10th/ 11th century Scotland

Nefret · 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?

Carla · 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.

Lisa · 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.

Carla · 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.

Mythica · 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.

annis · 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.

Lisa · 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.

annis · 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.

Nefret · 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.