Historical Times and Places That Particularly Interest You

[J-Sun]

I wouldn't think it was "Late Antiquity", either way. Antiquity, in Western Europe, could be symbolically ended at 312 or 476 or whatever (though things had already largely unraveled) and the period of 400-800 (or wherever you wanted to draw the line) would be early medieval more than late antiquity though arguably just an interregnum. "The times of tribal upheaval and meager historical records". I think "Dark Ages" works fine. Doesn't work at all for, e.g., the Islamic world, but I don't think temporal historical terms also have to be omni-spatial.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Indeed, J-Sun. The Dark Ages of Europe were often a time of flourishing culture for Islamic lands (and the Eastern Empire, at times).

 

[Danny Franks]

Definitely Medieval Europe, and particularly stories set in the Holy Lands (as long as they don't concern mystic conspiracies and secrets of any kind). I like the culture clash of Christianity and Islam, and it's often a rich ground for producing engaging characters. The Byzantine Empire as well, which is a time and place that sometimes seems completely forgotten to most people.

Dark Age Europe too. I've always been interested in the petty kingdoms that existed in England prior to the 11th century, the melding of cultures into what would later become a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Unfortunately, I've not found many novels that deal with that period satisfactorily.

When I was younger, I loved the Sharpe books, so have a fondness for the early 19th century. The Napoleonic Wars and the periods of revolution and societal upheaval that followed them.

And right at the other end of the scale, I will always check a book out if it looks to focus on the pre-Roman Mediterranean. The earlier the better.