Looking for historical fiction ideas

[BookWalker]

I'm looking for suggestions on some good books of historical fiction.

Due to living in a foreign country, I've had to take on the job of homeschooling my teen. I'm trying to give my son a better feel for ancient history times, so I'd like to have him read historical fiction that mirrors what he's studying in his history. (great way for me to cover literature at the same time) Although I have come across a great list on GoodReads, most of them are quite long novels. I'd like something a bit shorter than the 550-700 pg count I'm running into... although, I suppose I could have him read just a few chapters and switch him to another book when he switches time/civilizations, then hope he's intrigued enough to go back and finish the books later...?

I'm open minded, so avoiding sex content is not a priority as long as it's not super detailed at length. Sex is a part of life. No need in sheltering him. Also, even though I'm  not a religious person, I do want him to learn about religions. I have a couple of TTC courses (thanks dohduhdah!) that dig deeper than just the religious aspect of the bible and ancient sacred texts of the world. 

Sam Barone is a great author with his Eskkar series that take place during early Mesopotamia. Long ass novels though.
I'm curious about The Red Tent, which tells the story of Dinah, Jacobs daughter that is talked about very little in the bible, and what it was like to be women during that time period surround by those types of religious beliefs. I will be printing it out soon for myself to read and critique.

But I need more suggestions. Anyone have some?

Thanks!!

[RobertX]

I don't know if you or your child is into Shakespeare, but he does historical fiction as well. Remember, Shakespeare's stories are theatre-friendly as this is what they are intended for, so it should prove to be a good read.

If you're complaining about long reads, you might be able to find movies/live plays of his works.

Personally, I liked Julius Caesar. I studied that in summer school and I liked my time studying him. The reason for my recommendation is that the story is easy to follow during soliloquies and dialogues.

I will also recommend Antony and Cleopatra, a "sequel" to Julius Caesar - well not exactly a sequel, but it is a continuation of the Caesar storyline.

The thing about Shakespeare is that while he's not just into historical fiction, his other "fictional" stories include the real-to-life kinds as well. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, and the timeline contributes to the point that it is fictional, but there was an incident where two friends fell into a misguided kind of love. I'll let you study and get into it.

Believe it or not, I also think that video games are an excellent way to learn history. Take Age of Empires for example. It is Microsoft, but the successful series emulate a historical real time strategy game where you learn how to manage resources, follow along through an interactive story, and basically have fun. It's not exactly Super Mario, so it's a viable avenue.

If you're into world history, the Three Kingdoms is a good saga that documents Chinese history. I'm not saying this because I'm Chinese, but although I don't approve of the regime of the mainland, but there are plenty of well-emulated series made by state productions.

I can go on forever, but the point I'm trying to make is that you're in luck. There are plenty of materials out there that can teach a world of good to your child, and they're out there - well, here in The Pirate Bay at least.

Good luck.

[joew771]

'I , Claudius' is the best historical fiction novel I've ever read, by far. And the sequel, 'Claudius the God', the second best. Both by Robert Graves about the Roman Empire. The first is under 500 pages the second is under 550. Still sort of long, but under your limits and very much worth the length. They are both remarkable books. I would be a lesser person had I not read them. Please have your son read them, and read them yourself.

I sort of disagree with your length restrictions. Most historical novels are quite long, and I could recommend many to you that are longer than what you suggested, and you and your son will be missing out on some of the greatest literature ever written because of that, but I understand that you can't read everything right now.

[BookWalker]

I don't know if you or your child is into Shakespeare, but he does historical fiction as well. Remember, Shakespeare's stories are theatre-friendly as this is what they are intended for, so it should prove to be a good read.

If you're complaining about long reads, you might be able to find movies/live plays of his works.

Personally, I liked Julius Caesar. I studied that in summer school and I liked my time studying him. The reason for my recommendation is that the story is easy to follow during soliloquies and dialogues.

I will also recommend Antony and Cleopatra, a "sequel" to Julius Caesar - well not exactly a sequel, but it is a continuation of the Caesar storyline.

The thing about Shakespeare is that while he's not just into historical fiction, his other "fictional" stories include the real-to-life kinds as well. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, and the timeline contributes to the point that it is fictional, but there was an incident where two friends fell into a misguided kind of love. I'll let you study and get into it.

Believe it or not, I also think that video games are an excellent way to learn history. Take Age of Empires for example. It is Microsoft, but the successful series emulate a historical real time strategy game where you learn how to manage resources, follow along through an interactive story, and basically have fun. It's not exactly Super Mario, so it's a viable avenue.

If you're into world history, the Three Kingdoms is a good saga that documents Chinese history. I'm not saying this because I'm Chinese, but although I don't approve of the regime of the mainland, but there are plenty of well-emulated series made by state productions.

I can go on forever, but the point I'm trying to make is that you're in luck. There are plenty of materials out there that can teach a world of good to your child, and they're out there - well, here in The Pirate Bay at least.

Good luck.

Thank you for your suggestions!

Shakespeare and the all of the classics are great, otherwise they would not have been used so much in teaching. But this type of reading is too heavy for my son. He's just started to appreciate what he can get from reading. He HATED reading up until a bit over a year ago, and fought every attempt I made of incorporating it into his learning. Then I figured out that it was the type of reading I was providing that was making him so resistant. So for the classics, I am exposing him to them, but not as in-depth, tear it apart, and analytical reading. I don't want to spoil what I've accomplished in getting him to appreciate and enjoy in reading. Hopefully with this non forced approach he'll eventually blossom into wanting to discover more as he grows as a person. Or the classics may never be of interest to him. Who knows.

Yes! Agree on video games. My hat is off to a lot of companies producing these games with such standards. I've even used Assassin's Creed to teach him about history. I've heard of Age of Empires, but honestly do not know why I never looked into it. I believe now I will.

I'll look up The Three Kingdoms.

For sure, Pirate Bay is becoming my new joy in finding things! I'm so grateful for everyone sharing!!

Thanks again for your reply and if you think of anything else I'm open to suggestions.

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'I , Claudius' is the best historical fiction novel I've ever read, by far. And the sequel, 'Claudius the God', the second best. Both by Robert Graves about the Roman Empire. The first is under 500 pages the second is under 550. Still sort of long, but under your limits and very much worth the length. They are both remarkable books. I would be a lesser person had I not read them. Please have your son read them, and read them yourself.

I sort of disagree with your length restrictions. Most historical novels are quite long, and I could recommend many to you that are longer than what you suggested, and you and your son will be missing out on some of the greatest literature ever written because of that, but I understand that you can't read everything right now.

I disagree with myself of length restrictions. But I've got a lot of information to provide (cram) to him in just 2 years time. He's not such an enthusiastic reader and asking him to read a chapter a day, and we know how long these chapters are, well it's asking a lot. Then when you realize how many chapters are in each novel it would take well over a month to read it. That would be 6 or less books to read in each year.

I might have him start reading novels that correspond with the era he's studying in history, then switch to another when the era switches. Maybe his interest will be perked enough to come back to the novels and finish reading them on his own. I don't want to force him to read too much. As I stated to RobertX in the previous post, my son has just recently learned to enjoy reading and had fought it tooth and nail against it before. I don't want to spoil it. A person can gain a world from reading, if they enjoy and know how to decipher the information.

Aha! I have the Robert Graves books you have mentioned in ebook! So it's decided. I'm putting them on my print list.   (You guys must think I'm strange printing out books. I'm a graphic designer, so I'm at my computer all day. I relish being able to have a book in hand to read instead of staring even longer at a monitor. Not to mention power outages are a bitch, and it's difficult for me to buy physical books in English here.)

So with that long babble, if you have more suggestions I would welcome them!! Thanks!!

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[joew771]

Aha! I have the Robert Graves books you have mentioned in ebook! So it's decided. I'm putting them on my print list.   (You guys must think I'm strange printing out books. I'm a graphic designer, so I'm at my computer all day. I relish being able to have a book in hand to read instead of staring even longer at a monitor. Not to mention power outages are a bitch, and it's difficult for me to buy physical books in English here.)

To me print is always better than an ebook, but the Claudius books I mentioned are not all that easy to read and I'm not sure of your son's age, but don't push him too hard or he will learn to hate books instead of loving them.

You can always start out with some Mark Twain if he is younger. Those are somewhat easier to digest. And not so long either .

I applaud you for encouraging your son to read, because nothing will make a more well rounded person than reading books, but on the other hand, pushing literature on someone, especially someone who is too young to appreciate it can be very detrimental. So be cautious in what you have your son read. And I would suggest, that if you don't already, you should read everything he is supposed to read before he does.

My suggestion of the Claudius books was for a somewhat older child, perhaps 16+. You are of course a better judge of where your son is at intellectually, but if he is younger than 14, I would think Twain would be a better choice at this point. Or perhaps some Charles Dickens, though they are a bit longer generally than you wanted.

[BookWalker]

To me print is always better than an ebook, but the Claudius books I mentioned are not all that easy to read and I'm not sure of your son's age, but don't push him too hard or he will learn to hate books instead of loving them.

You can always start out with some Mark Twain if he is younger. Those are somewhat easier to digest. And not so long either .

He just turned 17. Yes, I'm trying to provoke a love for reading in him. He's at the "like" level now.   He's showing promise, though.

Actually, I might try finding some movies and/or TV series/documentaries to incorporate. Since I've been using videos for his subjects he's gotten much better in absorbing more elements of his studies.

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[joew771]

I don't like that word 'provoke'. You should be encouraging not provoking. Ask him what sort of books he likes. If he likes Sci-Fi, let him read that. If he likes Historical Fiction, let him read that. If he doesn't like reading, then poke him in the nose and tell him to read something, even if it's Dr. Suess, but most importantly, find out what he likes and what he wants to read about. Instead of what you have been talking about, he may want to read 'Harry Potter', (which I hate, but which is perfectly acceptable to other people apparently). Or he may want to read about Hobbits or Aliens or Knights or whatever. Don't restrict him in any way. Let him explore literature. It's a boundless place. There are fantastic books in every genre there is. ENCOURAGE him to read, but to read what he wants.

But both of you should still read the 'Claudius' books. OMG

[BookWalker]

I applaud you for encouraging your son to read, because nothing will make a more well rounded person than reading books, but on the other hand, pushing literature on someone, especially someone who is too young to appreciate it can be very detrimental. So be cautious in what you have your son read. And I would suggest, that if you don't already, you should read everything he is supposed to read before he does.

My suggestion of the Claudius books was for a somewhat older child, perhaps 16+. You are of course a better judge of where your son is at intellectually, but if he is younger than 14, I would think Twain would be a better choice at this point. Or perhaps some Charles Dickens, though they are a bit longer generally than you wanted.

One thing that I've discovered since being a homeschooling parent is that the public school system is a bunch of crap in their way of teaching. They are trying to shove too much into kids and make them learn unnecessarily. I say 'learn' lightly, because the reality is that they are memorizing. Schooling should be encouraging a child to learn what they have a propensity towards. Organized government run schooling did not come into existence until just under 200 years ago. Kids are stressed and failing because of it.

I want to encourage my son to learn about what he is interested in and then expose him to a wider variety, but not force him to memorize everything. This is why I'm not pushing classical literature on him. It's not of interest to him. So I'm giving him short lessons on these, then moving on to other pieces that are more appealing to him... everybody has feet right? But we do not all wear the same shoe size.

And yes, I do read everything before I assign it to him. It doesn't do him any good if he has questions and I can't discuss the book with him.

I appreciate all of your comments.

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[joew771]

Since you have expanded your requirements somewhat beyond historical fiction. Both of you should read the 'Foundation' books by Isaac Asimov. Not only are they great books, but they also have a very tangible link to history through commerce and power, etc.

[BookWalker]

Actually, that's a good point about my word usage. Provoke might not have been the best one to use. Thank you for pointing that out.

Aha! Worry not! Right now I'm in school material mode. I've been humping for 2 weeks now gathering and printing materials. So my questions about books were only school related. I do provide many other books for him to read at his leisure, and in genres he's expressed interest in. And he has been reading them on his own fairly regularly.

He's expressed that he wants to be a professional chef. So I've incorporated the TTC course "Food A Cultural Culinary History" to add something more appealing to his history studies, as well as some more bits n pieces materials.

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Since you have expanded your requirements somewhat beyond historical fiction. Both of you should read the 'Foundation' books by Isaac Asimov. Not only are they great books, but they also have a very tangible link to history through commerce and power, etc.

I believe I have a book or two by him on my backup hard drive, waiting for me to print.

And my interest is really piqued with your 'Claudius' books suggestion!