02-26-2010, 12:39 PM | #1 |
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Viking Historical Fiction Recommendations
Hi all,
My brother-in-law and I like to read historical fiction. We've recently read "The Last King" and "Ten Thousand" by Michael Curtis Ford. Both excellent reads both took place in the Roman era. The former was a Prussian king who resisted Rome the latter is about Rome Now we're looking for historical books that took place in the Medieval era where the focus is on a Viking point of view. Any recommendations? Thanks in Advance, =X= |
02-26-2010, 04:45 PM | #2 |
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I'm at a loss, other than Astrix (in which the vikings only appear once or twice through the series).
Of course, they appear in many of the books involving Norse mythology, and that may be a place to start as well. Thor, Loki, and many others are mentioned, are characters, and good old Asgard (I think that's the name) serves as a backdrop for portions of several stories out there (and many many movies, comic books, graphic novels, etc)...though I can't think of any titles off hand. The vikings appear as an enemy, if memory serves, in Jack Whyte's Arthurian Skystone/Camolud series - though I'm not sure you'll find these in e-book format other than the one or two that have been sited on the darknet, and as a Canadian author, they might be hard to find wherever you live. It's been a while since I've read the series (in pBook when each was first released), so I could be mistaken on the vikings/Norse being in the story at all though, and if they are, I think it was only in a couple books. You got me curious, and I did stumble over these links: http://bookviewstest.blogspot.com/20...g-fiction.html http://www.librarything.com/topic/18800 http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/Viki...edNovels.shtml http://www.fiveeightforums.com/vikin...40/index.html? http://www.historicalnovels.info/Med...andinavia.html http://www.historicalnovels.info/Medieval.html |
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02-26-2010, 04:53 PM | #3 |
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Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead is excellent IMHO
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02-26-2010, 05:08 PM | #4 |
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Perhaps this would interest you:
The Long Ships: A Saga of the Viking Age by the Swedish author Frans G. Bengtsson http://www.amazon.com/Long-Ships-Sag.../dp/000612609X I read it in Swedish back in the days when I was still in school. It's certainly about Vikings and a rather good book to I might add. Leave it to the Scandinavians to write about Vikings |
02-26-2010, 05:51 PM | #5 |
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There is the Bernard Cornwell "The Saxon Stories" series. He's a very good historical fiction writer.
You should also pick up Mark Coakley's "Viking Saga". It's free at Smashwords and I enjoyed it. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5698 |
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02-26-2010, 08:03 PM | #6 |
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Have you tried using the literature map? Just type in the author's name and it will give suggestions of other authors that write like him.
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02-26-2010, 10:35 PM | #7 |
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Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton. This is the book that "The 13th Warrior" was based on. It follows the POV of an arab prisoner aboard a viking vessel. It's been a long time since I've read it or seen the movie.
I'd also second anything by Cromwell. He's regarded as one of the best of the best. Also, you can check out out the "Terra Incognata" series (The Edge of the World) by Kevin J Anderson. It's more epic fantasy than historical fiction. But, its mainly based on norse mythology and viking culture. There's also "The Last Light of the Sun" by Guy Gavriel Key, it's an alternate history and I think it's part of a series. Other ones that I've seen mentioned but am not familiar with include: "The Thrall's Tale" by Judith Lindbergh "Raven's Wind" by Victor Canning "The Sea Road" by Margaret Elphinstone Also found this link that may be of help to you. Best of luck! Keep us updated with whatever you decide Last edited by jaxx6166; 02-26-2010 at 10:55 PM. |
02-27-2010, 02:37 AM | #8 |
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Thanks everyone this is a good start, it looks like I got a few good choices. Most of my earlier searches for viking stories on amazon kept on turning up romances boy there are lots of those.
Now which book to pick ... =X= |
02-27-2010, 02:51 PM | #9 |
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Eater's of the dead - that's the one I couldn't recall, though I knew I'd read it.
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03-08-2010, 06:01 AM | #10 |
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Here is a link with a description of Victor Canning's Raven's Wind.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wordscape...avenswind.html Although I am a great admirer of Canning, I did not find this one of his best. |
03-08-2010, 09:44 AM | #11 |
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Kristin Lavransdatter is the common name for a trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset. The individual novels are Kransen (The Wreath), first published in 1920, Husfrue (Wife), published in 1921, and Korset (The Cross), published in 1922. Kransen and Husfrue have also been published in English translation under the titles The Bridal Wreath and The Mistress of Husaby.
This work formed the basis of Undset receiving the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, "principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages"; her work is much admired for its historical and ethnological accuracy. This quotation is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Lavransdatter It is not Vikings, but what they became. The first book is still very readable. |
03-08-2010, 02:15 PM | #12 |
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For a little bit of fun. Vikings, a little. And Romans too.
G C Edmondson's The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream. Long out of print, and certainly not in e-book format. If I didn't have 2 different versions of it I would buy it again. Not GREAT LITERATURE, just fun. |
03-08-2010, 02:35 PM | #13 | |
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Quote:
A list of Viking themed fiction: http://vikinganswerlady.com/VikingThemedNovels.shtml Some general historical information that might be useful: http://vikinganswerlady.com/VALGeneralInformation.shtml |
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03-08-2010, 10:42 PM | #14 |
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Anya Seton's "Avalon" might have a bit too much romance for you :-) But I do remember enjoying it when I read it years ago. I don't know if it's available as an e-book, though.
Book description: http://isbnlib.com/isbn/1556526008/Avalon-A-Novel |
03-08-2010, 10:52 PM | #15 |
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And for something rather different: Harry Harrison's "The Technicolor Time Machine". Comic sci-fi with Vikings and a time machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tec...r_Time_Machine |
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