Who is the best Historical Fiction author?

[murphy]

Originally Posted by svalbard

Dorothy Dunnett is an excellent read. Her book on Macbeth, King Hereafter is outstanding.

Another one but it might be hard to get is called In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hellas Haasse. It is about Agincourt and the final years of the Hundred Years War.

Absolutely love Dunnett. Have read and reread all her books many times. In fact, it seems to me it's time for a reread of The House of Niccolo.

[svalbard]

Yes, the Niccola series was inspired. My favourite was the one set in Trebizond.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by svalbard

Yes, the Niccola series was inspired. My favourite was the one set in Trebizond.

The Spring of the Ram. Her writing is so rich and textured. Those are the words that come to mind when I think of her.

[Connavar]

So far Conn Iggulden is by far the best one i have read.


His style is great special when its about greater than life characters like Ghengis Khan,Julius Ceasar,Sula,Marius etc

[Parmenion]

what do we define as the best?

most acurate?
funniest?
most prolific?
best battles?
most authentic..(not to be confused with historical accuracy)
most contempary style?

me i love simon scarrows work.

His eagles series is utterly brilliant...the characters are ones you can empathise with, the dialogue is something that would be applicable in any age in any army. and the plots are pacy and gritty...each book gets better and better.

and to prove he can do the more researched book, look to his wellington and napoleon series young bloods and generals)...utter class.

[Mary Hoffman]

Delighted to find this thread already here but, as a recently joined member, who should be writing her current novel (deadline 3 weeks away) I have read only pages 1 and the last.

Surely someone must have mentioned Mary Renault in the pages in between? And I also vote for Rosematry Sutcliff.

I alternate writing fantasy novels with historical fiction now. The first published one came out thjis year - The Falconer's Knot - and is set in 1316 in Umbria. I did more research for that than for any other book. The next will be set about a hundred years earlier.

But last year I finished my first adult novel, set in 1980 with flashbacks to 1950, and I have to say that was almost as research based! Because there are people who remember that time and will quibble if I have something wrong.

For instance, my heroine runs a bookshop and it's quite easy to find out which books were publishged in a particular year. But to find the MONTH, so that she doesn't have piles of books displayed in July that weren't published till October, you have to contact the individual publisher for each title.

And this is not interesting - just background detail - but it has to be right.

Mary

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Parmenion

what do we define as the best?

most acurate?
funniest?
most prolific?
best battles?
most authentic..(not to be confused with historical accuracy)
most contempary style?

me i love simon scarrows work.

His eagles series is utterly brilliant...the characters are ones you can empathise with, the dialogue is something that would be applicable in any age in any army. and the plots are pacy and gritty...each book gets better and better.

and to prove he can do the more researched book, look to his wellington and napoleon series young bloods and generals)...utter class.

For me the best one is the one can write the best stories. Historical Accuracy is good and all but it doesnt make a story good on its own.

Simon Scarrow is my second fav cause he is very good at writing at military history and the way he writes their battles,military life in the times he writes about and so.

For example I adore his Macro and Cato series. He tells the story about the normal soldiers so well. In Young Bloods he made Napoleon come to life very very good.

I made my younger brother a fan too that he has bought 3 new of his Legion books this weak. He also thinks like me that he isnt great prose wise but he is very good writing military life and the battles.

Conn is the best i have read so far cause he does the best world for example Rome and Sea of Grass aka the steppes of the Mongols come to life so vividly. Characters he is great at specially at side characters like Tudruk,Renius etc

Actionwise he is very hard to beat too. You can almost feel the killing blow

[Parmenion]

Simon Scarrow is my second fav cause he is very good at writing at military history and the way he writes their battles,military life in the times he writes about and so.

For example I adore his Macro and Cato series. He tells the story about the normal soldiers so well. In Young Bloods he made Napoleon come to life very very good.

Have you read Eagle in the Sand yet? if not you will meet a certain Centurion Parmenion... thats me...well im the inspiration for the name anyway...(one of my fav little claims to fame) {Big grin}

[Connavar]

I have only read the first two books so far.

Will be interesting to see Parmenion, i mean he must be something special to inspire your name.

[Snowdog]

Originally Posted by Mary Hoffman

Surely someone must have mentioned Mary Renault in the pages in between?

Yes Mary Renault has got a mention

I like Scarrow. He tells a good story and is a page-turner. I could be wrong, but from what I've read so far, his books are pretty much alike. Nothing wrong with that - it worked for Bernard Cornwell and I've read most of his.

Some other authors not yet mentioned that are worth a look -

Winston Graham for his Poldark series - the first few books are a particularly good read
Georgette Heyer - OK they are mostly historical romances, but not all, and for my money she has written one of the best re-tellings of the battle of Waterloo in An Infamous Army
R. Farrington - Robert Farrington wrote the best account I've read of the life of Richard III in his book The Killing Of Richard III. Anyone interested in this subject and other books about this era of history should check out the books listed here Richard III Society - New Zealand Branch

[Mary Hoffman]

You're absolutely right tio mention Georgette Heyer, even though they are romances and might seem unfashioned to the female readers and too chick-y to the males. But she got me reading historical and The Devil's Cub was my favourite book as a young teenager. Did you ever read her detective novels, like A Blunt Instrument? I loved those too.

Mary

[Parmenion]

Snowdog: try Simons New series, starts with young bloods and then follwed by generals...totally different from Eagles books.


Connavar

Will be interesting to see Parmenion, i mean he must be something special to inspire your name

The name parmenion was inspired from Gemmells Lion of Macedon, it was a very important book for me, and still is.
I have always used the name online and my online book shop is parmenion books etc.... On the Scorrow forum i am Parmenion...and Simon liked the name enough to name one of his characters arfter Moi!!

the real Parmenion is a real tough cookie one of Alexander the greats generals, In fact Alexander had him murdered becasue he feared retribution after he drunkenly killed parmenions son. Parmenion had helped Phillip alexanders father build the macedonian kingdom...from what i have found out not a man to mess with.

[Snowdog]

Originally Posted by Parmenion

Snowdog: try Simons New series, starts with young bloods and then follwed by generals...totally different from Eagles books.

I intend to get round to them at some stage, but I've got too many books to read already.

I like detective stories sometimes so I'll definitely check out Georgette Heyer's...

[Toraspanda]

Originally Posted by murphy

My favorite historical authors are:

Must not forget Mary Renault who wrote excellent books on ancient Greece such as The Bull from the Sea, The King Must Die, The Persian Boy (about Alexander the Great) and many others. She was a groundbreaker.

Heartily endore this, and add The Mask of Apollo and The Praise Singer to the "must-reads" of this writer.

Another must, for those who are interested in the Elizabethan and especially Stuart periods in English history, is Margaret Irwin, with Young Bess, Royal Flush, The Stranger Prince, The Gay Galliard, The Proud Servant.

Someone mentioned Dostoevsky earlier, sorry, I forget who it was.
It's a long time since I read any of his books, but I'd hardly call him a writer of Historical novels - Crime and Punishment for instance, of which the main emphases are psychological and philosophical, is set in 19th century Russia. Dostoevsky lived from 1821 to 1881

[Connavar]

I must read Mary Renault!!

I have been looking for good HF about ancient Greece.