November SFFKit: Historical Fantasy

November's theme is historical fantasy, where the past is not quite how you remember it from history class. The choices are endless, but here are some ideas:

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (Renaissance)
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (Tudor England)
A Midsummer Tempest by Pol Anderson (English Civil War)
Arabella of Mars, etc. by David Levine (Napoleonic Wars)
Burning Bright, etc. by Melissa McShane (Napoleonic Wars)
His Majesty's Dragon, etc. by Naomi Novik (Napoleonic Wars)
Shades of Milk and Honey, etc. by Mary Robinette Kowal (Regency Era)
Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis (Regency Era)
Jackaby, etc. by William Ritter (19th century)
A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent, etc. by Marie Brennan (19th century)
The Golden City, etc. by J. Kathleen Cheney (turn of the century Portugal)
Phoenix and Ashes, etc. by Mercdes Lackey (early 20th century)
Delia's Shadow, etc. by Jaime Lee Moyer (1910s San Francisco)
Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal (WWI)

*etc. indicates a series

>1 inge87: I'm SO excited for this theme, and I am loving your list of suggestions! Right now I'm planning to read Congress of Secrets by Stephanie Burgis. Magic + con men + Napoleonic wars = SOLD.

I'll be reading The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder.

I've just started Daughter of the Forest, and wouldn't be surprised if I go straight into the sequel, I'm enjoying it so much...

>4 whitewavedarling: Oh, good to know! I've got that coming up in December.

>5 majkia:, Yep :) The first 20-30 pages went sort of slowly, and then I'd suddenly read a fourth of the book before I knew it! I would have continued last night, but I decided I needed to finish my planned October reads first lol.

It looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in the 17th century this month. I'm continuing to work through Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver -- only 800 more pages to go! I'm also planning to read 1636: The Devil's Opera, by Eric Flint and David Carrico, one of the books in Flint's Ring of Fire series.

The only possibility I can think of on my TBR shelves is Videssos Cycle Volume 1 by Harry Turtledove. I have Arabella of Mars wishlisted so I look forward to people's comments on that.

Duh - I just listened to Black Powder War by Naomi Novik this past month. So either I go to the next in series - Empire of Ivory - or I might have a go at A Natural History of Dragons. Another possibility - without dragons - would be The White City by Elizabeth Bear.

I'd recommend masks and shadows

I'm going to read Vonda N. McIntyre's The moon and the sun : Versailles and Louis XIV's court.

I'll be reading His Majesty's Dragon.

Maybe everyone is aware of this but I found it and it is a great tool for finding books for the different types of SFF, this is the link.... https://www.worldswithoutend.com/searchwwe.asp?st=&t=1&at=All&gid=42...

>13 Kristelh: Thank you! I love this! It's like the SFF version of StopYoureKillingMe.com which is dedicated to mysteries! :-)

>13 Kristelh: Thanks! Some surprising titles here, including some in my TBR...

I finished 1636: The Devil's Opera by Eric Flint and David Carrico. This is one of the many books in Flint's Ring of Fire universe, where a modern-day American town is transplanted into 17th-century Germany.

I finished Congress of Secrets by Stephanie Burgis over the weekend and liked it a lot! I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author.

A Natural History of Dragons is SO good--I loved the whole series! And I liked Burgis' first book in that setting, Masks and Shadows even better than Congress of Secrets. I might finally get around to reading 1632.

I've read two books that fall squarely in this theme. Eight Skilled Gentlemen is part of a series that takes place in Ancient China and The Red Magician takes place in Eastern Europe at the onset of WWII. Both were very enjoyable.

I have finished Throne of Jade, the second in the Temeraire series. Very good!

>18 ronincats: I've never read any of Marie Brennan's books but I've just requested a collection of her short stories from the ER program. I'll have to add A Natural History of Dragons to my wishlist.

I finally finished Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson! This was a real doorstopper, at over 1200 pages. It was a bit challenging to read (not just because of its length) but very enjoyable. There were lots of interesting details about math, science and politics in the 17th century. I hope to read the next book Confusion in this trilogy during next year's Neal Stephenson group read, if I don't get to it before.

I finished Daughter of the Forest, first in the Sevenwaters 'trilogy' (that grew to six books in the end) by Juliet Marillier. It was wonderful, and I can't wait to read the next in the series. Full review written :)

I read Jackaby by William Ritter for this CAT. A Young Adult book, historical fantasy set in 1890.
Rating:3.625

Unfortunately I didn't get much reading time in November so only finished off my selection for this topic earlier this week. My review for The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington has been posted.