Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

What are you reading? November 2013

For discussions of historical fiction. Threads that do not relate to historical fiction should be started in the Chat forum or elsewhere on the forum, depending on the topic.
User avatar
Lisa
Bibliophile
Posts: 1153
Joined: August 2012
Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Preferred HF: Any time period/location. Timeslip, usually prefer female POV. Also love Gothic melodrama.
Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Wed November 27th, 2013, 9:40 am

I'm still making my way through Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant. I'm finding it to be like a really rich meal - it is very good but I can only take so much at a time, so I keep taking breaks and reading other, lighter stuff.

User avatar
Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Wed November 27th, 2013, 10:28 am

[quote=""LadyB""]I'm still making my way through Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant. I'm finding it to be like a really rich meal - it is very good but I can only take so much at a time, so I keep taking breaks and reading other, lighter stuff.[/quote]

Yep I found it a bit heavy too, eventually ditched it. Beautifully written though but just didn't do it for me.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

User avatar
Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Thu November 28th, 2013, 7:45 pm

I've just started "Heartbreak Hotel" by Deborah Moggach.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

User avatar
kodiakblair
Scribbler
Posts: 38
Joined: January 2012
Location: Falkirk,Scotland

Post by kodiakblair » Thu November 28th, 2013, 10:14 pm

I'm reading Purity of Blood by Arturo Perez-Revrte. Book 2 of 7 set in the Golden Age of Spain, a period and place I'm not familiar with , The tales follow Captain Alatriste a sword for hire. Translated from Spanish 2000's I'm finding these a nice change, one thing shines through Spain was a dangerous place in those days.

K.B

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

Post by Susan » Sat November 30th, 2013, 5:15 pm

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

User avatar
red805
Avid Reader
Posts: 303
Joined: August 2008
Preferred HF: I like a series the best - more to look forward to after one book ends. Masters of Rome, The Century Trilogy, & the Outlander series are some of my favorites.
Location: Southern California

Post by red805 » Sun December 1st, 2013, 1:53 am

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd in audio book. I did enjoy this. Got to hear proper French pronunciation instead of how I would probably mangle things if reading myself. Hits the highlights of French history plus lots I didn't know about, & has some good characters, but sometimes I didn't quite follow the leaps around the centuries & sometimes the characters sort of just disappeared. I started the paperback of London years ago & got bogged down & never finished, since his books all seem to be super-sized, so I was glad that during my commute I was able to get through this one & I would definitely go for another audiobook from Rutherfurd.

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Sun December 1st, 2013, 2:21 am

In re-read mode at the moment. Read Susan Cooper's wonderful Ghost Hawk (YA) and was inspired to read her Dark is Rising sequence again- very appropriate as it starts with a Christmas.

After reading quite a few novels set around the 100 Years War, I then dragged out my old copies of Daniels Hall's Kemp novels - The Road to Crécy and Passage of Arms. Such a shame he never finished this series - the HF-hating '90s put him off. He now writes Napoleonic fiction under another name.

Finally decided it was time to re-visit Patricia Finney's duology based on the Irish Ulster Cycle- glorious HF epics steeped in magic realism set in Ireland and Roman Britain during the Emperor Hadrian's visit there - Shadow of Gulls and Crow Goddess.

I know I'm just putting off reading The Luminaries -why, oh why does it have to be so huge?
Last edited by annis on Sun December 1st, 2013, 2:23 am, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
EC2
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Sun December 1st, 2013, 12:26 pm

Reading Knights of the Hawk by James Aitcheson - the best of the guy writers doing the Norman Conquest period at the moment IMO.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

User avatar
Nefret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2994
Joined: February 2009
Favourite HF book: Welsh Princes trilogy
Preferred HF: The Middle Ages (England), New Kingdom Egypt, Medieval France
Location: Temple of Isis

Post by Nefret » Sun December 1st, 2013, 4:54 pm

EC- What form is that book available? Kindle, real book, recited epic poem? I've been wanting to read more Norman Conquest novels.
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}

User avatar
EC2
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Sun December 1st, 2013, 8:07 pm

[quote=""Nefret""]EC- What form is that book available? Kindle, real book, recited epic poem? I've been wanting to read more Norman Conquest novels.[/quote]

I've got the UK hardcover. I think it's available on UK Kindle too. As far as I know it will be coming to the USA with Sourcebooks but I don't know when.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”