Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction discussion

Looking for something with alot of action [kinda like Conn Iggulden's or Sam Barone's works], but with an Egyptian setting. Thanks :)

Hi Rabindranauth,
You could check out the Egypt thread, http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7... but I guess you may have already done that and not found anything action adventure.

While there are many books 'set' in Egypt, there are not many epic action Historical Fiction.

he might be out of fashion right now (not to me though) but I would regard Wilbur A. Smith's Egypt series comparable to Conn Iggulden and Sam Barone. As in epic historical fiction with a grand scope.
His Egpyt series starts with this one..

River God

Hi Terri, thanks for replying so soon. I didn't know about the Egypt thread, so gonna read through it now. And thanks for the suggestion! I actually bought that book a few years ago, but before I made more than a few pages in, it got stolen. So this must be kismet. I'm going to read it. Thanks!

You're welcome. :)

Those look awesome o_o Thanks Jaq!

Ramses series by christian jaqc are worth a good read

Lately I read it's a wonderful book.

Bought River God today! I'm gonna read the Ramses series and Scroll of Saqqara also, when I get another raise, lol.

Time to give into that kismet, mate. :)

Lauren Haney's books are set in 15th-century B.C.E. Egypt. They're well-written and historically solid. The books are fairly fast-paced and have enjoyable characters.

Lieutenant Bak Series
1. The Right Hand of Amon (1997)
2. A Face Turned Backward (1999)
3. A Vile Justice (1999)
4. A Curse of Silence (2000)
5. A Place of Darkness (2001)
6. A Cruel Deceit (2002)
7. Flesh of the God (2003)
8. A Path of Shadows (2003)

It should be mentioned that Lauren Haney' s books (starting with The Right Hand of Amon) are a mystery series and not just straight up HF.

Diane, welcome!

And as an aside......in future could you add in the book links?? A how to is located here http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Thanks

Thanks, Dawn, I'll give the book links a try.

Ooh! I've got a suggestion for you. I am currently reading The Maya Papyrus and really enjoying it! It's got tons of political intrigue and a few well-written battle scenes. I'm finding it very hard to put it down, even when I have other things to do.

Hi Rabindranauth:

I hope you will all excuse my beIng forward, but you might want to consider my two Ancient Egypt novels. Both seem to fit the bill as you have outlined it and are receiving excellent reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

The First Pharaoh

The Dagger of Isis

Thanks for listening,

Les

Lester Picker

Terri wrote: "Hi Rabindranauth,
You could check out the Egypt thread, http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7... but I guess you may have already done that and not found anything action adventure.
..."

OMG, Wilber Smith's Rivergod is amazing.

I read it so long ago. In the early 90's I think. I remember it as amazing too. (Although my reading style as changed drastically since then so I am curiois on how I would feel about it now).

One of the finest historical fictions about Egypt ever published--and one of my all-time favorite books--has to be The Egyptian by Mika Waltari. My ancient copy is dog-eared, I've read it so many times. It's an oldie, published in 1949, but awesome. It's about the turbulent times of Pharaoh Akhenaten. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it.

Thanks Galen! I wasn't aware of The Egyptian, but it sounds very interesting. I'm going to try & get a hold of that one.

Thanks Galen,
I see the book blurb says that 'it was condemned as being obscene' in its day.
Would it be called obscene by modern standards? I imagine it wouldn't, hey?

Terri wrote: "Thanks Galen,
I see the book blurb says that 'it was condemned as being obscene' in its day. Would it be called obscene by modern standards? I imagine it wouldn't, hey?"

No, not obscene at all. Perhaps some eyebrows raised and mildly risqué in the beginning. I think the ban likely reflected the puritanical sentiment of the '50s. The book was recommended to me by my Jr. High English teacher in the '60s. It's pretty mild stuff, the Peyton place of Egypt's 14th century B.C.

I thought this may be the case. They were fairly tight in the 50's...:-)
When I think about fiction that came out in the 70's (when I was a kid and not reading naughty books..:-) ..but know of them as an adult) I imagine that it would make The Egyptian look like a cake walk.

Oh, goodness. The Egyptian is about as obscene as a stroll through a well-manicured city park.

Those folks in the 50's sure did offend easily. :-)

P.C. Doherty also has a mystery series.

The first book is The Mask of Ra

Not sure I'd think of that series as action packed though.

And welcome to the group Lariela. :)

Lynda S. Robinson also has a book series.

This is the best book, in my somewhat humble opinion.

I had never heard of her. Good rec, Lariela.

The book Lariela mentioned is #4 in a series.
This is the whole series to date. The Lord Meren series.
http://www.goodreads.com/series/41930...

I've been an Egypt nerd since grade school. Can you tell?

haha. ;)

I read The Egyptian long ago, and after seeing this thread decided to order a copy for a re-read.

Let me know here how you get on with it, Kirk. It is hard to judge as the reviews and ratings of this book rely on a lot of people going off what they remember from reading it 'a long time ago'. I would be interested in what reviewers think of it now, as opposed to a twenty year old memory. :-)

I read The Egyptian recently (last year, I think) and I have to say, it wasn't my cup of tea. I liked parts, but it eventually ground to a halt for me and I just couldn't keep reading. Here is my review, if anybody wants to read it:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Lariela, I'm an Egypt nerd for life, too! My friends on Facebook like to taunt me by posting articles or YouTube videos with questionable Egyptology references, and then watch me rant about the inaccuracies. I guess it's like poking sticks at a chained dog for them.

Anyway, I think my problem with The Egyptian has much to do with the way storytelling trends have shifted over the decades. It is written in a very mid-century style, and I have difficulty connecting to most historical novels from that era (the ones I've tried to read, anyway.) I guess I am a fan of a more contemporary style, although it can go too far. Has anybody else noticed the plague of modern-teenager-voiced characters infesting current historical fiction? All the true historical feel is being lost in favor of something that reads like Bella Swan Time-Travels to Ancient Setting X. Drives me insane. There has to be a happy medium somewhere!

I don't entirely dislike The Egyptian. A friend of mine breeds Sphynx cats and is planning a litter for next summer. I plan to get one for myself. If I get a girl kitty, I am going to name her Nefernefernefer. :)

If I get a cat, I shall name him Ramses. (Or part of Ramses II's throne name, I'm not sure.)


When I was at the book store yesterday, there was a nice collection of historical fiction. Didn't notice if any of it had time travel. Anything that involves travelling back in time belongs in the science fiction section (and maybe romance).

Took a break from my ten-hour writing jag today to stop in at my favorite used book store. Found a mass-market paperback of The Twelfth Transforming!! (Actually, they had all of Pauline Gedge's books in MMPB...must have bought somebody's collection recently.) It's been a few years since I've read it, but I remember loving the hell out of it, so I eagerly snapped it up. Took it along to my favorite pho restaurant for dinner and read the first chapter while I ate.

SO GOOD. If my next few books are anywhere close to this awesome, I'll have it made. But it was hard to come home and sit down at my computer again, and continue working on my current book-in-progress knowing I have a very long way to go before I can live up to The Twelfth Transforming. Arrrgh.

Anyway...you should read it, everybody, if you can find it.

Is that one the Amenhotep IV novel? Pretty sure I read that one.

Yeah, pretty much. It's mostly from Tiye's POV, and goes from the end of Amunhotep III's reign to the beginning of Horemheb's.

Loved that book too L.M., keep going back to Pauline Gedge as my mentor as well as Laura Haney and her Lt. Bak series. Both authors are well researched and I love the way they immerse you in the time period without slapping you in the face with it. Hope one day my writing shines just as good...
My favorite Gedge book is titled Mirage and it is about Prince Merenptah. I recommend that one. Oh...I think it is titled something else now...can't remember what though, senior moment. :)

Just a quick reminder to link books, or authors if no specific book is mentioned if it hasn't been linked in the last 4 posts.

Laura Haney

Mirage which apparently, in some markets is called Scroll of Saqqara

My favourite Gedge book is Child of the Morning. (So much so that I got a copy with the new cover for a recent birthday).

The link for the book Lariela mentioned Child of the Morning

Can folks try and remember to add links please. Otherwise others who don't know what book you are talking about can't join in the discussion or look at the book you are talking about.
In most cases, people who come to the conversation late aren't going to go away from the discussion thread to search for a book. And in many cases if one letter is wrong in the search, they won't be able to find the book.

Adding links to books or authors if they haven't been mentioned in the last four posts is just a little thing we like to do as a community to help fellow members out. :-)

Thanks folks,
Terri

I just reread The Egyptian after a gap of 30-odd years. At that epoch I was a fan of Waltari and also read several other of his novels. This time I found the characters to be quite unreal, almost otherworldly. Perhaps I'm comparing them too much with how I'd expect people to act today.

This is very interesting feedback. As I have mentioned here recently, this is something I wonder about everytime I see someone mention the book.

I really do think it has a lot to do with the way historical fiction was written back then versus how it's written today.

The book is written 1st person from Sinuhe's perspective. 1st person narratives always have a different "feel" from 3rd person. Since Sinuhe seems doomed from the start, given his name as "he who is alone". The three women with whom is involved reflect that. Nefernefernefer takes all he owns and throws him out; Minas is dedicated to her god, and eventually chooses the god over Sinuhe. And finally Merit bears his child but never tells him that the boy is his, and never commits to marry him.

Galen wrote: "One of the finest historical fictions about Egypt ever published--and one of my all-time favorite books--has to be The Egyptian by Mika Waltari. My ancient copy is dog-eared, I've read it so many t..."

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I second Sinuhe. I really enjoyed this book.

So did I!! And what they called 'obscene' in those days, wouldn't even raise an eyebrow today.

Rabindranauth wrote: "Bought River God today! I'm gonna read the Ramses series and Scroll of Saqqara also, when I get another raise, lol."

Scroll of Saqqara [I read it under an alternate title] was kinda spooky, too.

I'm listening to River God as an audiobook and I don't know if I'll finish it. Maybe it's the narrator, so I should probably give it a shot as a non-audiobook. I'm just not feeling this one. The made-up names that are neither Greek nor Egyptian, possibly...? The graphic violence? (That's never been my thing.) I think it's just me because River God seems to be a perennial favorite for fans of Egyptian fiction.