If you love this type of book - you would also love :

Elizabeth Chadwick - she writes English medieval adventures with a touch of romance
Barbara Erskine - she writes very good dual time /time travel historical novels set in England/ France
Karen Maitland - she writes very atmospheric medieval history - dark and deliciously different

I read a good book set in 14Th century Wales calledThe Comrades by Lynne Sears Williams I think it $2.99 at the Kindle store. I really enjoyed it and Diana Gabaldon gave her a nice review. I do believe there will be 2 more books, but this one stands on it's own quite well. I like the humor in it, plus it is historically correct.

I recommend Adriana Trigiani's Big Stone Gap series that takes place in Virginia and Italy, starting in the late 1970s. They are great books (four in all) that deal with relationships -- familial, romantic and otherwise -- and leave you smiling.

If you like romance with a sense of humor, I'd recommend the Love at Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks. It's about vampires and there's a bunch of vamps in kilts.

I just read/listened to 2 good books that I'd love to recommend. The first is The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. It's the story of Victoria Jones whose been bounced around to foster families throughout her life with a life-changing one with a woman who teaches her about flowers and their meanings. Unable to connect with people, emancipated and homeless, Victoria gets employment at a flower store and slowly begins to trust people again and heal from a past that is revealed through her flower communications.

The 2nd book is People of the Book by Geraldine Brook. It starts in Sarajevo where a rare medieval Jewish Sedar book has been saved by bombing. The UN brings in an expert to see what needs to be done to restore the book for redisplay in the museum. In the course of her analysis and surprising fibers, stains, etc, discovered in the course of her investigation, we learn the about the history of the book and the people who have been involved in it starting in 1492. It spans the Spanish inquisition, WWII, Bosnia, etc., but as Hannah, the expert, tries to solve the mystery of the book, her own life starts to unravel and she finds out some surprising details about her own history.

I have just read through all nine pages looking for good reading recommendations. I have recently read Moning's Fever Series and really enjoyed it, so I may have to try the Highlander series. I think I would also like to give The Bronze Horseman a try, and maybe also the Into the Wilderness series.

I have a couple of older books that you all may enjoy. My mother recommended them to me years ago when I was in college and I loved them. I had forgotten about them until I had a recent discussion with her about some of the past books we read. In fact, as I was reading the Outlander series, I kept thinking back on the M. M. Kaye novels and how her novels are another example of great historical fiction.

The first two are by M. M. Kaye. She is English but grew up in India where many of her family served in the British Raj. Her novels are historical fiction all taking place during 19th century India. They are wonderfully romantic and very historically accurate. The two novels that I recommend by Kaye are The Far Pavilions and The Shadow of the Moon. Many of you have probably heard of The Far Pavilions. Shadow of the Moon is no longer in print, but you can buy used copies on amazon. This is a wonderfully romantic story and the lead male is Alex Randall. Both of these stories are so well written and are great pieces of historical fiction.

The other series which I really enjoyed was the Arthurian Saga (3 books) by Mary Stewart. These three books which start with The Crystal Cave tell the story of King Arthur, but through Merlin. It is really Merlin's story. It is wonderfully written and I remember being entranced by it when I read it the first time. I couldn't put it down and read all three books really quickly. I think all of you would enjoy this series.

I know these are older novels, but they are so wonderful, especially the M. M. Kaye. If you like Outlander, you will really like M. M. Kaye too.

Has anybody read The Farseer books by Robin Hobb (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest)? I just finished listening to the third and thought they were quite good. I'd like to read other books that are set in the same world but are separate trilogies, but they are pretty long and I can't get them as easily as I got these, so they will have to wait.

The series was on the NPR list of the top 100 sci-fi/fantasy books along with Outlander, but I hadn't realized that until after I read the first (for an online book group on a different board).

Yes yes yes! Fitzchivalry is one of my all-time favorite characters! I definitely recommend the Liveship trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy (in that order).

I don't recommend her Soldier Son trilogy, however, so please don't read that next or you might break up with her and miss out on the good stuff she wrote earlier.

The writing for Soldier Son was still top-notch, but there was just too much agony for me.

You might really like Lynn Flewelling of you like Robin Hobb.

Oh, so you think it's worth reading the Liveship books next? Several people mentioned that those books were written next, but that they preferred to jump straight to The Tawny Man books to stick with the same characters.

I liked reading it in that order, because one of the characters from the first trilogy is hiding rather trickily in the Liveship books, and the third trilogy has characters and backstory from the first two trilogies.

I also didn't have a choice, because I read them when the Tawny Man trilogy wasn't out yet.

I'd say, start with Ship of Magic, and if you're not into the new cast of characters by the first 50 pages or so (I love Wintrow!), skip to the Tawny Man books and maybe return to the Liveship books afterwards.

April's selection of Book of the Month was Sandalwood Tree by Ellie Newmark. I enjoyed Sandalwood Tree very much so I thought I would see what else was out there from Ellie Newmark. Here is a gem. The Book of Unholy Mischief. She has not so much as told a story as painted a rich lush picture. The story reads a bit like a parable. Her are descriptions are amazing. There is lots of suspense in the book. Several chapters I could not read more but could not put the book down. I am interested to see if anyone out there has read this.

I've had a copy of Unholy Mischief for a while but haven't got round to reading it...I'll try and bump it up the tbr mountain ..!

Elle Newmarket is a talented author ..it.'s a real shame that she died in July 2011..such a sad loss.

I hadn't seen this thread, so glad it got bumped up! I will definitely be checking out some of the recommendations, once I get through my already lengthy wait list

Like many others, I'm a fan of Twilight, Sookie Stackhouse, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc. And I also loved and read the Help, Water for Elephants, Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Red Tent, and several other books mentioned here.

Here are some other books that I read in the past (all pre-Outlander) and really enjoyed:
- anything by Paulo Coelho. His most famous book is probably The Alchemist, but I enjoyed many of his other books too. They all tend to be quite different, but his writing style is just so enjoyable, I find.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and his follow-up book A Thousand Splendid Suns. Very heavy reads for me, but I couldn't put them down.
- The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall. I also enjoyed her other book, the Russian Concubine.
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. And I actually loved her non-fiction book Animal Vegetable Miracle (about the year her family grew all their own food), it was so interesting and funny!

It would be interesting to go back and re-read those books, since for the past few years I've mostly been reading the series I mentioned above. I wonder if my tastes have changed. But anyways, just wanted to share

Sorry I haven’t really posted as yet since joining the forum. I pop in daily and have a read but have been trying to refrain from too much involvement, lest all things Outlander take over my thoughts (as they tend to do) and I am in the middle of studying for Uni exams, clinical placements and end of semester essays and assignments. I did want to add a few suggestions to this thread though.

I came to this forum and the Outlander series through the EC Fans forum. I have been a great fan of Jean Auel and the Earth’s Children series for the last 25 years and waited patiently for the series to finish. It was a very disappointing wait for the 6th and final book. I would highly recommend the first four books, Clan Of The Cave Bear, The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters and Plains of Passage. All beautifully written and a great story. Book 5 The Shelters of Stone is also quite good but not quite up to the standard of the others. Book 6, well all I can say is leave well alone. It was such a long wait (11 years I think) and after loving this series for so long it was such a disappointment that I wish I had never read it.




I will second that! I read both of these over the Christmas break and have to say that I have never cried so much reading any other books. Very difficult emotionally but beautifully written.

I would also recommend the Caledonia series by Michael Phillips, Legend of the Celtic Stone and the sequel, An Ancient Strife.

Finally, some of you may find Etidorhpa by John Uri Lloyd an interesting read. First published in 1895, it has recently been reprinted although you can read it here without buying the book http://www.holloworbs.com/EtidorhpaHome.htm.

angelite - it's sad when the last book in a series is a disappointment. I remember the book stores in the UK really hyped up the last book in the Earth's Children series. I have never got round to reading any of them even though I have had a copy of Clan of the Cave Bear for years !!
Maybe one day ..