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As good as The Baroque Cycle?
- Diiarts
- Scribbler
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- Joined: August 2010
- Location: I'm based in Hampshire (UK) but we also have a partner based in Kentucky, USA
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I loved The Baroque Cycle, not least because I was reading it alongside Lisa Jardine's superb biographies of Wren and Hooke. It got me seriously hooked on reading historical fiction in parallel with a non-fiction book about the same period.
I've enjoyed many of the others mentioned in this thread, too - O'Brian (along with Allan Mallinson and Julian Stockwin, and far better writing for my money than either Forester or Cornwell); Iain Pears's excellent 'Instances of the Fingerpost'; Charles Palliser's superb 'The Quincunx' (which I re-read a few years ago alongside Jerry White's 'London in the Nineteenth Century').
But the series that towers above them all is Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. I second Gyrehead's comments about DD - if you enjoyed the journey and the intricacies of plot of the Baroque Cycle, and if you coped with the physical bulk of the books, there's a good chance you'll enjoy the intellectual bulk of Lymond
I've enjoyed many of the others mentioned in this thread, too - O'Brian (along with Allan Mallinson and Julian Stockwin, and far better writing for my money than either Forester or Cornwell); Iain Pears's excellent 'Instances of the Fingerpost'; Charles Palliser's superb 'The Quincunx' (which I re-read a few years ago alongside Jerry White's 'London in the Nineteenth Century').
But the series that towers above them all is Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. I second Gyrehead's comments about DD - if you enjoyed the journey and the intricacies of plot of the Baroque Cycle, and if you coped with the physical bulk of the books, there's a good chance you'll enjoy the intellectual bulk of Lymond
Last edited by Diiarts on Mon August 23rd, 2010, 12:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
www.diiarts.com - books for people who love books
Another book to consider is Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Excellent double cross/mystery that takes place in London circa 1700s. The HF part is that she evokes the time and place wonderfully; you can almost smell the back alleys (a fingersmith is what theives were called, esp ones esp talented with their hands.
BTW on your recommendation I started Quicksilver. I had to put it down a few times at the start, shiny new objects (aka new books) got me distracted, but now I am well into it and enjoying it quite a bit. Yeah, its big, but no bigger than George Martin books. Thanks for the rec!
BTW on your recommendation I started Quicksilver. I had to put it down a few times at the start, shiny new objects (aka new books) got me distracted, but now I am well into it and enjoying it quite a bit. Yeah, its big, but no bigger than George Martin books. Thanks for the rec!
Last edited by Ash on Mon August 23rd, 2010, 2:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
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- Scribbler
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- Joined: September 2008