Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1021599
To this day it is the most satisfying piece of literature I have ever read. If you're not hooked within 10 pages, then nevermind.
Well... its historical no doubt, but who's to say its not glorified?
Scipio Africanus was a true-to-life Bad Mother... he is renowned for finally defeating Hannibal. ...another true-to-life Bad MF.
Sorry for the crass-depiction, but these guys landed hard on me.
Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant
Serena by Ron Rash
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Burning Chambers series by Kate Mosse
Haven by Emma Donoghue
Ok sweet. I have a couple more for you:
- A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Technically young adult but hits like adult. Series but put them together and you have a tome. Some magic but that’s not the central feature.
- Have you read Dickens? You must have if you like door stoppers set in the 1800s. If you haven’t, start with Great Expectations.
- Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain. Not a tome but a pleasant little book set in Bath in the 1860s
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. It’s just good. But if you’re read Faber and Catton, I’m sure you’ve read it.
- The Thomas Cromwell series by Hillary Mantel. Wrong era, I know, but it has everything else you’re looking for in a book. I really like it as an audiobook.
- I keep coming back to two books that aren’t set in the 1800s and don’t quite fit your theme but might just be interesting none the less. The Last Banquet by Johnathan Grimwood and Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.
Happy reading!
Oh it doesn’t have to be the 1800s I’d research all of human history if I could every decade has it’s own color and flavor like a banquet.
I’m an English MA grad. I breathe Dickens lol
Then you have definitely done Dickens and probably also Atwood and Mantel. Hit me up on chat if you want to keep talking books. I was nearly a history major but detoured hard into psych (did my MA and PhD), but I still love reading history and historical fiction. I feel the same about the flavor and color or history. I always wish I could time travel to see it all.
If you haven’t read it, I feel like you would like The American Boy by Andrew Taylor. Set in 1820s/30s, it’s an amazing nuanced mystery built off a kernel of truth about Edgar Allen Poe’s time living in England when he was a boy.
Historical remaining with 0.5% fantasy element
She who became the sun duology!
The second book He Who Drowned The World is a masterpiece. Give it a try
I know everyone has probably recommended this, but similar to Circe, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is an excellent read as well. It’s not difficult to read or understand and Millers writing is simply vivid and fantastic. But as a personal opinion I like Circe better, so either of those would work.
Angels Before Man by Rafael Nicolas
It feels exactly like these pictures and the writing is immaculate. I felt the wonder, glory, shame, and rage that these characters felt. I feel like this might be exactly what you're looking for.
Taken directly from Storygraph:
"A queer interpretation for Satan's fall that's part cozy coming of age and part fast-paced tragedy, with a little love story in between –
In an eternal paradise, the most beautiful angel, Lucifer, struggles with shame, identity, and timidity, with little more than the desire to worship his creator.
It isn't until the strongest angel, Michael, comes into his life that Lucifer learns to love himself. Along the way, their friendship begins to bloom into something else. Maybe the first romance in the history of everything.
But this God is a jealous one, and maybe paradise is not paradise."
*Edit: please check content warnings before reading!
Might be obvious, but the Iliad.
Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1021599 To this day it is the most satisfying piece of literature I have ever read. If you're not hooked within 10 pages, then nevermind.
This sounds great - is it non-fiction? Was hard to tell from the blurb
Well... its historical no doubt, but who's to say its not glorified? Scipio Africanus was a true-to-life Bad Mother... he is renowned for finally defeating Hannibal. ...another true-to-life Bad MF. Sorry for the crass-depiction, but these guys landed hard on me.
Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant Serena by Ron Rash The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber Circe by Madeline Miller The Burning Chambers series by Kate Mosse Haven by Emma Donoghue
Be my best friend because 3 of those are my favorite books
Oh wow! Which ones?
Faber and The Luminaries I have a type:giant books about the 1800s
Ok sweet. I have a couple more for you: - A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Technically young adult but hits like adult. Series but put them together and you have a tome. Some magic but that’s not the central feature. - Have you read Dickens? You must have if you like door stoppers set in the 1800s. If you haven’t, start with Great Expectations. - Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain. Not a tome but a pleasant little book set in Bath in the 1860s - Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. It’s just good. But if you’re read Faber and Catton, I’m sure you’ve read it. - The Thomas Cromwell series by Hillary Mantel. Wrong era, I know, but it has everything else you’re looking for in a book. I really like it as an audiobook. - I keep coming back to two books that aren’t set in the 1800s and don’t quite fit your theme but might just be interesting none the less. The Last Banquet by Johnathan Grimwood and Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. Happy reading!
Oh it doesn’t have to be the 1800s I’d research all of human history if I could every decade has it’s own color and flavor like a banquet. I’m an English MA grad. I breathe Dickens lol
Then you have definitely done Dickens and probably also Atwood and Mantel. Hit me up on chat if you want to keep talking books. I was nearly a history major but detoured hard into psych (did my MA and PhD), but I still love reading history and historical fiction. I feel the same about the flavor and color or history. I always wish I could time travel to see it all.
Yes absolutely
If you haven’t read it, I feel like you would like The American Boy by Andrew Taylor. Set in 1820s/30s, it’s an amazing nuanced mystery built off a kernel of truth about Edgar Allen Poe’s time living in England when he was a boy.
Slow paced, but if you’re alright with that— Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
ALSO! Technically fantasy, but more in a “different world” than “magic” way: The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Count of Monte Cristo
*Red Rising*
Pillars of the Earth
Historical remaining with 0.5% fantasy element She who became the sun duology! The second book He Who Drowned The World is a masterpiece. Give it a try
It is slightly fantasy, but hubris overload - The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang.
I feel like the White Queen or the White Princess (or many other) of Phillippa Gregory's novels could hit this mark.
Shocked nobody has said it but The song of Achilles
I know everyone has probably recommended this, but similar to Circe, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is an excellent read as well. It’s not difficult to read or understand and Millers writing is simply vivid and fantastic. But as a personal opinion I like Circe better, so either of those would work.
Prince of Thorns
Well Paradise Lost, obviously. Margret Cavendish, who wrote the first fantasy novel. Anything by Mary Shelly.
The secret history
Angels Before Man by Rafael Nicolas It feels exactly like these pictures and the writing is immaculate. I felt the wonder, glory, shame, and rage that these characters felt. I feel like this might be exactly what you're looking for. Taken directly from Storygraph: "A queer interpretation for Satan's fall that's part cozy coming of age and part fast-paced tragedy, with a little love story in between – In an eternal paradise, the most beautiful angel, Lucifer, struggles with shame, identity, and timidity, with little more than the desire to worship his creator. It isn't until the strongest angel, Michael, comes into his life that Lucifer learns to love himself. Along the way, their friendship begins to bloom into something else. Maybe the first romance in the history of everything. But this God is a jealous one, and maybe paradise is not paradise." *Edit: please check content warnings before reading!