Friday, July 30, 2010

What Would You Recommend? - Roman Era Historical Fiction

This is a question I get asked all the time working in the bookstore: "What would you recommend for somebody who loved "_________"? (fill in the blank)" Usually I can come up with something, but that something can be a bit of a wild guess if it's not a book or genre I normally read. This is where you helpful people come in. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

This week I'm asking about an area in which I've rather fallen behind lately: Historical fiction set in the Roman era. Recently I've been seeing quite a few new-to-me titles and authors. I've read and enjoyed Taylor Caldwell's A Pillar of Iron about the life of Cicero, some of Colleen McCulloch's books, namely The First Man In Rome and all of the Skystone series by Jack Whyte.

But, I know there are a lot of others out there as well: Conn Iggulden has a series of books set in Rome as well as his Mongolian books. Simon Scarrow has a couple as well, and I've seen others on the shelf too:  Ben Kane and some other authors whose names have slipped my mind for the moment, though I could probably walk right up to the shelves at work and find them that way.

Are there any I've missed here, and which are your favorites? Suggestions are always welcome, both for me to pass on to customers, and for my own reading enjoyment.

6 comments:

Chad Hull said...

Robert Graves I, Claudius and Claudius The God are rightfully remembered as classics in my opinion. They are also some of the most fun one can have reading a book.

K.J. Parker recently wrote a fabulous short novel, Purple and Black, which certainly has a Roman feel to it.

There are a few other that I can't quite put my finger on; I'll think on it.

Elena said...

I forgot about I Claudius until you reminded me. Thanks Chad. That was a good read, though I've heard that Derek Jacobi did an even better job in the mini-series. I have to get around to watching it in the future.

Steven Till said...

Have you read any of Steven Saylor's books?

http://www.stevensaylor.com/

Elena said...

No I haven't. Are they good?

Steven Till said...

Personally, I haven't read them, but I've heard others suggest his books for Roman era historical fiction. I want to read them at some point.

Elena said...

I think I've had a few people in the store looking for his books, Steven.

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