Suggestions for a Bernard Cornwell reader

[arisaka]

Hello,

I'm currently reading Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Grail Quest series and I'm looking for some suggestions on what to read next. I'm aware that Cornwell has written a few other series and fully intend on reading them, but I'm looking for other authors that write somewhat similar historical fiction action/adventure novels. I'm fascinated by all periods of history from the ancients up to the end of the Cold War.

Thanks!,
arisaka

[Belfaborac]

Simon Scarrow writes historical novels mainly set in Roman times, but also the Napoleonic era.

Dewey Lambdin's novels are set during the 16th century, in and around the Royal Navy of the time.

Arturo Perez-Reverte writes of 17th Century Spain, most notably featuring Capitan Diego Alatriste (as immortalised by Viggo Mortensen in the movie Alatriste, which I heartily recommend).

Steven Pressfield's novels deals mainly with the Classical world: the Battle of Thermopylae, Alexander, Alcibiades and more. One of my favourite authors.

Mary Renault also writes of Classical Greece and Alexander. Wonderful novels.

Edward Rutherfurd writes of Medieval England and of the Irish Rebellion.

Harry Turtledove's Videssos Cycle might be interesting, even if it is alternative history.

Conn Iggulden is another author with an excellent series set in Rome, as well as one dealing with Genghis Khan.

And finally (in terms of what I can remember right now) are C. S. Forrester's classic series, Hornblower and Douglas Reeman/Alexander Kent's midshipman (to begin with, that is) Bolitho.

[AndrewH]

I particularly enjoyed Bernard Cornwell's Warlord series, starting with The Winter King, which is another retelling of the King Arthur mythology.

The most similar author I've read is Morgan Llywellyn. My favorite book of hers is Red Branch, about the Irish hero Cuchulainn. I seem to recall it had some light fantasy elements to it, but it does novelize some stories from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, so...

Some of Guy Gavriel Kay's works have a similar feel, though they do have fantasy elements and aren't based in "the real world" but rather fantasy analogues of real world historical times and places. For those books of his which are lightest on fantasy and heaviest on the historical feel, I would recommend:

• The Last Light of the Sun, based on the Viking invasions of Anglo-Saxon England and Wales.
• Under Heaven, based on 8th century Tang Dynasty (China) and the events leading up to the An Shi Rebellion.
• The Sarantine Mosaic duology, which starts with Sailing to Sarantium, based on Constantinople under Justinian I.

Of course, if you have no particular objection to fantasy I would heartily recommend anything he's written (except Ysabel).

[Belfaborac]

Also, if you are open to reading classical works, I would strongly suggest these:

Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico and his Commentaries.

Xenophon's Anabasis, Polity of the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates and Agesilaus.

Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War

Geoffroi de Villehardouin's Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople

Snorre Sturlason's Edda, Younger Edda and Heimskringla (if you've an interested in the Vikings)

Procopius' History of the Goth Wars, History of the Persian Wars, History of the Vandal Wars and The Secret History

Polybius' The Histories

[Apache]

After the Sharpe Series my favorite series was The Saxon Stories. It is set during the reign of Alfred the Great.
You also might enjoy his stand alone novel Agincourt. it is set in the 1415 and is his telling of The Battle of Agincourt.
Apache

[ATDrake]

Judith Tarr has a few degrees in history and writes some excellent action/adventure + plotty personal/political plotting historicals (both plain and fantasy-based) set in medieval and ancient/classical times (many sadly out of print). Some of them are available as DRM-free ebooks via Book View Cafe and she's got some short stories to try out for free as well. I personally really liked her novel about Queen Melisende of Jerusalem during the Crusades (Queen of Swords, one of the out-of-print ones).

Another primarily-fantasy author who did some very good history-based almost-pure-historicals with lots of warrior adventures in them is Diana L. Paxson, who had some really good ones based on British/Celtic/Germanic myth and the actual times surrounding them (King Lear, Tristan & Isolde, the Nibelung part of the Eddas guest starring Attila the Hun). Again, severely out of print.

I'll give a tentative conditional second to Morgan Llywellyn and Guy Gavriel Kay mentioned above. I found their work to be somewhat uneven, with some books being very good and others being rather meh. But overall their quality and historicity are fairly authentic (when not being veiled with the fantasy element).

Of Llywellyn, I especially liked Grania, about Irish pirate queen Grace O'Malley, The Lion of Ireland about Brian Boru, Druids set in the fallout of the ancient Roman conquest of Britain, The Wind from Hastings about the 1066 invasion IIRC (maybe not specifically about that; it's been a long time since I've read it, but it's generally set around that time), and The Horse Goddess about a girl from an early Celtic tribe who later becomes the legendary figure. TRB mentioned above is also a good one.

Of GGK works, my personal favourites are The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Song for Arbonne, the latter of which I admit is kind of an acquired taste. If I were you, I'd probably go with the Sarantine Mosaic mentioned above, which is also quite good (and avoid Ysabel; it's full of stupid people doing stupid things in a never-ending cycle).

If by chance you are especially interested in the Trojan War, Glyn Iliffe's Adventures of Odysseus series is pretty decent. I wouldn't put it in a top 10 list of historical fiction, but it's reasonably engaging and the frequent battle scenes and political machinations are done well enough in the one book of the series I've read, IMHO.

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

(and avoid Ysabel; it's full of stupid people doing stupid things in a never-ending cycle)

Thanks for that tip. I've not read it yet and it's now dropped sharply down on my TBR list. I thought it sounded a bit iffy, but G. G. Kay is one of my favourite writers, so I bought it nonetheless.

[jgaiser]

How about Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series of stories (Master and Commander, Post Captain, H.M.S. Surprise, etc).

[Belfaborac]

I forgot to mention David Gemmell's Troy series, which I thought was an excellent re-imagining of the Trojan War, from a somewhat oblique point of view.

[stonetools]

Sharon Kay Penman is an excellent historical novelist and mystery writer , focussing on the history of England and Wales during the late Medevial period. I highly recommend her first novel, the Sunne in Splendour her first novel, dealing with the Wars of the Roses. In her retelling, Richard the III comes off as somewhat the Hero! Also recommend her Welsh Princes series, which recounts the story of the last dynasty of the independent kingdom of Wales.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

How about Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series of stories (Master and Commander, Post Captain, H.M.S. Surprise, etc).

Agreed. HIGHLY recommended. And finally available as eBooks. I liked Hornblower, liked Bolitho, but loved Jack and Steven. The Aubrey/Maturin books are among my all time favourite series.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Thanks for that tip. I've not read it yet and it's now dropped sharply down on my TBR list. I thought it sounded a bit iffy, but G. G. Kay is one of my favourite writers, so I bought it nonetheless.

All depends on when you read it. It was one of the first things I read by GGK, and as such it didn't "suck" for me. But whenever I saw how much better the other books he writes were, I could understand how disappointed someone might be if they read Ysabel after the likes of Tigana and the Lions of Al Rassan.

I think it's the contemporary setting and young protagonist that most fans have a beef with. It's not something he usually does. It didn't bother me all that much. There's still Fionavar easter eggs hidden in Ysabel (like there is in all his works), so there's still some things to be enjoyed.

Anyway, along with many of the great historical-fiction authors already mentioned... I'll throw out Stephen Lawhead and the obscure works of Harold Lamb and Robert Shea.

I'd also point out the existence of HistoricalNovels.info. Broken out into a wide variety of categories for perusing.

[Jim Chaseley]

Utterly love Sharpe.

I've been beaten to it, so I'll applaud the recommendation of Conn Iggulden's series about the Mongols. It's fascinating. I wasn't overly keen on his Rome series, though, which I find strange.

Also mentioned was Simon Scarrow, who's Roman soldiers, Macro and Cato offer up a much more Sharpe-like experience within their time period.

The Aubrey/Maturin books I agree with too. I've only read about ten books in my life twice or more...apart from Patrick O'Brian's series which I've read the entirety of twice.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Jim Chaseley

Utterly love Sharpe....

I love you, too, man!

[Apache]

[IMG][/IMG]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I love you, too, man!

Apache