I love historical fiction and Follett’s Pillars of the Earth is a favourite. Please suggest other books in this genre other than Greek mythology that you’ve loved! I’ve already read Edward Rutherfurd and James Clavell, to start. TIA!
by distractedbysoup
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The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann
The Third Witch by Rebecca Reisert
Great ask. Following this post
Musashi is a great one
**When Christ and His Saints Slept** and everything else written by Sharon Kay Penman
**The Circle of Ceridwen Saga** by Octavia Randolph
**Katherine** by Anya Seton
The Pillars series led me to The Religion by Tim Willocks and Shogun led me to read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. Only about 20% through both but enjoying them enough to recommend.
And check out anything by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Pillars of the Earth was the first book I ever truly loved and is still one of my favorites ever.
Another that is in my top 5 all time favorite books and Historical fiction, Shogun by James Clavell!
Trust me. It is epic and a great story!
I liked Gary Jennings’ Aztec
*Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo* by Stephanie Storey
*Raphael: Painter in Rome* by Stephanie Storey
*The Agony and The Esctacy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo* by Irving Stone
*The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence: A Story of Botticelli* by Alyssa Palombo
*Fools and Mortals* by Bernard Cornwell
*Wolf’s Hall* by Hilary Mantel
*Ivanhoe* by Sir Walter Scott
*All The Light We Cannot See* by Anthony Doerr
*The Harmony Silk Factory* by Tash Aw
*Taj: A Story of Mughal India* by Timeri N. Murari
Saint Francis by Nikos Kazantzakis
The Coffee Trader
A Conspiracy of Paper
Tidelands by Phillipa Gregory was fantastic. The Other Boleyn Girl (also by her) is phenomenal, but more people are aware of it, so I mentioned Tidelands first.
_I, Claudius_ and _Claudius the God_ are classics for a reason.
I would classify the Brother Cadfael mysteries as historical fiction as well – they’re entertaining stories set during the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud in England during the mid eleventh century.
Hawaii and also Centennial by James Michener.
World Without End
*In a Dark Wood Wandering* by Hella Haasse
*Vanity Fair* by William Makepeace Thackery
*Shadow Country* by Peter Matthiessen
He just came out with another sequel.
I always recommend books by John Jakes to people who like Ken Follett. I read them the opposite way: John Jakes first and then I found Ken Follett when searching for a similar author.
John Jakes wrote the North and South Trilogy, the Kent Family Chronicles, and a handful of other standalone books based on American history. He’s an older author and hasn’t published anything new in a while (I’m honestly not even sure if he’s still alive), but to me, his books are pretty equal to Ken Follett books.
Here Be Dragons (and it’s sequels) by Sharon Kay Penman. Similar time period, but set in Wales.
Shogun
Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones
Most of Jorge Molist’s works
Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
News of the World by Jiles
Several by Brooks: Year of wonder, March, People of the Book
What did you think of the pillars of the earth TV show? How does the show compare to the book?
Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones (Set in 14th century Spain)
Similar to The Pillars of The Earth, Cathedral of The Sea has the construction of a cathedral in the background. It also has a TV show on Netflix.
The religion – Tim Willocks .. it’s set during the great siege of Malta 1565