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Old 06-25-2009, 09:25 PM   #31
emellaich
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
It's not ancient Greek, but perhaps the Belisarius Saga by Eric Flint and David Drake might appeal.

http://www.webscription.net/c-21-bel...ric-flint.aspx
[snip]

I can't remember any explicit sex scenes in the books, but they might have faded from my memory. They're certainly pretty violent in places.
I think that any fan of thermopylae would really enjoy the Belisarius series, and I highly recommend it. In regard to the sex scenes I'm pretty sure there aren't any. I can think of one wedding night in a later book in the series, and one night between a couple in a long term relationship, who eventually become married. However, I don't believe the details of these encounters are that explicit. I think they are more inferred.

On the other hand, no secret is made of the fact that Belisarius' wife is an ex-whore as is the empress of the Roman empire. The books never get into any explicit details, but knowledge of the former profession of these two wives is quite well known.

I also support pilotbob's vote for Ender's game. It has nothing to do with thermopylae other than being martial. However, it is an eleven book series that is quite popular with young guys.
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Old 06-26-2009, 05:27 PM   #32
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Aha! An excuse to post something I've wanted to pass on for years!

It's sci-fi, sort of, but Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a series of books described here. I read them in my mid-20s and thought they would have been absolutely perfect at 12-14 (they were still enjoyable as an adult).
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Old 06-27-2009, 01:37 AM   #33
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Originally Posted by purl4peace View Post
I have an extremely bright 12-year-old boy who is fascinated by ancient greek battles -- Thermopylae is his favorite. He blew through the Rick Riordan series with each book taking him about a day to read.


Thanks in advance for your suggestions and your help.

Best regards,
Nancy
After reading the other suggestions, I wonder if his interest is restricted to ancient Greece or would wander into other history too. I have one suggestion and one followup note:

the follow-up regards an earlier suggestion of some of the works of David Drake. If you look up David's web site, he has notes on almost all of his books that sometimes include the classical background of the underlying idea. Most of his SF has some situation from history that triggers the basic story, and you could use this to help select one or more of his books.

The suggestion is the 1632 series by Eric Flint and numerous collaborators. This is alternate history, but set in a part of history that can be inherently interesting, and that has lots of nonfiction resources if you find yourself craving more detail. 1632 is available in the Baen Free Library, and the multi-threaded sequels are also available from Baen.
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Old 06-27-2009, 02:25 AM   #34
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umm

Eoin Colfers Artemis Fowl series, I rather liked them.

Stephen Lawheads books would be relatively age appropriate and they are relatively easy reads.

Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey are indeed good as well.

I remember reading a really good book about the Spartan war a while back ago... totally can't remember the name though.

That is all I can think of in the way of suggestions currently.

Amy
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Old 06-27-2009, 03:55 AM   #35
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I remember reading a really good book about the Spartan war a while back ago... totally can't remember the name though.
"Gates of Fire" Steven Pressfield ??
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Old 06-27-2009, 04:22 AM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Devilbunny View Post
It's sci-fi, sort of, but Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a series of books described here. I read them in my mid-20s and thought they would have been absolutely perfect at 12-14 (they were still enjoyable as an adult).
And available as an omnibus ebook right here on Mobileread, in Mobipocket and LRF. Thanks, HarryT!

Oh - and here's a cover I made for the omnibus.
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Old 06-27-2009, 01:56 PM   #37
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Running out of books to recommend for your son-- that's a good problem to have!

Any of Heinlein's young adult novels are likely to please. Heinlein is very aware of history and references it in his works frequently. Tamora Pierce is also an excellent writer with a strong knowledge of history which she uses to help the realism of her fantasy books. Both of these authors are accessible, but don't "talk down" to their readers. Good choices for smart kids.

You may wish to check out Mercedes Lackey or Anne McCaffrey yourself before recommending their books, as both authors tend to include at least some sexual content (in some cases rather a lot-- Lackey's characters, in particular, seem to be prone to being raped). If some sexual content doesn't bother you, and you think your son would be interested in exploring other parts of history, Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Tomoe Gozen series or Barry Hughes' Bridge of Birds books (set in semi-historical Japan and China, respectively) are good reads. Or James Clavell's Shogun, for that matter. And someone who really enjoys history is likely to enjoy Tolkein, even though his "history" was invented. I would also suggest fantasy authors Garth Nix and Shannon Hale, both of whom incorporate historical and folktale content in their works. Jonathan Stroud has already been mentioned, and I second that recommendation -- that would be a sort of alternate history. Orson Scott Card's "Alvin the Maker" series falls into the same sort of category.

Getting closer to your original question, I'd recommend Gillian Bradshaw's books set in the Byzantine period, particularly The Beacon at Alexandria and Imperial Purple.
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Old 06-27-2009, 09:11 PM   #38
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These may be a little young for him, I read them all when I was 8.

Heinlein juveniles,

Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947
Space Cadet, 1948
Red Planet, 1949
Farmer in the Sky, 1950
Between Planets, 1951
The Rolling Stones aka Space Family Stone, 1952
Starman Jones, 1953
The Star Beast, 1954
Tunnel in the Sky, 1955
Time for the Stars, 1956
Citizen of the Galaxy, 1957
Have Space Suit—Will Travel, 1958

Have you looked into Greek and Roman Mythology?

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Old 06-28-2009, 12:15 AM   #39
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yep!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparrow View Post
"Gates of Fire" Steven Pressfield ??
Ah! Yep that was it! Thought it might not be too age apprioprate for a 12 year old.


Amy
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Old 07-04-2009, 02:08 PM   #40
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THANK YOU ALL!!!! and Follow-up

Quote:
Originally Posted by sassanik View Post
Ah! Yep that was it! Thought it might not be too age apprioprate for a 12 year old.


Amy
WOW!! y'all really came through. This is a great list and I am stashing it away for future reference. I'm also download the Omnibus that HarryT has in the uploaded book section.

We are off to the beach next week and hopefully will have enough to keep him entertained (besides the sun, the ocean, the golf, the pool, the ocean... and *shiver* girls in bikinis *shiver*).

As an aside, when I went to our local independent bookstore to try to find David Gemmell books, they had never heard of him. Of course, I couldn't remember the name of the author (assuming that, as book experts, *THEY* would know).

When they didn't know, they let me use their computer to log into Mobileread. Needless to say, they were fascinated by Mobileread and were happy to discover David Gemmell as well.

Thanks again, everyone! Cheers...
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