I’m a fan of dark historical fiction like The Alienist, The Historian, and The Terror. Other recommendations?
I’m a big fan of dark historical fiction, books like Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, and Dan Simmons’ The Terror. For those who are also big fans of this genre, what other books would you recommend?
Labryrinth by kate mosse
Oooh. Was only thinking about The Alienist the other day.
Great book.
It’s excellent. I want to reread it now that a tv series is coming out.
what????
A series based on the book will be on TNT. It looks promising. https://youtu.be/JcJQnaXiCfI
Looking forward to that!
The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric or….. Beloved Poison and Dark Asylum both by ES Thomson. All excellent reads.
These all look great. Thanks!
Anne Rice! Just about any Anne Rice! I realize it gets categorized more in “genre,” but it’s almost always very tied up in history. The Mayfair Witch series (starting with The Witching Hour) is a great place to start (it starts in present day but goes back and forth into the past).
Caleb Carr has a second book in that series called The Angel Of Darkness.
I read it soon after reading The Alienist years ago.
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber.
The Opium Eater books by David Morrell
I’ve been thinking of reading these. Are they very good?
They are very good.
You’ve got to read “See What I Have Done” by Sarah Schmidt! Very dark.
Looks good!
I reviewed it on my blog (The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog) a little while ago, and it made my best of 2017 list!
Such a great book!
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and others by Laurie R. King.
Remarkable Creatures, The Signature of All Things, Circling the Sun, Essex Serpent
Some great recommendations here *taking notes* ?
Hild I can’t remember the author off the top of my head
Nicola Griffith. She also wrote a brilliant book called Ammonite, SF-ish but really an examination of the human condition
@CarolAnne ooh I’ll have to check it out, I really enjoyed Hild and can’t wait for the sequel
I’ve got The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova on my TBR list – supposed to be another great read by her.
Loved The Historian but was disappointed by The Swan Thieves. Am looking forward to this one though.
I was extremely disappointed with The Swan Thieves which was a huge disappointment as I adored The Historian.
I think Swan Thieves was sophomore slump.
@Erin the historian is awesome!
Not historical, but plenty dark, one of my top favorites, The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Have you read the sequel to The Alienist?
Yes I have.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7728889-the-diviners
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23719270-vengeance-road
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22838927-the-steep-thorny-way
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13112915-in-the-shadow-of-blackbirds?from_search=true
A Mortal Bane (Magdalene La Batarde, #1) by Roberta Gellis – Medieval mystery series taking place in 12th century England. The main character is a madam and much of the book takes place in her establishment. Surprisingly nothing sexual about the books. But very gritty and dirty, just like England at that time. And full of history
This sounds very interesting.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
Dan Simmons book Drood is amazing if you haven’t read it yet.
I have! He’s a great writer.
One of my all time favourites so much so I’ve just started Dickens original….
One thing to look for would be anthologies of short stories or magazine writing or humor. Often they can be bought second hand pretty cheap.
I think Jerry Spinelli is not a depressing author. Stargirl might be worth a shot.
Kate di Camillo wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and other books.
Di Camillo and Spinelli write children’s books but adults love them.
Funny books are hard to find, but I think Dave Barry is hilarious.
Following! I love this genre too. Currently reading The Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry. Turn-of-the-century New York, so good. On my TBR pile The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown, non-fiction about the Donner Party…