Ancient greece

[Mandorin Anamor]

Hi there guys, there seem to be a plentiful numbe rof books set in the roman world of the ancient period, but i was just wondering if anyone has come across some good books set in ancient greece, or macedon or set during the persian wars. As with the except of Gavriel Kay I havent actually seen any book swith those themes, i.e focusing on the spartan and athenian conflict, the macedonian invasion, alexander the great of course, thermopylae, marathon, and so on so on.
Have i just been looking in the wrong palce,s or been pretty blind. It just seems such a good theme to write historical fantays for, as half the knowledge of that time is based in myths anyhow.
thanks for any feedback.
tim

 

[j d worthington]

Oh, there have indeed been novels (and plenty of short stories, novellas, and novelettes) with such a setting. A few such are mentioned in a listing partway down this article:

Historical fantasy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And, if you're not averse to things dealing with mythical heroes of the period, there's always The World's Desire, by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang.

 

[Mandorin Anamor]

excellent, thanks for the info, i feel another trip to waterstones to empty my bank account is in order.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

The Orion series by Ben Bova covers some of this area and even forays into ancient egypt if that's your bag.
A couple of David Gemmell novels also heavily lean on ancient greece from Lion of Maecdon/Dark Prince to his current (and sadly last) Troy series.
As JD said, there's literally tons more but I'm sure some others will weigh in with their offerings soon enough

 

[Sathai]

The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault are excellent books. They are based on Theseus.

 

[Rane Longfox]

Steven Pressfield is the first name I would recommend. "Gates of Fire" and "Tides of War" are awesome books. The first dealing with Thermopolae, and the second with Alcibiades and the Peloponesian War.

Really, those two are great. His others also cover ancient greece at various points in it's history, but aren't as good, unfortunately

 

[murphy]

The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault are excellent books. They are based on Theseus.

There's also, The Last of The Wine, The Persian Boy and several others that Mary Renault has written. She is one of the best novelists on ancient Greece.

 

[Mandorin Anamor]

excellent, a growing shopping list now.

 

[Snowdog]

I'd also recommend Gates of Fire.

Another one I read many years ago and loved: Goat Song by Frank Yerby, set during the Athens/Sparta war.

 

[svalbard]

All of the above and Steven Pressfield has another few out. One about Theseus, that I can't think of the name now but it is good. Another is about Alexander called Alexander:The Virtues of War.

The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault is an exceptional read.

Gene Wolfe has an intriguing book out called Latro in the Mist.

You could also try Warriors in Bronze and King in Splendour. They are about Troy and are real gritty bronze age accounts of the time seen through the eyes of Agamemnon. Can't think of the author's name.