Good novels about CK setting?

[gord96]

Hi guys. I always enjoy reading a good novel and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for some based in the setting of Crusader Kings. I have read Agincourt and the Grail series by Bernard Cornwell. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Gord

 

[vwclaymore]

Sharon Kay Penman has a great trilogy on the Anarchy, Henry II, Eleanor of Aquataine, and their children (Henry, Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey, John). I believe the order is When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance, and Devil's Brood. I highlt recommend that. Also set in the Anarchy time period is Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth, but that is just really set in the time period, all the main characters are fictional with occassional cameos by historical figures. Really good as well, but I prefer Penman.

 

[gord96]

Great! I will look into them. They sound very interesting!

Thanks!

 

[boies00]

The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon.

 

[zxc]

Might as well give the obligatory A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin recommendation. It's fantasy but it's very much in tune with the setting and gameplay of CK2.

 

[RooksBailey]

Sharon Kay Penman has a great trilogy on the Anarchy, Henry II, Eleanor of Aquataine, and their children (Henry, Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey, John). I believe the order is When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance, and Devil's Brood. I highlt recommend that. Also set in the Anarchy time period is Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth, but that is just really set in the time period, all the main characters are fictional with occassional cameos by historical figures. Really good as well, but I prefer Penman.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'd had never heard of this author before, but her books sound fantastic!

Thanks also to the OP for the good question.

BTW: I've been thinking of reading The War of the Roses by Alison Weir.

 

[Robert Wyatt]

Weir is a good read very informative, though it isn't a fictional piece if you mean her book Lancaster & York.

 

[RooksBailey]

Weir is a good read very informative, though it isn't a fictional piece if you mean her book Lancaster & York.

Yeah, history and not historical fiction. I should have made that clear.

 

[Malkara]

Bernard Cornwell's Holy Grail trilogy, as well as Agincourt, are some excellent historical fiction based towards the end of the era covered by CK.

 

[calol61]

The Brethren Trilogy by Robyn Young is good, I just finished the series. Its set in the waning days of the crusades and the fall of the Latin states in the Levant.

 

[HolisticGod]

Let me second A Song of Ice and Fire.

I'm not generally a fantasy fan myself, but the fantasy elements are quite discreet (indeed, myth is a more appropriate term than fantasy-he tells his story with a straight face, in the magic realist sense) and secondary. Get past the prologue of A Game of Thrones (I almost gave up-it's easily the weakest stretch of the entire series, stylistically) and it is the finest, clearest-eyed, most harrowing depiction of medieval society I've ever read in fiction. Quite wonderful, particularly the somewhat maligned but excellent picaresque A Feast for Crows.

The HBO miniseries is dreck, by the way, so if that has been your only contact with the series, rest assured. Much of what the television program gets wrong for the sake of American audiences (recharacterizing Catelyn Stark because a "wife and mother would want her husband at home, not at court!"; turning a quite beautiful passage into a rape, then redeeming the rapist) is reversed in the books and makes the most persuasive case for their authenticity.

 

[unmerged(18992)]

I'll second Sharron K. Penman. She has a number of different historical fiction books, one trilogy in particular covering the reigns of King John and Llewellyn the Great of Wales, Henry III and the barons Revolt under Simon De Montfort, and Llewellyn the Last's reign and death against Henry III's son, Edward I.

Also just outside of the CK2 time frame is her novel 'The Sunne in Splendour', which is an account of the War of the Roses mainly from the viewpoint of Richard III.

 

[RooksBailey]

The HBO miniseries is dreck, by the way, so if that has been your only contact with the series, rest assured. Much of what the television program gets wrong for the sake of American audiences (recharacterizing Catelyn Stark because a "wife and mother would want her husband at home, not at court!"; turning a quite beautiful passage into a rape, then redeeming the rapist) is reversed in the books and makes the most persuasive case for their authenticity.

I agree. I greatly enjoyed the novels (read three so far), but was sorely disappointed in the HBO series. Found it to be little more than geek porn.

By contrast, Showtime's The Tudors was far superior (yeah, I know I am mixing history with fantasy ). Even though that series had its porno lapses too, the writing was so superior, and the acting so fantastic, that I found myself forgiving its baser moments. Plus...it's real history.

Skip Game of Thrones and watch The Tudors instead.

 

[Lord Blekinge]

The Lion Wakes by Robert Low was pretty good. It is set during The late 13th century and is set around the struggles between the English and the Scottish. the crusade trilogy by Jan Guillou is also very good.

 

[Malkara]

The Tudors is no more real history than Game of Thrones is.

 

[3Form]

A friend of my godfather wrote some novels set during the Crusades, I think one of them was about a Knight who pledged fealty to Baldwin and took part in the First Crusade. I remember reading them when I stayed at his house. Must have been some years ago as I was a mid-teenager, so I can't verify their quality, but I did enjoy reading them.

Unfortunately the titles of the books and name of the author himself escape me. I'll email my godfather and try and find out.

 

[Raczynski]

I agree. I greatly enjoyed the novels (read three so far), but was sorely disappointed in the HBO series. Found it to be little more than geek porn.

By contrast, Showtime's The Tudors was far superior (yeah, I know I am mixing history with fantasy ). Even though that series had its porno lapses too, the writing was so superior, and the acting so fantastic, that I found myself forgiving its baser moments. Plus...it's real history.

Skip Game of Thrones and watch The Tudors instead.

That's quite unusual opinion here.
Since the Accursed Kings were already mentioned I'll a Distant Mirror to the nonfiction.

 

[Spiro]

There is a trilogy from Swedish author Jan Guillou, "Crusades trilogy".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knight_Templar_(Crusades_trilogy)

Very good description of medieval setting, early Swedish monarchy and crusades in 12th century.

 

[Mivo]

A series of historical novels that I really enjoyed is Jack Whyte's Templar trilogy. The individual titles are:

Knights of the Black and White
Standard of Honor [sic]
Order in Chaos

(Newer editions probably changed the incorrect "Standard" to "Standart". )

As for Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books, well, I know this is a tad unpopular, but I always felt they were a little overhyped. The first two books are good, but then I felt the "stretching" started and you'll face very long passages and chapters of absolutely nothing happening. On the other hand, when I considered re-reading them again in preparation for the latest book, I instead picked up the audio book versions. And that was a fantastic experience! I don't normally "do" audio books, but the speaker, Roy Dotrice, has an incredible voice that adds a lot of "dimension" to the story. (And makes the drab parts endurable, if not enjoyable!)

 

[john_who]

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.