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India

hackcyn
Scribbler
Posts: 9
Joined: May 2012

Post by hackcyn » Mon May 28th, 2012, 10:07 am

The Siege of Krishnapur by J G Farrell. Just embarking on it now -- I'll let you know how it turns out :)

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Wed May 30th, 2012, 2:44 am

Suzanne Fisher Staples deserves a mention, even though most of her YA is set in more-or-less modern times.
Shabanu -- set in Pakistan during the Afghan-Soviet war. Great book, Newbery prize winner.
Haveli -- sequel
Shiva's Fire -- no time period mentioned, could be any time. India village life.

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Shield-of-Dardania
Reader
Posts: 129
Joined: February 2010

Post by Shield-of-Dardania » Tue June 5th, 2012, 2:16 am

For anyone with some interest on the Moghul era, there is the Empire of the Moghul series by Alex Rutherford.

I've started on Raiders from the North. It's about the rise of twelve year old Babur, a descendant of the illustrious Tamburlaine, facing contest for the throne, tribal rivalry, treachery and conspiracy.

Babur has flaws, he makes mistakes, and he gets into misadventures, but eventually he prevails over his enemies.

A tale of striking heroism, bruising battles, rampaging armies and robust struggle for survival.

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Susan
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3746
Joined: August 2008
Location: New Jersey, USA

The Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran

Post by Susan » Sun March 15th, 2015, 5:45 pm

I just finished Michelle Moran's The Rebel Queen. We usually get the British view of India in the 19th century, but in this novel we get the Indian view and it is mesmerizing and eye-opening. Michelle Moran creates a setting that is detailed, intriguing, and informative, and she then creates characters for that setting that the reader wants to know more about. This is the story of an actual rebel queen as told by one of her personal bodyguards. As I've read a lot about Queen Victoria, some events in the novel rang a bell for me, but now I think of them a lot differently...from the British and the Indian perspectives.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

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Divia
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4435
Joined: August 2008
Location: Always Cloudy, Central New York

Post by Divia » Mon March 16th, 2015, 10:11 pm

I must be the only person, but I wasn't thrilled with it. I was hoping for more of the queen and less from the servant. I dunno I guess I had something else in mind when I read the summaries.

I also thought that sometimes I felt like I was getting the information dump about Indian culture. I suppose its the way the character gave the information. "you might not know..."

I felt like this was one of her weaker books, but clearly the reviews on Amazon do not agree with me.

Still, I look forward to her next book, whatever that might be.
News, views, and reviews on books and graphic novels for young adult.
http://yabookmarks.blogspot.com/

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Tue March 17th, 2015, 7:25 pm

I have this on my Kindle TBR. Since Michelle recently married an Indian, she has been back and forth to that country and no doubt gained insights that will add to the novel. Interested to see if I lean more toward Susan's or Divia's assessment.

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