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Iron, Ink & Old Gods: 15 Historical Fantasy Epics for History Lovers
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items For me, fantasy works best when it is rooted in real history. These are the books where the real past is still there—the wars, the empires, the mud and the politics—but something older is moving underneath it. No farm boys with destinies, no glowing ...
Sections
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MYTH ON THE BATTLEFIELD
OLD GODS & DARK FOLKLORE
EMPIRES & SECRET HISTORIES
MYTH ON THE BATTLEFIELD
Real wars, real tactics, and then something impossible on the field. These are for readers who came for the strategy and stayed for the dragons. Expect cavalry charges, sieges and naval battles where the old rules of warfare suddenly stop applying.
Patrick O'Brian meets dragons. The Napoleonic Wars fought with an aerial corps—genuinely one of the most fun premises in the genre.
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Arthur stripped of the Camelot shine. Mud, shield walls and a Merlin who might just be a clever old fraud. Cornwell at his best, and a Rest Is History favourite. This copy is a signed first edition.
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (Signed First Edition)
Moorish Spain with the serial numbers filed off. Barely any magic, but the politics and the final battle will stay with you.
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Starts like a school story and then turns into the Second Sino-Japanese War. Not for the faint-hearted—it does not pull punches.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The French Revolution and the abolition of slavery, retold with magic as the thing the powerful want to control. Clever and gripping.
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry
OLD GODS & DARK FOLKLORE
Before history books, there were stories told round the fire. These novels take the folklore of real cultures—Greek, Russian, Jewish, Arab, Mayan—and treat it as if it were simply part of the historical record. Atmospheric, unsettling and beautifully...
If you liked The Song of Achilles on my Rome & Greece list, this is the natural next step. The Odyssey from the witch's side of the island.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Medieval Russia in the depths of winter, where the household spirits are fading and something hungry is waking up. Perfect for a cold night.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
A Rumpelstiltskin retelling set in a frozen Lithuanian-style kingdom. Smart, dark and much more grown-up than it sounds.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Two mythical beings lost in 1899 New York's immigrant neighbourhoods. A quieter book, but the period detail is superb.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
1920s Mexico and the Mayan god of death on a road trip. Short, sharp and completely original.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
EMPIRES & SECRET HISTORIES
My favourite kind of historical fantasy—the hidden version of events. Secret societies, forbidden scholarship and empires that run on more than just gold and gunpowder. This is the section for the ‘Power Play’ readers.
1830s Oxford, where translation literally powers the British Empire. A brilliant look at how empires are built—and what it costs the people inside them. This copy is a signed UK first edition.
Babel by R.F. Kuang (Signed UK First Edition)
Inspired by Tang dynasty China and the An Lushan rebellion. A gift of 250 horses becomes a deadly political problem. Pure court intrigue.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
Arthur from boyhood to the fall of Camelot, written as the Second World War loomed. Recommended on The Rest Is History's King Arthur episode, and the book that shaped every Arthur since.
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
The suffragette movement, if the suffragettes had real witchcraft on their side. Angry, hopeful and very readable.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
A small patch of ancient English woodland that creates living versions of our oldest myths. A forgotten British classic that deserves far more readers.
Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock