Book recs needed
If you follow me on Twitter, this will be redundant, but…
HELP: Sis & her friends just glommed Outlander series & need recs for similar. I’m stumped. All I had was John Jakes. Help plz?
One for them, for whatever reason already nixed Sara Donati’s Into the Wilderness series.
Any ideas?
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I answered on Twitter, but I’ll post it here, too; Alice Borschardt’s historical paranormal series is similar to Outlander in tone. The Silver Wolf, Night of the Wolf, The Wolf King.
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Hm, it’s a weird mix of contemporary and historical. Which aspect are they most interested in? You could suggest, oh what’s her name, romance author who writes historical/contemporary time travel. Starts with an L…I think. Urgh.
There are probably more historical fiction series that might work, does it need romantic elements or straight romance?
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I asked her what they all liked about the Outlander series and she said the same thing all of us who love it do:
Jamie.
Sadly, Jamie isn’t running amok in any other series. (And like me, they didn’t like the Lord John series.)
They also liked Scotland and the “epic” feel of it. When I suggested the Kent Family chronicles (John Jakes) there was concern it wasn’t enough romance.
None of them really showed an interest in KMM’s Highlanders.
Surrender by Pamela Clare looked really intriguing to my sister, so she’ll probably read that.
Mostly it was the lead relationship, not so much an element of the book. And since I haven’t read any historicals in several years outside of the Outlander series and westerns, I’m at a loss.
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Okay, I consulted my professional recommendation team (the Carina Press acquisitions team, who happen to love historicals) and they recommend Deanna Raybourn unanimously. Something about the hero and heroine smoldering was mentioned.
Also rec’d: Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton books, Courtney Milan’s upcoming debut book, and during the conversation I thought of C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr books, which I have just started reading but get lots of recs. Also, my crack team of professionals wants to know WHO would nix Into the Wilderness and why?
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I’m not an Outlander series reader~~but my niece is an AVID fan, and she’s also LOVES Lynn Kurland.
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Lynn Kurland! that’s they name I was trying to think of and it DID start with an L. Ha! Thanks, Melissa
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Since I think the Carina Press acquisitions team has excellent taste in books, I’ll mention those to my sister. I didn’t think of Deanna Raybourn (who I haven’t read) but I bet they’d like those.
Also looking up Lynn Kurland. (Another author I haven’t read. I HAVE to start reading historicals again.)
I’m not sure why her friend nixed Into the Wilderness, but I’m guessing it might be the very first line of description on Amazon:
I own the movie version, but I HATED the book. HATED, with all caps and even italics. HATED. The first time it was mentioned and I went to look it up, I didn’t read past that line. She might not have, either. And I have a hard time with works based on another author’s work, even when the work’s that old.
When I told my sister how strongly recommended it was, she looked it up and thought she might read it with or without her friend. Actually, I might even read it. When I read the entire description, it sounds intriguing.
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I’d ignore the lame publisher copy, as anything by Sara Donati is excellent. Also, some other historic novels/series I thought were pretty fabulous — Pompeii by Richard Harris, Dorothy Dunnett’s Niccolo series, James Clavell’s Far East books (Shogun remains one of the best books I’ve read in my life), and Colleen McCullough’s Rome series.
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I liked those James Clavell books as well, though it’s been YEARS since I’ve read them. And I almost rec’d Dorthy Dunnett earlier, though I’ve never read them.
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Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series. Time traveling Scots. Done.