I found this goodreads list:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/36...

Terri wrote: "I don't know what prisoner of zenda is. Is it a game or something?"

You've never read this?? It's a classic. That cover doesn't do it justice I have a beautiful red leatherish cover with goldish embossing.......it's up there with Alexandre Dumas's books.

No, seems I am missing out am I. Too much to read this year, but I'll add it to my tbr.

When Josh said prisoner of zenda I had a flashback to the much loved game of Zelda. Made me think it was some sort of game. Lol.

You already have plans for the whole year?? :)

Joshua wrote: "Already love it. I highly recommend these books. One caveat is that part of the humor is that Harry Flashman is a sexist monster.

Maybe we need a sub-forum for swashbuckling. I found this goodrea..."

I can generally handle sexist monster if it is meant to be funny. :-) Or should I say, if it is done cleverly.

Man, there are some books on that list that I wouldn't have thought to put on it as 'swwashbuckling'.

Dawn wrote: "You already have plans for the whole year?? :)"

Yes ma'am. I have some open slots though. And mostly it is 'a feel' of what I will or won't read this year. I have targets. In order to get my bloody tbr down. Lol

We need some kind of moratorium on adding to the TBR in order to catch up... :)

I did go through it the other day and deleted some of the maybe books, I have no time for maybe books that the library doesn't have.

I've try to delete. I cull every couple of months, but not many go when I do it.

I got lucky this time, I had added quite a few that I don't think are my type of books now. I'm getting a better idea what I like in the historical fiction genre so I was able to delete about twenty. Doesn't make up for all the ones I add...........

Dawn wrote: "Terri wrote: "I don't know what prisoner of zenda is. Is it a game or something?"

You've never read this?? It's a classic. That cover doesn't do it justice I have a beautiful red leatherish cover ..."

There have been several movies made about "The Prisoner of Zenda" but by far the best is the one with Stewart Granger, one of my all time favorite actors. True swashbuckling(if there is such a word)LOL

Amazing that I have only just learned of this classic.

WhenI think of all I do not know, like I said before, I hope God has a huge library in Heaven. There is just not enought time here on earth to learn all I want to learn.LOL

I was only thinking this morning about the 70 books I challenged myself to read this year through the Goodreads Challenge. I am 1 behind and I would be more behind if I didn't have cookbooks added to it as 'read'.
As far as non cookbook, fiction and nonfiction books, time will tell but I may only read 55-60 books this year. How will I ever get all the books I want to read done when I can't lift my reading speed. It is a sad state of affairs. lol :)

I challenged myself to 78 novels, so not counting art books or travel books. I was hoping to meet it by July 1st but it looks like I slowed down and I won't meet it until a month or two later. Looking at all the books so far, I haven't picked alot of the massive tomes I usually read and I think that's making my numbers look really good this year.

Terri wrote: "I want to highly recommend Arabian Sands.
It is not stuffy..."

That's one of my major books ever, ever. Almost like a novel for catchiness. Read a heap of Arabian travels after that...

As for Bartle Bull - that weird name's familiar, he wrote a travel book on Lake Baikal. Didn't grow to like him much.

Possible suggestions: I loved this on Afghanistan; it's a bit old, but great story - fierce people obsessed with horses and that game where they drag a goat's carcass about on horseback Les cavaliers - or 'The Horsemen' in English, my copy anyhow.

And I love this Turkish writer Terri mentioned, Yashar Kemal Memed, My Hawk, They Burn the Thistles. Adventure-style, exploited villagers turn bandits sort of thing. I guess it's not even historical but it feels that way - I don't know when it's set, doesn't seem to matter, we're in the deeps of Anatolia.

I'll have to keep my eye on this thread, I like Near East and Central Asia stuff.
PS. just bought Strategos - Born in the Borderlands (cheap on Kindle) - thanks - it has Seljuks.