Reddit mentions: The best medieval historical fiction books
We found 41 Reddit comments discussing the best medieval historical fiction books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 9 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
1. The Winter King (The Arthur Books #1)
- St Martin s Griffin
Features:
Specs:
| Height | 9.2 Inches |
| Length | 6.15 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | April 1997 |
| Weight | 1.05 Pounds |
| Width | 1.35 Inches |
2. The Lions of al-Rassan
- ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS & CREATIVE IDEAS IN ONE PLACE - Spiral-bound, paperback book that combines a notebook and sketchbook with pages that are half-lined and half blank.
- SMOOTH BRIGHT WHITE PAPER - Contains 64 pages of 19lb (75gsm) smooth, acid-free paper.
- EXCELLENT FOR DRY MEDIA - Ideal for use with pen or pencil
- HORIZONTALLY-LINED - Page is split horizontally, half-lined and half blank. Lines are spaced 1/4-inch apart
- MADE FROM RECYCLED CONTENT
Features:
Specs:
| Height | 8 Inches |
| Length | 5.31 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | June 2005 |
| Weight | 0.86 Pounds |
| Width | 1.19 Inches |
3. The Lions of Al-Rassan
- 【Mini Pocket-Size】--When you close the cap, it's just like the size of a lipstick, but more eye-catching. When you use a reversed cap, the size is just right. Small but not small, so wonderful!
- 【Integrity of Quality And Perfect Writing】--Acrylic material creates the high quality. Fine writing nib delivers beautiful and elegant line, giving you unparalleled writing experience.
- 【Delicate and Cute】-- Mini compact design makes the pen delicate and cute, just like the treasure in the palm. It's hard to put it down. Wherever you go, carry it.
- 【Large Capacity And Transparent】--The pen with seal ring, you can use eyedropper or ink sac. Large capacity saves your valuable time. Fully unique Transparent tube shape meets your different colors ink scenery.
- 【The Best Companion】-- When you find wonderful view on a pleasant journey, or write a letter to your lover at a quiet afternoon, take it out of your pocket and express your instant thoughts and missing on paper.
Features:
Specs:
| Release date | June 2012 |
4. The Accursed Kings Series Books 1-3: The Iron King, The Strangled Queen, The Poisoned Crown
Specs:
| Release date | January 2015 |
6. Excalibur (The Warlord Chronicles), cover images may vary
Specs:
| Height | 9.2999814 Inches |
| Length | 6.25 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | July 1999 |
| Weight | 1.09 Pounds |
| Width | 1.55 Inches |
7. Enemy of God (The Arthur Books #2)
Specs:
| Height | 9.13 Inches |
| Length | 6.2 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | March 1998 |
| Weight | 1 Pounds |
| Width | 1.11 Inches |
8. The Wolf Hunt: A Novel of The Crusades
- ISBN13: 9780312875954
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Features:
Specs:
| Color | Multicolor |
| Height | 8.5 Inches |
| Length | 5.5 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | June 2002 |
| Weight | 0.7826410301 Pounds |
| Width | 0.85 Inches |
9. The Black Death: A Personal History
- Replacement leads fit all refillable Paper Mate Mechanical Pencils
- The longest leads available ease the stress of running out of lead
- #2 pencil leads create neat notes and are ideal for standardized tests
- Bold, easy-to-find lead size/hardness
- Includes 105 #2 mechanical pencil refills, 0.5mm
Features:
Specs:
| Height | 0.9 Inches |
| Length | 9 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | June 2009 |
| Weight | 1.2 Pounds |
| Width | 5.9 Inches |
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Summary
1. The Winter King (The Arthur Books #1)
- St Martin s Griffin
Features:
Specs:
| Height | 9.2 Inches |
| Length | 6.15 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | April 1997 |
| Weight | 1.05 Pounds |
| Width | 1.35 Inches |
2. The Lions of al-Rassan
- ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS & CREATIVE IDEAS IN ONE PLACE - Spiral-bound, paperback book that combines a notebook and sketchbook with pages that are half-lined and half blank.
- SMOOTH BRIGHT WHITE PAPER - Contains 64 pages of 19lb (75gsm) smooth, acid-free paper.
- EXCELLENT FOR DRY MEDIA - Ideal for use with pen or pencil
- HORIZONTALLY-LINED - Page is split horizontally, half-lined and half blank. Lines are spaced 1/4-inch apart
- MADE FROM RECYCLED CONTENT
Features:
Specs:
| Height | 8 Inches |
| Length | 5.31 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | June 2005 |
| Weight | 0.86 Pounds |
| Width | 1.19 Inches |
3. The Lions of Al-Rassan
- 【Mini Pocket-Size】--When you close the cap, it's just like the size of a lipstick, but more eye-catching. When you use a reversed cap, the size is just right. Small but not small, so wonderful!
- 【Integrity of Quality And Perfect Writing】--Acrylic material creates the high quality. Fine writing nib delivers beautiful and elegant line, giving you unparalleled writing experience.
- 【Delicate and Cute】-- Mini compact design makes the pen delicate and cute, just like the treasure in the palm. It's hard to put it down. Wherever you go, carry it.
- 【Large Capacity And Transparent】--The pen with seal ring, you can use eyedropper or ink sac. Large capacity saves your valuable time. Fully unique Transparent tube shape meets your different colors ink scenery.
- 【The Best Companion】-- When you find wonderful view on a pleasant journey, or write a letter to your lover at a quiet afternoon, take it out of your pocket and express your instant thoughts and missing on paper.
Features:
Specs:
| Release date | June 2012 |
4. The Accursed Kings Series Books 1-3: The Iron King, The Strangled Queen, The Poisoned Crown
Specs:
| Release date | January 2015 |
6. Excalibur (The Warlord Chronicles), cover images may vary
Specs:
| Height | 9.2999814 Inches |
| Length | 6.25 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | July 1999 |
| Weight | 1.09 Pounds |
| Width | 1.55 Inches |
7. Enemy of God (The Arthur Books #2)
Specs:
| Height | 9.13 Inches |
| Length | 6.2 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | March 1998 |
| Weight | 1 Pounds |
| Width | 1.11 Inches |
8. The Wolf Hunt: A Novel of The Crusades
- ISBN13: 9780312875954
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Features:
Specs:
| Color | Multicolor |
| Height | 8.5 Inches |
| Length | 5.5 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | June 2002 |
| Weight | 0.7826410301 Pounds |
| Width | 0.85 Inches |
9. The Black Death: A Personal History
- Replacement leads fit all refillable Paper Mate Mechanical Pencils
- The longest leads available ease the stress of running out of lead
- #2 pencil leads create neat notes and are ideal for standardized tests
- Bold, easy-to-find lead size/hardness
- Includes 105 #2 mechanical pencil refills, 0.5mm
Features:
Specs:
| Height | 0.9 Inches |
| Length | 9 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | June 2009 |
| Weight | 1.2 Pounds |
| Width | 5.9 Inches |
This is an interesting idea, especially for those worldbuilders like myself who have worlds heavily grounded in realism.
I think it’s safe to say that the more “realistic” you make an aspect of your world (“realistic” here meaning closely reflecting how the concept existed in the real world), the more believable it will appear to your readers. However, the more in-depth you create it, the more it will come to resemble your influences, to the point where the two concepts are virtual copies of the other. It’s simpler to copy intricate details than recreate them. This is good in a world based in realism. Details will be ordered and logical, allowing you to accurately model real world conditions. If you accurately want your Roman-inspired army to remain supplied in the field, it’s best to copy Roman military logistics.
Of course, if you want to have every detail of your setting exactly as it appears(ed) in reality (which is technically impossible), you wouldn’t be setting it in a constructed setting. It is then equally important to determine why you are creating a fictional setting in the first place. What makes you want to create a fictional locale? Do you like not being bound by history, and the freedom to create events as you wish? Do you like creating new sciences, technologies, or ideas? Use why you wish to create a fictional world to make your setting unique, not, in your words, a “rip-off.” In other words, copy intricate details from reality (such as the process and reasons for inflation in a bullion-based currency system), but allow yourself to be influenced by multiple influences or periods when creating macro-level concepts (like religions). It is important though to construct these ideas in a manner that the society at large could logically exist. The whole must be greater than the sum of its parts.
This is only one perspective. It is perfectly fine to realistically model all major elements of a society off it’s historical or contemporary counterpart. Guy Gavriel Kay has written a number of successful novels set in historically inspired fantasy settings, like Byzantium in [The Sarantine Mosaic] (http://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Sarantium-Book-Sarantine-Mosaic/dp/045146351X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405480068&sr=8-1&keywords=sarantine+mosaic) or Muslim Spain in [The Lions of al-Rassan] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Lions-al-Rassan-Guy-Gavriel/dp/0060733497/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1405480129&sr=8-5&keywords=guy+gavriel+kay). The settings of both very closely mirror their historical counterpart, yet enough aesthetic aspects are changed to create a feeling of difference, of uniqueness. If a certain period or society truly inspires you, there is nothing inherently wrong with your setting being strongly influenced by it. After all, what constitutes a “unique rendition” of a topic from a “rip-off” is ultimately a matter of personal taste.
If you liked Song of Ice and fire you might really like Erikson:
Malazan Book of the Fallen is a 10 book series, might take you a bit to get into in the beginning but once it gets going I was not able to put it down. It's extremely gritty and has a lot of characters and plot lines, but they are all done extremely well, it gets to a point that you just start following the bigger picture of what is happening even as you read the events that each character is involved in. (I highly recommend this series to anyone that likes fantasy in shades of gray)
Another great book I read recently was Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson is a very good page turner, had a couple of late nights not being able to put it down. The "magic" (don't know what else to call it really) in the books is really creatively done, his writing style keeps you reading late into the night.
And off the top of my head I also liked Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. This one is a fun read, not as involved as the others mentioned above.
I'm a huge fan of the historical fiction by Bernard Cornwell--especially the Arthurian legend trilogy, the Warlord Chronicles (beginning with the Winter King). Obviously Arthurian tales influenced and captivated Tolkien, as demonstrated by his poetry, but these books are just spot-on for any lover of good fiction with fantasy elements.
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Guy Gavriel Kay. His novels are fantasy, but with settings and characters that closely resemble various historical periods and figures.
If you've never read any of his works, I'd recommend starting with The Lions of Al-Rassan (setting resembles medieval Spain).
My other favorites are Under Heaven (Tang Dynasty China), The Sarantine Mosaic (Byzantine Empire), and Last Light of the Sun (Vikings, early medieval England & Wales)
You might like The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. It was wonderful!
> Islamic Spain.
I know of one book that used this, The Lions of Al Rassan by Guy Kay. An excellent read if you're interested.
The Accursed Kings series. First book The Iron King, GRRM called it "the original Game of Thrones." It is historical fiction about the French crown.
The first three kindle book bundle is on sale for $1.99. The audiobooks from Audible are great. You don't need the last book. Just 1-6 tells the whole story. https://www.amazon.com/Accursed-Kings-Books-1-3-Strangled-ebook/dp/B00NEO1MWY/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=2FL8QABS224A4&keywords=the+accursed+kings+series+books+1+3+by+maurice+druon&qid=1558443378&s=gateway&sprefix=The+Accursed+Kings%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
Try some of Martin's literary influences:
Not exactly plague doctors, but if you are interested in the Plague in general, I would suggest The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death. Hatcher's The Black Death personalizes the plague, and focuses on individual impact.
For fiction, Connie Willis' Doomsday Book has the plague AND time travel!
Bernard Cornwell's battle scenes are some of my favorite. They're one of the main reasons I really liked the Warlord Chronicles. (link)
Pretty cheap for the first 3 books of the Accursed Kings:
https://www.amazon.com/Accursed-Kings-Books-1-3-Strangled-ebook/dp/B00NEO1MWY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465398441&sr=8-2&keywords=the+accursed+kings
[The faithful one would be this one.] (http://www.amazon.com/Winter-King-Arthur-Books/dp/0312156960/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1426043827&sr=8-6&keywords=bernard+cornwell)
I highly recommend this historical fiction series by Bernard Cornwell.
The Winter King is the first book of it
GGK is awesome and The Lions of Al-Rassan is my personal favorite of his (narrowly beating out Tigana). Lions is also on sale right now as a Kindle ebook in the Amazon US store. So, if you haven't read it... Lions for $2.99 (Oct 10, 2018). With Lions in my #1 GGK spot and Tigana taking #2, I find it hard to order the rest, but consider reading A Song for Arbonne. I rarely hear it mentioned and it's an incredible read.
Currently reading The Lions of Al-Rassan buy Guy Gavriel Kay. I adored the hell out of Tigana, so I have high hopes for this one as well.
GGK's books are only recently available on Kindle in the US, I think, and Lions is currently $5.99 on Amazon!
For one last try, I'd recommend The Lions of Al-Rassan. It's my favourite work of his, and if there's any GGK work that might tip the scales for you, it's this.
So, I was in the same boat as you for a while in terms of what the hell to read for fantasy after GRRM. I highly suggest switching over to historical fiction for a bit, Bernard Cornwell to be exact.
Read his Warlord Chronicles, starts with The Winter King. Very dark and real retelling of the events of King Arthur.
I also HIGHLY recommend his Saxon Stories series, which starts with The Last Kingdom.
Both are fantastic series, and are actually quite similar to each other.
Here are the links:
First
Second
Third
I would put these easily on par with Martin's SoIaF series, and they're already complete!
I'm moving on now to the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and just wanted to give this series some well deserved promotion. 5 of 5 stars.
Bradshaw is one of my favourite authors, and this book is one of my favourites of hers. I have read it at least 4 times.
There is a Kindle digital copy of the first three books for $9.99 USD. 11.49 GBP for UK readers.
The Winter King
From my fantasy library:
The above novels have themes and events reminiscent of medieval times with the Martin series alluding to The War of the Roses in England, the Prince of Nothing exploring themes of Christianity and Islam with one of the nations aping the Byzantine Empire and finally the Lions of Al-Rassan have many elements of medieval Spain. Magic is sprinkled in small doses and the political intrigue is ramped up in all of them. The characters in all of them are very engrossing and I've lost entire afternoons reading and rereading these.