Does anyone here like historical fiction?

yes! reading 1200s book at the moment! :)

what sort do dyou like?

I'm sure there's some of it I would like but it bothers me that it's become so pervasive and that a novel nowadays seems to be rated so much on the meticulous research behind it. I prefer to enjoy a story for its own sake and to read a history book if I want to know about history. But I'm sure there are plenty within the genre that contain good stories - it's more the assumptions in the industry that I have reservations about. Rob

It's a genre I enjoy but it has to be very good to be good at all, if you see what I mean. That means that the historical context must be right, the facts must be right and the characters true to the times. It's very difficult to do well but when it is, it's sensational. One of my favourite books of all time is This Thing Of Darkenss by Harry Thompson. It covers Darwin's trips in the Beagle and his relationship with the 'inventor' of meterology - who happens to be the Captain. Read it!

Hi it068, while I would agree in the main with Tony, a good smattering of creative anachronisms can be very interesting, as long as it holds true within the 'elasticity' of the universe created in the story. If you haven't had the pleasure, read Ewan's 'Gibbous House' (on ABC) it's witty, very clever and extremely well researched. I think it may be one of his delights to throw in references and socio-historical clues as an 'Easter Egg' for the reader :-)

Sharon Penman good stories and research

Perhaps my problem is that I've only read the stuff that isn't very good. It seems to be such a huge and all-powerful genre at the moment (and each new entry enormously hyped and [it seems] as much for the research as anything else) that it's difficult to find the gold. I'm glad there are some suggestions here - I'll have a look. Rob

ohk maybe should say liked old historical fiction books, only sometimes look at new books never much to make me wanto read it K