Dorothy DunnettTom ClancyDavid WishartScience Fiction & FantasyOther Authors
 

Dorothy Dunnett

In the 1960s Dorothy Dunnett wrote a series of 6 fiction books concerning the life of a certain Francis Crawford of Lymond and Sevigny.  Although fiction, they are most wonderfully researched, bringing to life the courts of Scotland, England, France, Turkey, Russia and the Knights Hospitaller of Malta in the sixteenth century through the cycle.  The historical facts are there, but wound into a most wonderful tale of plots, intrigues, politics, mystery, thriller and swashbuckling.  I must admit to falling in love with the hero several times over, although he is so perfect he makes me want to throw up!

Since then Mrs Dunnett has also introduced us to the world of Niccolo who starts as the illegitimate relation of the Mistress of a dye works in Bruges where he is apprenticed, but seeks his and her fortune through Italy, Crete, Byzantium, Iceland, North Africa, Scotland and Poland of the fifteenth century.  A great introduction to the histories of these countries, besides being a wonderful set of books, even though the hero is not quite so perfect as his predecessor!

As a one off book Mrs Dunnett wrote King Hereafter concerning Macbeth, King of Scotland (yes him, of Shakespearean fame!) and Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney.  I love the way Mrs Dunnett writes, and this is a wonderful tale, well worth the reading to introduce you to the world of dark age Scotland.

Having heard Mrs Dunnett speak has only made me appreciate even more the lengths to which she goes to ensure authentic facts and details are used in her books, down to the careful choosing of her characters' names.  Thank you Mrs Dunnett for making my reading experiences so enjoyable!

More information about Dorothy Dunnett and her books.

Lymond Series Game of Kings; Queen's Play; Disorderly Knights; Pawn in Frankinsence; 
Ringed Castle; Checkmate 
House of Niccolo Series Niccolo Rising; The Spring of the Ram; Race of Scorpions; Scales of Gold; The Unicorn Hunt; To Lie With Lions; Caprice and Rondo 
Individual historical title King Hereafter
 

I was introduced to Tom Clancy's book by my sister who encouraged me to read Hunt for Red October.  I now eagerly await his next Jack Ryan or John Clark book!  I enjoy books with intricate plots that twist and turn and make you wonder how they are all going to come together in the end, and these book certainly do that!  Mind you, when I first started reading them, the last thing that I expected was the hero to end up President of the United States! - I get the feeling Mr Clancy didn't quite expect it either, but I may be wrong.  I don't really have a favourite, I basically like them all, although I seem to re-read Executive Orders and Patriot Games the most.  Another example of well researched books where the correct facts make it seem all the more realistic.

The movies so far haven't been that accurate to the books - when are they ever?  I think I enjoyed Red October the most of all the films, even though they cut out the Royal Navy's part in it!  Perhaps it was the presence of a certain Scotsman?  I hope they make more films of the books in the long run, although this seems more and more unlikely the longer the gap after Clear and Present Danger, anyway, we'll see.

(I have ommitted the 'Net Force' books, and his non-fiction military strategy books, as I don't read these, so I can't really comment on their content.)

More information about Tom Clancy and the books and films

Jack Ryan Books Patriot Games; Hunt for Red October; Cardinal of the Kremlin;
Clear and Present Danger; The Sum of All Fears; Debt of Honour; Executive Orders
John Clark Books Without Remorse; Rainbow Six
 

This is a name that will be unfamiliar to most of you, but I enjoy his books, so here he is!  I must admit to a personal involvement with these books as David is a friend of mine, and he has a tendency to phone me up and ask some very odd sounding questions totally out of the blue!

His books fall into two categories really.  There are the mystery stories, based on the real facts known about ancient Rome, involving Marcus Valerius Mesalla Corvinus (or Corvinus for short!) digging around mysteries involving the Roman Imperial family and the disappearance of Ovid, or the murders of Germanicus and Sejanus for starters.  His other books are more like biographies of famous Romans - Virgil and Nero.  Brilliantly researched and written - down to authentic Roman food!

David has recently started what I hope will be a new series, based (for the moment) in Roman Britain. The first book, The Horse Coin, deals with the Iceni and the Boudiccan (Boadecea to many) revolt, but from the angle of the native Iceni as mush as the Roman perspective.  Hopefully David will continue this series.

More information about David Wishart and his books

'Biography' I, Virgil; Nero 
Corvinus Mysteries Ovid;Germanicus;Sejanus;The Lydian Baker
Roman Britain The Horse Coin
 

This is a more general area to highlight a group of books that I enjoy reading.  They are in no particular order, and some names will be more familiar than others, but I hope you might enjoy some of them enough to get some good ideas for reading material.

Anne McCaffrey - almost everyone has read some of her books, usually the Pern series, which I love too.  I also enjoy her other books, especially the Crystal Singer series, but also the Ship Who Sang series, Freedom series, Doona series and the one off Restoree (often much overlooked). The list below is not exhaustive, but it's a start.
Dragon series: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, Dragonsong, The White Dragon, Dragondrums, Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, Dragonsinger, Nerilka's Story & The Coelura, Dragonsdawn, The Renegsdes of Pern, All the Weyrs of Pern, The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall, The Dolphins of Pern, Red Star Rising: the Second Chronicles of Pern, The Masterharper of Pern 
Crystal Singer Series: The Crystal Singer, Killashandra, Crystal Line 
Talent Series: To Ride Pegasus, Pegasus in Flight, Pegasus in Space 
Tower and the Hive Series: The Rowan, Damia, Damia's Children, 
Lyon's Pride, The Tower and the Hive 
Catteni Sequence: Freedom's Landing, Freedom's Choice, Freedom's Challenge 
"The Ship Who Sang" books (not a series, but all on similar lines): The Ship Who Sang, 
The City Who Fought (with S.M. Stirling), The Ship Who Searched (with Mercedes Lackey), Partnership (with Margaret Ball), The Ship Who Won (with Jodi Lynn Nye)
Sassinak Series: Sassinak (with Elizabeth Moon), The Death of Sleep (with Jodi Lynn Nye), Generation Warriors (with Elizabeth Moon)
Individual Titles: Restoree, Decision at Doona, Get Off the Unicorn (short stories), The Girl Who Heard Dragons (short stories)
 
Raymond E. Feist - fantasy books set on the worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan. Start with The Magician - the first of the Riftwar Saga - then move on to the Serpentwar Saga and the Mistress of the Empire series (written with Janny Wurts). I just love magic. Recommended to me by a friend - thank you very much Wlaken.
Serpentwar Saga: Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon, Prince of the Blood, 
The King's Buccaneer 
Riftwar Saga: Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King, 
Shards of a Crown 
Mistress Series: Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire 

Robert Jordan - I've caught up with the whole series of the Wheel of Time, having come to it late in the day.  I must admit to being slightly disappointed with Path of Daggers (book 8), and the story seems to be slowing down, although it is enjoyable all the same. Much recommended to me by many people, for which I thank them.
Wheel of Time Series The Eye of the World; The Great Hunt; The Dragon Reborn; 
The Shadow Rising; The Fires of Heaven; Lord of Chaos; A Crown of Swords; Path of Daggers 

L.E. Modesitt Jr. - another author I'm only just starting to read - the main series is the Recluce series, alhtough I've only read one or two of them,  - I started with the Soprano Sorceress, the first in a new series, and much enjoyed it - it is based on a modern soprano singer being pulled to another world where magic works by music and song.  There are also one or two more SF than fantasy series worth looking at. 
The Recluce Saga The Magic of Recluce; The Towers of the Sunset; The Magic Engineer; 
The Order War; The Death of Chaos; Fall of Angels; The Chaos Balance; The White Order
The Ecolitan Matter The Ecolgic Envoy; The Ecolitan Operation; 
The Ecologic Secession; The Ecolitan Enigma
The Spellsong Cycle The Soprano Sorceress; The Spellsong War
Individual Books The Parafaith War

Christopher Stasheff (no link as yet) - maybe one of the first fantasy authors I read, and I still enjoy his books.  Set on the planet of Gramarye where magic rules, it follows the fortunes of the Gallowglass family and their enemies (who also have a time machine to makes things even more interesting).  He's also started on follow up books for the Gallowglass children - Magnus, Geoffrey, Claudia and Gregory. There is also the newer Wizard in Rhyme series where a person from this world is pulled into a world where magic rules by rhyme.
The Warlock Series The Warlock in Spite of Himself; King Kobold Revived; The Warlock Unlocked; Escape Velocity; The Warlock Enraged; The Warlock Wandering; The Warlock is Missing; The Warlock Heretical; The Warlock's Companion; The Warlock Insane; The Warlock Rock; Warlock and Son
The Rogue Wizard (Magnus Gallowglass) A Wizard in Mind; A Wizard in Bedlam; A Wizard in War; A Wizard in Peace; A Wizard in Chaos; A Wizard in Midgard; A Wizard in Elfland
The Warlock's Heirs A Wizard in Absentia; M'Lady Witch; 
Quicksilver's Knight; The Spell-Bound Scholar
The Rhyming Wizard Her Majesty's Wizard; The Oathbound Wizard; The Witch Doctor; 
The Secular Wizard; My Son the Wizard 

David Feintuch (author's home page) - I found the Seafort series by accident whilst having to wait out a four hour plane delay in Stanstead (there are more interesting things to do with your life).  This series is sort of like Hornblower in Space (Hornblower being hero of the C.S. Forester series set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars).  Recommended for anyone who likes a bit of military interest to their SF.
The Seafort Saga Midshipman's Hope; Challenger's Hope; Prisoner's Hope; 
Fisherman's Hope; Voices of Hope

There are many other authors whose works I read.  Some are well known, some never heard of outside Scotland (and sometimes not inside either!).  Here is a summary of some of the other authors I regularly read - this is only a fraction of the total number of books I have kicking around various boxes and bookshelves!  Not all of them have links, but if anyone stumbles across an appropriate one, I'd be glad to know, just to keep things straight!

Clive Cussler - well known author of many books based around Dirk Pitt and the National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA).  I suppose I fell into this one through my interest in ships and shipwrecks, but I've never regretted it, however far fetched some of the stories get!  The only shame on this selection of books is the lamentable film, Raise the Titanic!, based on one of Clive Cussler's books - don't let the film put you off, the book really is much better.
Dirk Pitt Adventures The Mediterranean Caper; Iceberg; Raise the Titanic!; Vixen 03; Night Probe!; Pacific Vortex; Deep Six; Cyclops; Treasure; Dragon; Sahara; Inca Gold; Shock Wave 

Quintin Jardine - these are a series of books based on the life and troubles of a an Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police based in Edinburgh.  Not really the usual run of the mill crime series, as the hero, Robert Skinner, gets involved in terrorist activities as much as murders - he also has an interesting private life and almost gets killed more than once.
Skinner Books Skinner's Rules; Skinner's Festival, Skinner's Trail; Skinner's Round; 
Skinner's Ordeal; Skinner's Mission; Skinner's Ghosts; Murmuring the Judges; Gallery Whispers 

Alanna Knight - more murder mysteries in Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland, investigated by Inspector Faro.  These ones are set in Victorian times, so a little bit of history too - just up my street!

Peter Tremayne (no link) -  based around a nun of the Columban church in Ireland during the 7th century, the Sister Fidelma series sees the nun using her acute senses and position as a dálaigh (advocate of the Irish law courts) to solve various mysterious deaths in her brother's kingdom of Muman (modern Munster).  She also travels to Rome and the Synod of Whitby in 663 AD (you'll have to read it to find out why this was so important!).  Set during an interesting time when the Church of Rome was fighting for space with the Columban church in the British Isles, it nicely complements my interest in history.
Sister Fidelma Mysteries Absolution by Murder; Shroud for the Archbishop; Suffer Little Children; 
The Subtle Serpent; The Spider's Web; Valley of the Shadow; The Monk Who Vanished

Bernard Cornwell - the author of the Sharpe series of books.  These are the stories of the adventures of a Rifle Regiment officer, promoted from the ranks, during the Peninsular Wars of the early 19th century.  A very good television series was made of these books, starring Sean Bean as the hero, Richard Sharpe.
Sharpe Novels Sharpe's Tiger (Seige of Seringapatam, 1799); Sharpe's Triumph (Battle of Assaye, Sept 1803); Sharpe's Trafalgar; Sharpe's Rifles (French Invasion of Galicia, Jan 1809); Sharpe's Eagle (Talavera Campaign, July 1809); Sharpe's Gold (Destruction of Almeida, Aug 1810); Sharpe's Battle (Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, May 1811); Sharpe's Company (Seige of Badajoz, Jan-April 1812); Sharpe's Sword (Salamanca Campaign, June/July 1812); Sharpe's Enemy (Defence of Portugal, Christmas 1812); Sharpe's Honour (Vitoria Campaign, Feb-June 1813); Sharpe's Regiment (Invasion of France, June-Nov 1813); Sharpe's Seige (Winter Campaign 1814); Sharpe's Revenge (Peace of 1814); Sharpe's Waterloo (Waterloo Campaign 15 June-18 June 1815); Sharpe's Devil (Sharpe and the Emperor, 1820-21)

For Babylon 5 books, see my B5 page below