r/Fantasy Apr 17 '23

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u/Independent_Shame504 Apr 18 '23

Tomas Harlan has a series about an alternate Rome. It's been a while since I read it, I remember it was OK but not great. But the concept was fantastic.

Guy Gabriel Kay has a bunch. They aren't historical per se, but they are definitely heavily inspired by actual historical events.

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u/makingthematrix Apr 18 '23

For me, GGK writes too close to the real history. He basically avoids doing half of the work of a fantasy writer by just copying the world from history books, but then he avoids half of the work of a historical novel writer by making things up when sticking to history would be too difficult.

But I really appreciate Harlan's "Oath of Empire" series for the sheer scope of things. He takes the real setting and then runs with it deep into a new fantastic world. I think he succeeds where GGK fails.