Historical fiction is my favorite type of reading. I have on my TBR stack at this very moment The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. This would be a great incentive to get me to read it.

What kind of time frame would you be interested in? (I'm getting into my semester exam time, so reading might have to take a back seat for a week or two.)

I'll go rooting around, too, and see what other titles I can add.

One that was recommended to me and that I bought recently (but haven't read yet) is Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres. The setting is Anatolia (Turkey) during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, 1900-1925. I liked his previous book, Corelli's Mandolin, and I've been told this one is even better...but you know how what you've been told doesn't always wash! It does look to have great potential, though. Read the Amazon synopsis and tell me what you think.

Here is a link that might be useful: Birds Without Wings

What a great idea, Janalyn! Historical fiction is one of my favorites, too, and my TBR room contains lots of historical fiction. Almost any book would be just fine with me. I've had The Name of the Rose for years, still unread (although I did see the movie). Frieda, the reviews of Birds Without Wings are amazing.

Just to add to the suggestions, the books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles have been highly recommended so we could start with the first in the series, The Founding. Amazon information is linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Founding

My sister read Birds Without Wings and said whilst she enjoyed some chapters, others which were strictly history she found to drag.

My suggestions would be:

City of Dreams - Beverley Swerling - the early history of New York city

Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kaye Penman - life of Richard III

Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant - life in Florence in the 15th century

All of these can be read about on Amazon.

Cathedral by Follett - follows one family through several generations, as a Cathedral is built in France. The construction details were fascinating.

Both titles: "Name of the Rose" and "Birds Without Wings" sound very interesting to me. I would opt for either or both.

The book veronicae recommends is called Pillars of the Earth in many countries, and it is very good.

Both The Name of the Rose and Birds without Wings sound good to me, too. The others sound interesting, but I have already read the Name of the Rose (This is the lazy--or should I say, the busy--factor coming in.), and I have always been interested in Turkey, so I would opt for those two books first.

Kath-I thought that Pillars of the Earth was about building Salisbury Cathedral - or am I mixing that up with Sarum-I read them both...

Pat

Really interesting to me. I might add THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH by Zoe Oldenburg. I'm not sure of the spelling of her last name, and how about A YEAR OF WONDER?

After doing a bit of searching, I think Veronica is thinking of Cathedral by David Macaulay.

Keep the suggestions coming. Hist fiction is one of my favourite genres and we could set up a schedule of books to read.

Pat: I have only read Sarum, but it definitely does deal with the building of Salisbury Cathedral, though not the entire book is about that. I loved Sarum.

Historical fiction is a huge genre. Is there a particular time period or part of the world you are particularly interested in, Janalyn?

Pat, you are right, I saw the 'Follett' and the 'cathedral' and missed the 'France' bit :-)
I admitted I am a skim reader on another thread :-))

OK - I nominate Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. I read it many years ago and remember really enjoying it-I could deinitely reread...

Pat

Anyone interested in Dorothy Dunnett's 'Lymond Chronicles' or 'House of Niccolo?' She wrote like Dumas with fictional characters involved in real historical incidents. The Lymond Chronicles are six books covering 10 years, Autumn 1548 to November 1558. Details can be found at Amazon, The Simon Hedges Dorothy Dunnett Website, or Random House Dorothy Dunnett Homepage.

I have The Name of the Rose on my shelf, unread. I read The World is Not Enough years ago and wwould enjoy a chance to reread it if I can find a copy. I also have Pillars of The Earth by K. Follett which I would like to read. Many of the suggestions are good but some I have read and may not want to re-read, it depends what is chosen. A Year of Wonders is excellent although I read it recently. I started Sarum and didn't like it so count me out on that one.How about Great Maria by Cecelia Holland? It can be found on Amazon. There are so many good ones it's hard to choose. I just read this over and it sounds like I am being a bit difficult-I don't mean to sound that way.

We're getting a lot of titles here. My top three are:
SARUM
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
THE NAME OF THE ROSE
I have read all of these in the far distant past and would enjoy re-reading each of them for discussion purposes.
Of course,I'll join in whichever is decided by the group.

Yesterday I found "Birds Without Wings" at the Univ. Lib. and checked it out. I think I will try to read this when I finish "Undaunted Courage" (which may be a while!) But I would also like to try "Name of the Rose."

Actually, I was thinking of Pillars of the Earth by Follett. Sorry, about the title error.

Decision time! Since I have read City of Dreams, Sunne in Splendour and Birth of Venus (this was a discussion book last year), Pillars of the Earth, the Lymond Chronicles (several times), and Sarum, and desperately want something new to read, may I suggest the following three to start:

1. Birds Without Wings
2. The Name of the Rose
3. The World is Not Enough (not the James Bond one! ;-) )

Do you want a time frame of one month, 6 weeks or two months between each novel discussion? Thanks

Janalyn, I like your suggestion. I would think a month would be enough time between books. I'm off to the library to check out BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS.
Eosskye

Birds Without Wings it is
Pam53

Are we starting in February? I did get Birds Without Wings today but found out that The World is Not Enough is out of print so it may be more difficult to locate.

Darn! I can't find The World is Not Enough either at my library or the online bookstores I use. I'm glad you checked Frances. Well, maybe we'll have to choose another for #3 but we can do that down the road.

I propose that we start Birds on February 15th? Any objections -- can everyone get the book and have it read by that time? I just got my copy from the library today.

February 15th suits me. Also, I found THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH on www.half.com
eosskye

Feb. 15 sounds fine to me, too, for BWW.

I'll try to participate! It'll take some effort! I think I am overbooking myself...we'll see. Maybe I can put something else on a back burner for awhile...hmmm...

just ordered the book thru Amazon-Feb. 15 should be o.k. for me.

Pam

Hey! I just picked up Birds Without Wings this morning at the library! Read the opening/prologue and found the writing to be very good. This may be one that I find myself lingering over. I am captivated already. I will definitely try to finish it for the discussion.

Hi all! Ive been on the GardenWeb Garden forums for ages; was directed here by another book lover!

Historical Fiction is probably my favorite type of fiction (not Romance Historical, which is another ball of wax) A few coments on the above selections:

I have read Birds without Wings. It is incredible. Very sad, yet eye opening if you didn't know the background of the Turkish/Greek conflict from before WWI.

City of Dreams is a very accessible book about NYC beginnings from Dutch colonization to the Revolution

Sunne in Splendor is by my fav Historical F writer, Sharon Kay Penman. Anything she writes is pure gold. This one would be fun to read in conjunction to Shakespears play Richard III - a very different take on history!

If we do Birds, I'll be glad to join on Feb 15. Question tho - iirc, gardenweb limits the number of posts in a thread. Is that the case here?

Looking forward to this!

Welcome, cindydavid4. You have great taste in books!

The number of posts used to be limited to 100 per thread but that limit no longer exists. If there is a limit, I don't believe we have found it yet.

Welcome, we're happy to have you join us. I'm looking forward to our discussions.

Historical Fiction is one of my favourite genres, so count me in too. I'm off to the library tomorrow to track down a copy.

Bill

Welcome to our newcomers!

Janalyn, it looks like your idea to have a discussion on HF is being well received!

Looking forward to Feb. 15!

Ok, March is almost here. Do we want to do another historicl fiction for next month? Some possibilities from my 'read and loved' list:

>Secret Book of Grazia di Rosee by Jaqueline Park. About a young Jewish woman in Renaissance Italy.

>Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell (actually, any of his books would be good to discuss)

>Queen of Swords by Judith Tarr A look at the Crusades from the eyes of the Byzantians. Has some great moments with Eleanor of Aquitane riding out like an Amazon

>Carter beats the Devil by David Gold about a SF magician in the late 1800s

I'd also second "City of Dreams"

Suggestions?

OK. At Janalyn's urging here is a selection of some that I'd like to read.

Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield. The battle that finished the Spartans. Quite brilliant I believe.

The Killer Angels -- Michael Shaara. Always fascinated by American History. The Battle of Gettysburg.

Aztec - Gary Jennings. Loved his Raptor. Always meant to read his tale of the Aztec Empire and its fall.

Winds of War - Herman Wouk. Lead up to the second world war.

Realise my taste for battles and blood and gore may not meet with universal approval so as an antidote.......

When Christ and His Angels Slept - Sharon Kay Penman . Contest for the throne of 12th century England. She's one of the best.

Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant. 15th century Florence through the eyes of a young girl becoming a woman.

Out of left field

Krakatoa - Simon Winchester. Eruption of Krakatoa and its reverberations to the present day. Non fiction.

Any takers? If not Cindy's suggestion of Stonehenge by Cornwell sounds interesting to me. Larry

I tried Birds Without Wings, believe me I tried... but I couldn't get more than a few pages into the book, and after several attempts gave up. The style put me off, but I don't think the period or the setting suited me anyway. I prefer something a bit further back in history and based on well known individuals, either real or imagined.

After returning Louis de Berniere's book to the library I decided to check out the historical novels section and came up with a couple of books I have finished in the past two weeks and thoroughly enjoyed - both by woman authors.

The first was The Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson, ostensibly a reworking of all the Robin Hood tales, but told from the viewpoint of Marion. The second, by Manda Scott, was Boudica : Dreaming the Eagle which seems to be the first in a trilogy about Boudica, the warrior queen who revolted against the Roman occupation of Britain, and almost drove them out. This novel is of the early part of her life
I'm currently part way through Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom set in England during the Viking invasion and leading up to King Alfred's fight to resist the incoming hordes as they settled and conquered most of the east of the country.

A thread on Historical Fiction has certainly rekindled my interest in the genre, even if I couldn't enjoy the monthly discussion choice.

Thank you Janalyn

Bill

>When Christ and His Angels Slept - Sharon Kay Penman

Oh, absolutely fantastic book! Deals with the first English Civil War in the 1100s which lasted 20 years, between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. If you loved Caedfael and always wanted to know more about that time period, this is for you. If you love battles, this is for you. If you love political intrigue believe me its filled with it. Also filled with great writing and characters. Well researched book as well.

Whats also fun is that Henry the II and Eleanor of Aquitane meet in the last section of the book. Anyway, I'd be up for re-reading it.

Bill, I think Last Kingdom is the latest in that series? My DH loves those books, but for some reason they didn't take for me. But Stonehenge, and his Arthur series are superb.

The one about Boadicia sounds very interesting. I know so little about that time period and what I do know about her is bits and pieces.

>Aztec - Gary Jennings

Never read it, wanted to. I loved his Journeyer, a fictional account of Marco Polo's travels in the east. Fantastic. So this would be one I'd be interested in.

>Lady of the Forest

Wow, talk about a blast from the past! I read that when I was in my all sci/fan all the time stage in college, and it still remains one of my favorite reads of the genre. However - are books about Arthur, Robin Hood and other legends considered Historical Fiction? I'm not saying they aren't, just wondering. Coz if so, boy do I have a bunch of books to suggest!

All of Bill's suggestions sound good to me, as well as the Penman book. I'm fascinated by the Medieval time period.

Real life intervened so sorry for the delay in getting back to you all.
Larry, I picked up Aztec from the library because that period of history fascinates me and I know so little about it. I laughed when I took the book from the shelf because it opened to a page that contained a very explicit sex scene, which I of course read. Now I am not sure how it advances the plot but will read the book to find out. ;-) It certainly has had good reviews. As for timing, I'll need at least a month because it is a large book with tiny print and I have a couple of others on the go as well.

I would be interested in reading a Penman afterwards or the Stonehenge one. I've read the Here Be Dragons series, so Cindy, Mary the woodnymph or Bill, could you choose something and I'll go with your choice. Since its difficult over the internet to choose why don't we just go with the title choice of whoever posts here first? TIA!

She has another series that starts with the first English civil war 'When Christ and His Saints Slept' which is wonderful. But I could go for Stonehendge too. Whats nice about the two of those is I don't have to reread them - good because I am trying to read books for two other bookgroups! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: When Christ and His Saints Slept

I too just couldn't get into Birds but am up for another try. I will go with whatever you decide. I read Penham several years back and wondered about B. Cornwall as his books are all around.

Cindy and pam53 -- Thanks for your thoughts but it seems as if our formal discussion threads aren't as popular as they once were. Maybe it's better if we just do it on a informal basis ie) if you read a book looking for comments, just start a thread with that title. Thanks again.