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10th/ 11th century Scotland

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Nefret
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10th/ 11th century Scotland

Post by Nefret » Fri July 26th, 2013, 7:01 am

I have read (and will re-read) a couple of Susan Fraser King novels set in this period.

Anything else in this time period I should add to the reading list?
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}

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Post by Carla » Fri July 26th, 2013, 9:14 am

King Hereafter, by Dorothy Dunnett. I can't recommend it too highly. One of my favourites of all time. It covers the historical Macbeth (with an unusual theory about his identity) in the early 11th century.
PATHS OF EXILE - love, war, honour and betrayal in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria
Editor's Choice, Historical Novels Review, August 2009
Now available as e-book on Amazon Kindleand in Kindle, Epub (Nook, Sony Reader), Palm and other formats on Smashwords
Website: http://www.carlanayland.org
Blog: http://carlanayland.blogspot.com

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Lisa
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Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
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Post by Lisa » Fri July 26th, 2013, 9:15 am

Nigel Tranter also wrote one about Queen Margaret (I assume Susan Fraser King's one is included in your list).

There's also Macbeth by Tranter, and King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett. I only know about those obvious ones though - there are surely more by Nigel Tranter at least covering that period.

Oh, one more, Far After Gold by Jen Black is a romance set in 10th century Scotland, and is cheap/sometimes free on Kindle. Good for a light read if you're in between heavier books.

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Post by Carla » Fri July 26th, 2013, 9:32 am

Other books I can think of by Nigel Tranter in roughly the same period are David the Prince, which follows on from Margaret the Queen so is very late 11th/early 12th C, High Kings and Vikings, which is late 10th or very early 11th C, and if you stretch a point a bit, Kenneth, which is about Kenneth MacAlpine (the king who united Scotland and Pictland) in the mid 9th C. I haven't read any of them so I don't know what they are like.

I reviewed Far After Gold in the reviews section.
PATHS OF EXILE - love, war, honour and betrayal in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria
Editor's Choice, Historical Novels Review, August 2009
Now available as e-book on Amazon Kindleand in Kindle, Epub (Nook, Sony Reader), Palm and other formats on Smashwords
Website: http://www.carlanayland.org
Blog: http://carlanayland.blogspot.com

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Post by Mythica » Fri July 26th, 2013, 9:41 am

I haven't read it but Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter is supposed to be really good.

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Post by annis » Sat July 27th, 2013, 12:05 am

If you can handle time-slips, Posie Graeme-Evans’ The Island House combines a modern setting with a story of Viking raids in 10th century Scotland.

More Vikings in Scotland with an earlier setting (late 8th century), is Maggie Davis’ The Winter Serpent . Davis generally wrote standard hist/romance, but pulled one out of the bag with this evocative tale.

NZ author T K Roxborough is writing a teenage trilogy set around the adventures of Banquo’s son, Fleance (from Shakespeare’s Macbeth). I’ve enjoyed the first two out - Banquo’s Son and Bloodlines, though these might be hard to find outside Australasia. Lisa Klein has taken a similar approach with her teenage novel Lady Macbeth's Daughter.

And I second (or is that third?) Dunnett’s King Hereafter – a most moving novel.

If you have an interest in Macbeth’s Scotland, I recommend Nick Aitchison’s non-fiction book, Macbeth: Man and Myth for a fascinating look at Macbeth’s life and times.
Last edited by annis on Sat July 27th, 2013, 12:11 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Lisa
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Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
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Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Sat July 27th, 2013, 5:35 pm

The Island House Viking parts are 9th century (historical story starts in 800AD) but it is a really good book, I would definitely recommend it.

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Post by annis » Sun July 28th, 2013, 12:37 am

Haven't read it yet, LadyB (should have checked more carefully on the date :) , but it keeps passing through my hands at the library and looking interesting. Graeme-Evans is a good story-teller and I've enjoyed her other novels.

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Post by Nefret » Sun August 4th, 2013, 5:50 am

[quote=""Mythica""]I haven't read it but Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter is supposed to be really good.[/quote]


The library has that, and it has been added to my list.
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}

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