Best Ancient History Fiction Books
Here you will get Best Ancient History Fiction Books For you.This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. Circe
Author: by Madeline Miller
Back Bay Books
English
416 pages
“A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story,” this #1 New York Times bestseller is “both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right” (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times).
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child – not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power – the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
2. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Author: by Edith Hamilton
Grand Central Publishing
English
512 pages
The world-renowned classic that has enthralled and delighted millions of readers with its timeless tales of gods and heroes. Edith Hamilton’s mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture-the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.
We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. We hear the tales of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. We discover the origins of the names of the constellations.
And we recognize reference points for countless works for art, literature and culture inquiry-from Freud’s Oedipus complex to Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra. Both a reference text for scholars of all ages and a book to simply enjoy, Mythology is a classic not to be missed.
3. The Book of Longings: A Novel
Author: by Sue Monk Kidd
B07YRTC6WV
April 21, 2020
English
An extraordinary novel … A triumph of insight and storytelling. Associated PressA true masterpiece. Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of WingsIn her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana.
Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her.
An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything. Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana’s pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome’s occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas.
4. A Thousand Ships: A Novel
Author: by Natalie Haynes
Harper (January 26, 2021)
English
368 pages
NATIONAL BESTSELLERGorgeous…. With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Natalie Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War. Madeline Miller, author of CirceShortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a gorgeous retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of the many women involved in its causes and consequencesfor fans of Madeline Miller.
This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have waited long enough for their turn … This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all … In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames.
Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over.Troy has fallen. From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.
5. Dominus: A Novel of the Roman Empire (Rome Book 3)
Author: by Steven Saylor
B08FZ9DQHB
June 29, 2021
English
Following his international bestsellers Roma and Empire, Steven Saylor’s Dominus continues his saga of the greatest, most storied empire in history from the eternal city at the very center of it all.A.D. 165: The empire of Rome has reached its pinnacle.
Universal peacethe Pax Romareigns from Britannia to Egypt, from Gaul to Greece. Marcus Aurelius, as much a philosopher as he is an emperor, oversees a golden age in the city of Rome. The ancient Pinarius family and their workshop of artisans embellish the richest and greatest city on earth with gilded statues and towering marble monuments.
Art and reason flourish. But history does not stand still. The years to come bring wars, plagues, fires, and famines. The best emperors in history are succeeded by some of the worst. Barbarians descend in endless waves, eventually appearing before the gates of Rome itself.
The military seizes power and sells the throne to the highest bidder. Chaos engulfs the empire. Through it all, the Pinarius family endures, thanks in no small part to the protective powers of the fascinum, a talisman older than Rome itself, a mystical heirloom handed down through countless generations.
6. A Man at Arms: A Novel
Author: by Steven Pressfield
English
336 pages
0393540979
From the acclaimed master of historical fiction comes an epic saga about a reluctant hero, the Roman Empire, and the rise of a new faith. Jerusalem and the Sinai desert, first century AD. In the turbulent aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, officers of the Roman Empire acquire intelligence of a pilgrim bearing an incendiary letter from a religious fanatic to insurrectionists in Corinth.
The content of this letter could bring down the empire. The Romans hire a former legionary, the solitary man-at-arms, Telamon of Arcadia, to intercept the letter and capture its courier. Telamon operates by a dark code all his own, with no room for noble causes or lofty beliefs.
But once he overtakes the courier, something happens that neither he nor the empire could have predicted. In his first novel of the ancient world in thirteen years, the best-selling author of Gates of Fire and Tides of War returns with a gripping saga of conquest and rebellion, bloodshed and faith.
7. Daughters of Sparta: A Novel
Author: by Claire Heywood
Dutton (June 22, 2021)
English
384 pages
For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand shipsbut now it’s time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology’s most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister Klytemnestra.
As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivaled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. But such privilege comes at a cost. While still only girls, the sisters are separated and married to foreign kings of their father’s choosingthe powerful Agamemnon, and his brother Menelaos.
Yet even as Queens, each is only expected to do two things: birth an heir and embody the meek, demure nature that is expected of women. But when the weight of their husbands’ neglect, cruelty, and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, Helen and Klytemnestra must push against the constraints of their society to carve new lives for themselves, and in doing so, make waves that will ripple throughout the next three thousand years.
8. La Quinta Montana
Author: by Paulo Coelho
0060930128
Rayo (February 17, 1999)
Spanish
Reafirmando una vez m su talento literario, Paulo Coelho, el escritor brasileo mas vendido de nuestros dias, vuelve a sorprendernos con una novela tan fascinante como inolvidable. Inspirado en un breve pasaje de la Biblia ( I Reyes 18, 8-24 ), La quinta montaa cuenta la historia de un hombre, el profeta Elas, que recibe de Dios la orden de abandonar Israel.
En un mundo regido por supersticiones, conflictos religiosos y tradiciones profundamente arraigadas, el joven profeta deber enfrentarse a una avalancha de acontecimientos que le conduciran a una definitivo cara a cara con Dios. La historia del profeta Elas se convierte as en una valiosa leccion de esperanza para el hombre contemporaneo.
Hasta qu punto podemos determinar nuestro destino? Sta es la pregunta que lanza al aire La quinta montaa para que cada uno de nosotros encuentre su propia respuesta. Reafirmando una vez m su talento literario, Paulo Coelho, el escritor brasileo mas vendido de nuestros das, vuelve a sorprendernos con una novela tan fascinante como inolvidable.
9. Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined
Author: by Stephen Fry
11 hours and 1 minute
Stephen Fry
June 22, 2021
Whispered secrets about her parents’ past take on new urgency for Chariline as she pays one last visit to the land of her forefathers, the ancient kingdom of Cush. Raised as an orphan by her aunt, Chariline has only been told a few pieces of her parents’ tragic love story.
Her beautiful dark skin is proof that her father was Cushite, but she knows nothing else. While visiting her grandfather before his retirement as the Roman official in the queen’s court, Chariline overhears that her father is still alive, and discovering his identity becomes her obsession.
Both her grandfather and the queen have reasons for keeping this secret, however, and forbid her quest. So when her only clues lead to Rome, Chariline sneaks on the ship of a merchant trusted by friends. Theo is shocked to discover a stowaway on board his vessel and determines to be rid of her as soon as possible.
But drawn in by Chariline’s story, he feels honor-bound to see her safely to shore, especially when it appears someone may be willing to kill for the truth she seeks. In this transformative tale of historical fiction, bestselling author Tessa Afshar brings to life the kingdom of Cush and the Roman Empire, introducing readers to a fascinating world filled with gripping adventure, touching romance, and a host of lovable charactersincluding some they may recognize from the biblical book of Acts.
11. Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome
Author: by Steven Saylor
B000Q9ENSK
St. Martin's Press
March 6, 2007
Spanning a thousand years, and following the shifting fortunes of two families though the ages, this is the epic saga of Rome, the city and its people. Weaving history, legend, and new archaeological discoveries into a spellbinding narrative, critically acclaimed novelist Steven Saylor gives new life to the drama of the city’s first thousand years from the founding of the city by the ill-fated twins Romulus and Remus, through Rome’s astonishing ascent to become the capitol of the most powerful empire in history.
Roma recounts the tragedy of the hero-traitor Coriolanus, the capture of the city by the Gauls, the invasion of Hannibal, the bitter political struggles of the patricians and plebeians, and the ultimate death of Rome’s republic with the triumph, and assassination, of Julius Caesar.
Witnessing this history, and sometimes playing key roles, are the descendents of two of Rome’s first families, the Potitius and Pinarius clans: One is the confidant of Romulus. One is born a slave and tempts a Vestal virgin to break her vows.
12. The Silence of the Girls: A Novel
Author: by Pat Barker
B078VWKKNB
Anchor (September 4, 2018)
September 4, 2018
A Washington Post Notable Book One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, The Economist, Financial Times Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award Finalist for the Women’s Prize for FictionHere is the story of the Iliad as we’ve never heard it before: in the words of Briseis, Trojan queen and captive of Achilles.
Given only a few words in Homer’s epic and largely erased by history, she is nonetheless a pivotal figure in the Trojan War. In these pages she comes fully to life: wry, watchful, forging connections among her fellow female prisoners even as she is caught between Greece’s two most powerful warriors.
Her story pulls back the veil on the thousands of women who lived behind the scenes of the Greek army campconcubines, nurses, prostitutes, the women who lay out the deadas gods and mortals spar, and as a legendary war hurtles toward its inevitable conclusion.
Brilliantly written, filled with moments of terror and beauty, The Silence of the Girls gives voice to an extraordinary womanand makes an ancient story new again.
13. The Gates of Athens
Author: by Conn Iggulden
B08C1MJ17P
January 5, 2021
English
Evoking two of the most famous battles of the Ancient Worldthe Battle of Marathon and the Last Stand at ThermopylaeThe Gates of Athens is a bravura piece of storytelling by a well acclaimed master of the historical adventure novel. In the new epic historical novel by New York Times bestselling author Conn Iggulden, in ancient Greece an army of slaves gathers on the plains of Marathon …
Under Darius the Great, King of Kings, the mighty Persian armyswollen by 10,000 warriors known as The Immortalshave come to subjugate the Greeks. In their path, vastly outnumbered, stands an army of freeborn Athenians. Among them is a clever, fearsome, and cunning soldier-statesman, Xanthippus.
Against all odds, the Athenians emerge victorious. Yet people soon forget that freedom is bought with blood. Ten years later, Xanthippus watches helplessly as Athens succumbs to the bitter politics of factionalism. Traitors and exiles abound. Trust is at a low ebb when the Persians cross the Hellespont in ever greater numbers in their second attempt to raze Athens to the ground.
14. Aphrodite Made Me Do It
Author: by Trista Mateer
Central Avenue Publishing
English
192 pages
Voted one of the best poetry collections of 2019 by readers on Goodreads! Bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award winning poet Trista Mateer takes a magical approach to self-care with her new collection, Aphrodite Made Me Do It. In this empowering and feminist retelling, Mateer transforms the mythology of the goddess into 224 pages of modern poetry and full-color artwork.
Broken into sections alternating between the perspective of The Poet and Aphrodite herself, the work within tackles the timeless topic of love-romantic, platonic, and self-love.”In Troy they fought over Helen like children but Achilles mourned Patroclus the way a soul mourns a body.”The collection addresses issues like heartbreak, sexuality, womanhood, trauma, and the restorative power in taking control of your own lore, speaking your truths, and rewriting your origin story.
“If you were only made to be beautiful, we wouldn’t have put you down here in the dirt.”Similar to the witch doesn’t burn in this one by amanda lovelace and You’ll Come Back to Yourself by Michaela Angemeer, this collection of short powerful poems from Instagram and TikTok poet Trista Mateer will have you believing in the possibility of your own healing.
15. The Mercies
Author: by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
B07SGQ8M32
February 11, 2020
English
The women in an Arctic village must survive a sinister threat after all the men are wiped out by a catastrophic storm in this “gripping novel inspired by a real-life witch hunt…. Beautiful and chilling” (Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe).
When the women take over, is it sorcery or power? Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the skies break into a sudden and reckless storm. All forty of the village’s men were at sea, including Maren’s father and brother, and all forty are drowned in the otherworldly disaster.
For the women left behind, survival means defying the strict rules of the island. They fish, hunt, and butcher reindeerwhich they never did while the men were alive. But the foundation of this new feminine frontier begins to crack with the arrival of Absalom Cornet, a man sent from Scotland to root out alleged witchcraft.
Cornet brings with him the threat of dangerand a pretty, young Norwegian wife named Ursa. As Maren and Ursa are drawn to one another in ways that surprise them both, the island begins to close in on them, with Absalom’s iron rule threatening Vard’s very existence.
16. Empire: A sweeping epic saga of Ancient Rome (Roma Book 2)
Author: by Steven Saylor
B004P8J1O4
Constable (March 24, 2011)
March 24, 2011
In the international bestseller Roma, Steven Saylor told the story of the first thousand years of Rome by following the descendants of a single bloodline. Now, in Empire, Saylor charts the destinies of five more generations of the Pinarius family, from the reign of the first emperor, Augustus, to the glorious height of Rome’s empire under Hadrian.
Through the eyes of the Pinarii, we witness the machinations of Tiberius, the madness of Caligula, the cruel escapades of Nero, and the chaos of the Year of Four Emperors in 69 A.D. The deadly paranoia of Domitian is followed by the Golden Age of Trajan and Hadrian-but even the most enlightened emperors wield the power to inflict death and destruction on a whim.
Empire is strewn with spectacular scenes, including the Great Fire of 64 A.D. That ravaged the city, Nero’s terrifying persecution of the Christians, and the mind-blowing opening games of the Colosseum. But at the novel’s heart are the wrenching choices and seductive temptations faced by each new generation of the Pinarii.
