I've arrived at the chapter in my manuscript that will list resources on historical fiction for librarians and readers. I'm looking for ideas on what else to include. What websites do you find most valuable in keeping up with historical fiction, letting you know what books are out there, etc?
I'm not looking for blogs (though I'll include some) so much as online bibliographies, lists, guides, discussion forums, and things of that sort.... sites that are fairly extensive and/or comprehensive on a given subject. I include a number of these on this blog's sidebar, and there are some others in v.1 of my book, but what other sites am I missing? "Historical fiction" in my definition includes all the subgenres... historical mystery, sagas, historical romance, historical fantasy, historical adventure, alternate history, etc.
Examples of types of things I'm looking for are Fictional Rome and CrimeThruTime.
If you have a copy of my previous book, this is for Chapter 15, which is, in fact, the last chapter... I'm nowhere near done, however, as I still need to update the intro and the earlier chapters with historical novels published during 2008. But I'm getting there.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
About Me
- Sarah Johnson
- Collection management librarian, readers' advisor, avid historical fiction reader, NBCC member. Book review editor for the Historical Novels Review and Booklist reviewer. Recipient of ALA's Louis Shores Award for book reviewing (2012). Blogging since 2006.
I keep up by reading HNS stuff, Publishers' Lunch, and *your* blog, Sarah! (and I pay more attention to you than the rest, though I know you probably can't list your own blog, but, hey, you asked...)
ReplyDeleteYou've probably come across this one on the Historical Fiction.org site, but just in case:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.historicalnovels.info/
It's one of the most thorough listings I've seen.
I also have a Squidoo lens that lists various sites:
http://www.squidoo.com/readinghistoricalfiction
I lurk over at the HNS site a lot, and for historial romance, I read All About Romance (www.likesbooks.com). They review mostly romance, but do include some historical fiction. They also have some history articles, interviews, etc... up there.
ReplyDeleteI have links on my webpage to all of my favorites. Not many, just a few.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.michellemoran.com/links.htm
Hope this helps! And for Roman archaeology, I can't think of a better site than this:
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/B/bigromandig/vote/index.jsp
In fact, when CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER debuts, I hope to rip off several of their ideas (like making my own villa game)!
Thanks, all! I'm going to check all of those sites (and links) out thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteI'm on AAR a lot but am not sure if I included it in my first edition... if not, I'll definitely put it in the 2nd.
I read your blog, the www.historicalnovels.info/ site listed by Susan, and another pretty good reference site, http://www.booksandwriters.co.uk/writer/H/historical-novels.asp, as well as the HNS site.
ReplyDeleteThere's another good reference site for historical fiction set in ancient Greece, http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Classics/NJL/novels.html
Thanks, Foose, I haven't come across the Books & Writers one before... I'm jotting down some titles!
ReplyDelete(Michelle, I like that villa game too!)
Mystery Reader's Internationa and Journal
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mysteryreaders.org/
recent issues highlighting History Mysteries
Thanks, I remember reading one of those issues a while ago, too... will go check it out again.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I am glad you found my recommendation helpful.
ReplyDeleteI checked my old bookmarks and found a couple more. For Wars of the Roses fiction, heavily pro-Richard III, though:
http://www.histfiction.net/contents/content_server.php?pv=ricardianlist
If you root around on this Historical Fiction Network site, you can come across historical fiction by timeline:
http://www.histfiction.net/books.php
The pro-Richard III contingent appears to have set up the next list, too, which I mine chiefly for background, as I am not a Richard III fan:
http://www.richardiii.net/fiction%20library.htm
I went and looked at those Ricardian fiction lists. I own Roxane Murph's book (Wars of the Roses in Fiction), which both of them seem to derive from - it's probably why the titles are familiar. There are a few among them that I own, but others are super rare.
ReplyDelete(I'm not a Ricardian or an anti-Ricardian, or whatever the appropriate term is. I'm either open-minded or apathetic, take your pick.)
Soon's site is one I had in the first edition. It's decent, but it used to be more comprehensive and up-to-date than it is now.
There are some historical fiction lists from librarians here:
ReplyDeleteAnswerPoint.org's Reading Room
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ is very good with keeping up on books about the Titanic and the entire Gilded Age & Edwardian eras.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I'm probably too late to help and you'll have finished your great work by now, but here's two extra sites: www.fictionalcities.co.uk (covers all novels set in Rome, Florence and Venice, but many are historical); and Candida Martinelli's Italophile site, http://italophiles.com/historical.htm, has a good list for historicals set in Italy.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Donsbach's historicalnovels.info, however, is the most comprehensive, dedicated site I know, and it's growing swiftly.
Hi Linda, thanks and you're right, actually - I handed in the manuscript last week! But I did include Fictional Cities (which I had found linked from your blog) as well as Margaret Donsbach's excellent site. I hadn't seen the Italophile site before, but there are some good selections there.
ReplyDeleteincluding the light weight sub genre, "Historical Romances," with historical fiction is mischief making--a crime against humanity. How do you host some unctuous historical romance alongside James Michner, Alexander Dumas, Robert Graves, Mary Renault, Wilbur Smith....? See my blog at http://wklein722.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteA brief addendum to my last post. My Blog is called "Ancient Egyptian Fact and Fiction," which is a series of informal essays and comments on ancient Egypt. A recent comment makes the case that there is a clear distinction between historical Romances and historical fiction, as two distinct unrelated genres, and of the dangers of commingling the two.
ReplyDeleteI should tell you that I'm the author of THE WOMAN WHO WOULD BE PHARAOH and COME KILL THE PHARAOH (published in France as "L'Amant de Nefertiti" and in Germany as der Geliebte Der Nofretete." The French translation was ranked number three on the France Loisirs bestseller list. Again, my blog is
http://wklein722.blogspot.com