Epic
The House of Names
Editors' choice
In his eleventh novel, Tóibín retells the myth of the House of Atreus and Queen Clytemnestra, who murdered her husband,…
The King Must Die
‘I cannot keep from putting my hand to what I find about me,’ declares Mary Renault’s hero, Theseus. He is…
Memory of Light
Editors' choice
The Battle of Gettysburg was the major turning point in the American Civil War. This vibrant novel uses the lives…
The Varangian: Book Three of Odd Tangle-Hair’s Saga
Editors' choice
Odd comes to Miklagard – the Norse name for Constantinople – with the sole purpose of seeking out Harald, a…
The Dragon’s Hoard
Editors' choice
I really enjoyed these eleven stories from the Viking sagas, obviously carefully chosen for their variety. Most involve fighting but…
The Course of Fortune, Volumes 1, 2, and 3
Francisco de Barai, young and full of vigor, must flee his native Seville under false charges. What follows is a…
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
As a Roman procurator rides through Jerusalem, a loose tile falls from a rooftop and hits him. This accident leads…
Tristan & Isolde: Book One Love Is Stone
As a stranger to the author’s writing, I was a little surprised, not to say disappointed, to reach the end…
Ithaca
Updating the second oldest extant work of Western literature, Homer’s Odyssey, seems a daunting task, but the author entertainingly succeeds.…
The Voyage of Odysseus
Mr Iliffe has written a series of books featuring the Greek hero Odysseus, and in this, the fifth instalment, Troy…
About our Reviews
Over the last 20 years The Historical Novels Review (the society’s print magazine for our members) has published reviews of some 15,000 historical fiction books.
