Historical fiction

[Anonymous No.16169585]

Has anyone read this? I picked it up bc I wanna get into historical fiction and I like Sharpe, but it's just weird grimdark stuff? What's the point of historical fiction if it's going to be viewed from a modern lens? at one point Uhtred tells us that he doesn't miss his father bc "he was a morose man"

And every other "historical fiction" book I find is centered on a woman, what gives? Should I just give up and start reading old verse poetry from that period instead? Any recs?

[Anonymous No.16169604]

>>16169585

I really have to get to "the Kindly ones" someday & Heart of darkness was great. Theres plenty of good stuff out there anon

[Anonymous No.16169647]

I think that historical fiction is like 50% of all fiction ever written so there is no really a way for you to "get into it".
Viewing it from modern or comtemporary lenses is inevitable and almost the point to it.
>And every other "historical fiction" book I find is centered on a woman
Are you saying it because HF is a category on amazon or something?
Otherwise it's not accurate.

[Anonymous No.16169685]

>>16169647

The Mists of Avalon and Outlander are representives of everything I'm finding, when I'm looking online, and even in B&N I just can't stop finding this shit litering the shelves, now not everything set in history is historical fiction, because there has to be a focus on historical accuracy, and a focus on displaying the period

[Anonymous No.16169781]

>>16169585
>Any recs?
Flashman Papers, Aubrey–Maturin series, James Clavell's Asian Saga (I don't think they're very historically accurate, but they are fun), The Pillars of the Earth, The Caine Mutiny, The White Company

I don't like Cornwell much either but the above books are great, they're not female focused at all

[Anonymous No.16169801]

Cornwell is a hack who puts the same fucking shield wall scene in every book.

[Anonymous No.16169820]

>>16169781
thank you, some of these I'll get from the library, namely The White Company
>>16169801
It's odd, Sharpe is great, I had such a high opinion of him after watching Sharpe, but I think it's just that his overall tone matches better with modern history than with the middle ages, One thing that bothers me is, I have a very cursory knowledge of the period, and I still feel like I know everything he's saying, "the saxons were still somewhat pagan, the priest was a pussy but smart, the vikings were strong and foolhardy"
It feels like I'm watching a 50s adventure movie more than something that's attempting to properly treat the period, it'd be more accurate to call it a swashbuckler than historical fiction

[Anonymous No.16169831]

Every "historical" novel from a British writer is always the same self-insert wank about some character with achronistic liberal atheist attitude telling us how stupid everyone in the past was, unless they meet a muslim, then they have to tell us how great they are.

[Anonymous No.16169856]

>>16169831
THIS, THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL
Cornwell's somewhere between pandering to young British males, and giving us this modernistic anachronistic hatred of the European Middle Ages, trying to tell me how stupid everyone was, and how terrible everything was, and I just don't buy it, and it's annoying, and I'm thinking about just exchanging the book, and I'm going to

[Anonymous No.16169861]

>>16169585
If you want to get your old english cummies, pick up some old texts. Start with The Dream of the Rood. Read the Exeter Book.
The only good historical fiction is Pillars of the Earth and the rest of the Kingsbridge series.

[Anonymous No.16169869]

Cornwell's crusade books are fucking atrocious because he never got over his teenage atheist phase
>EVIL BIGOTED BISHOP boils jewish children alive
>Main character is an athest and smarter than all those stupid xtians
>His best friend is a Jewish moneylender who dindu nuffin and he's a super swordsman who kills a bunch of stupid xtians!

[Anonymous No.16169873]

>>16169585
If you're interested in the Viking age than definitely check out the Icelandic sagas. There are a lot of translations on sagadb.org, but they're all public domain, and the older translators used archaic language and are kind of hard to read. You can find a few more recent ones at vsnrweb-publications.org.uk. I recommend the Saga of Gisli Sursson, which is included in "Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas."

[Anonymous No.16169877]

>>16169831
>>16169856
please read George MacDonald Fraser and Patrick O'Brian

[Anonymous No.16169885]

>>16169869
I didn't know he was this bad, I don't mind a more nuanced view of the Medieval Church, especially the Western Church, but he does this basic "BASED VIKING PAGANS" bullshit that feels more like an Ubisoft game than a book, I'm so glad I'm not the only person that thinks this because usually when I read shit and dislike it I always feel like everyone else just says it's great
>>16169873
>>16169877
Will do

I have a separate question, I'm going to borrow a Norton Critical version of Le Morte d'Arthur from the library, the ones that's a super literal translation, and I need more chivalric romance stuff, not something super gritty, kinda like Prince Valiant, any suggestions?

[Anonymous No.16169921]

>>16169885
>I need more chivalric romance stuff, not something super gritty, kinda like Prince Valiant, any suggestions?
Don't know too many of them. Ivanhoe, Lord of the Rings if fantasy is okay.

[Anonymous No.16169931]

>>16169885
Louis de Wohl wrote some great historical novels.
"Men of Iron" by Howard Pyle.

[Anonymous No.16169964]

>>16169869
seething christcuck

[Anonymous No.16169971]

>>16169964
I'm not Christian and his writing still bothers me, it does reek of modern atheist reinterpretation

[Anonymous No.16169980]

>>16169964
Imagine defending this hackwork.

[Anonymous No.16169989]

>>16169964
not religious, just don't like authors forcing their 21st century atheist views onto people who believed in different things

[Anonymous No.16169998]

>>16169971
>>16169980
>>16169989
Calm down. You have no idea what people believed.

[Anonymous No.16169999]

>>16169931
>Howard Pyle
Otto of the Silver Hand is good, too.

[Anonymous No.16170001]

>>16169998
we do, that's why historians exist

[Anonymous No.16170005]

>>16169885
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is fantastic if you want chivalric romance

[Anonymous No.16170016]

The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is a wonderful read. A must read if you like chivalry and romance.

[Anonymous No.16170032]

The first one is alright but Cornwell is too formulaic. It's like pulp fiction. If you read one Conan story you've just about read them all and it's the same case here.

[Anonymous No.16170043]

>>16170005
Get the Tolkien translation with Sir Orfeo and Pearl.

[Anonymous No.16170067]

>>16170001
No, historians only have old texts to go by.

[Anonymous No.16170072]

As long as we're recommending Chilveric romances, The High History of the Holy Grail is my favourite.

[Anonymous No.16170076]

>>16170067
Which are surely more reliable than modern conjecture.

[Anonymous No.16170079]

>>16169931
this is perfect, thank you
>>16170005
I thought this was included in Le Morte, it's not, thank you
>>16170016
this is what I need
>>16170032
I had to stop reading/watching mysteries and similar stuff because I felt this exact way, and I also feel this way about Conan, I actually prefer later sword and sorcery inspired by him to Conan himself, like Elric
>>16170072
added to the list, this board is great, I'm glad to be reading again

[Anonymous No.16170082]

>>16169931
I love de Wohl's novel about Joan of Arc.

[Anonymous No.16170100]

>>16170076
People in every period have a diverse range of personal opinions. The media may make it seem like everyone is in lockstep around a singular agenda and worldview, but that's not always the case.

[Anonymous No.16170104]

>>16169585
read these when i was younger, they were p comfy up to a point.

another one i liked was CJ Samsom's Dissolution, its about a murdur inquiry at the time of the dissolution of the monastries

[Anonymous No.16170113]

>>16170104
I liked that one to a point but at the end it just felt too cynical and modern like >>16169831 said. Wasn't bad by any means, but still felt too familiar.

[Anonymous No.16170125]

>>16170100
Yes, but it's highely unlikely that someone from that time would be in lockstep with a 21st century libersl atheist, and it's frustrating that such a perspective is overrepresented in the genre.

[Anonymous No.16170133]

>>16170125
You have to make it relatable to the contemporary reader. Otherwise there is no point.

[Anonymous No.16170134]

>>16170113
Dunno, maybe the genre just isnt to your liking then

[Anonymous No.16170157]

>>16170113
>>16170125
>>16170134
nah, there's plenty of good stuff that doesn't have that tone, like Pyle's stuff, it's just that they only make TV shows out of grimdark stuff for some reason, so that's what people think the whole genre is

[Anonymous No.16170187]

>In an audience with Pope Pius XII he was told to "write about the history and mission of the Church in the World."[2] The Cardinal of Milan, Ildefonso Schuster, came to de Wohl after reading some of his writings telling him "Let your writings be good. For your writings you will one day be judged."[citation needed] From that time, he allegedly believed that he had to write for God, and felt that his earlier novels in the German language were of 'small significance compared to the novels he wrote for the glory of God'
oh no

[Anonymous No.16170259]

+1 for Flashman. The premise sound like pulpy adventures stories, and for the most part the books' are just that, but they turn shockingly brutal at times and have quite a bit of foot notes expanding on the history of the events he lives through.

[Anonymous No.16170351]

>>16170133
The point is to put the reader in a diffferent time.

[Anonymous No.16170357]

>>16170187
What's wrong with that?

[Anonymous No.16170379]

>>16170133
The point is enjoying the antics of people *who don't live like you do*, if you want that, just watch a dramedy set in modern times? I don't understand this mindset, it sounds like something someone who dreams of being a famous author would say, just do whatever the "how to write a novel" book tells you

[Anonymous No.16170389]

>>16170187
He was right. "The Spear" and "The Last Crusader" are fantastic

[Anonymous No.16170466]

>>16170187
I fail to see the issue with this

[Anonymous No.16170968]

>>16170379
Just read primary sources, cockrider.

[Anonymous No.16171143]

>>16170968
I mostly do, but sometimes I enjoy having a bit of fun, which a lot of the stuff recommended here are good recs

[Anonymous No.16171144]

>>16169585
Harold Lamb wrote historical fiction of Steppe peoples, and his prose is great.
Augustus by John Williams
Adrian Goldsworthy, one of the best contemporary Roman historians has written some historical fiction series on Romans in Gaul.
Thomas Pynchon does really great research for his novels, and is a great historical fiction author if you ignore the science fiction elements.
Three Musketeers is great
Salammbo for Carthage
George Macdonald Fraser, etc.

I don’t think you have to settle for trashy popular authors to get quality historical fiction.

[Anonymous No.16172267]

>>16169585
The Last Kingdom is fun but isn't his best, his kind of pulpy writing style is a much better fit for stories like his Richard Sharpe's series and The Starbuck Chronicles.