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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Severus Alexander, post: 4107438, member: 84744&quot;]I almost included Song on my list, but deleted it because it&#039;s more mythology than history; Circe even moreso.&nbsp; But I love both books, I think Miller is fantastic!&nbsp; Excited to check out a few more from your list, particularly Green.&nbsp; I was aware of his history books but didn&#039;t know he had written novels.&nbsp; Cool! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie50" alt=":happy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here are some more Greek novels that didn&#039;t make my original list, but not because they aren&#039;t good:</p><p>• <i>Farewell Great King</i>, Jill Paton Walsh - about Themistokles.&nbsp; Good but not great.</p><p>• <i>The Golden Mean</i>, Annabel Lyon - about Aristotle and Alexander.&nbsp; I really enjoyed it, but it will be a bit too literary/experimental (snooty?) for some tastes.</p><p>• <i>The Sand-Reckoner</i>, Gillian Bradshaw - about Archimedes.&nbsp; Good fun, nothing brilliant though.</p><p>• <i>The Songs of the Kings</i>, Barry Unsworth - a Troy book.&nbsp; I don&#039;t actually remember much about it <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie10" alt=":oops:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />, but as I recall it was excellent.</p><p>• A Victor of Salamis, William Stearns Davis - old, great fun!</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m surprised Paul Waters hasn&#039;t come up (novels about Rome, ranging from the 2nd Punic War to the 4th century CE).&nbsp; He&#039;s often billed as &quot;another Mary Renault.&quot;&nbsp; While his books are worth reading, IMO he doesn&#039;t come up to nearly her level in the quality of the writing and characterization.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I understand this attitude perfectly, and I think it&#039;s shared by many here... but I find that if I read some good historical fiction and <i>then</i> read some history about the same topic, I remember the history much better and don&#039;t get it confused with the fiction.&nbsp; Part of the interest of the fiction lies in the question: did that really happen? <i>might</i> it have happened?&nbsp; Which means you end up analyzing the sources better and getting a deeper understanding overall.&nbsp; Plus the fiction is a whole lotta fun I wouldn&#039;t want to deprive myself of! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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