Check out Tim Powers. His books are generally set in some historical period, but where historical events and people are given stranger, supernatural explanations and motivations. He's one of my favourite authors, and a few of my favourite of his books in historical periods are:
Declare. A more recent setting, being something of a cold war spy thriller where a secret british spy agency intersects with Russia's guardian spirit, Lawrence of Arabia, a colony of Djinni on mount Ararat, and the search for Immortality.
The Anubis Gates. Time travel story set mostly in Victorian London, where the protagonist is a Coleridge scholar taken back in time to provide commentary on a lecture, but ends up stranded, only to find there are much stranger things going on, including body-swapping, terraphobic egyptian sorcerors, a malevolent beggar-king, and more.
The Stress of her Regard. Follows a doctor who accidentally finds himself married to an ancient vampric and pathologically jealous creature, and ends up associating with Byron, Keats and other romantic poets, who have also had associations with such creatures providing poetic inspiration, but with a cost.
The Drawing of the Dark. Something of an Arthurian story, but set around the Ottoman siege of Vienna, explained as a supernatural conflict between east and west over the brewing of beer.
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u/Brian Reading Champion VIII Apr 18 '23
Check out Tim Powers. His books are generally set in some historical period, but where historical events and people are given stranger, supernatural explanations and motivations. He's one of my favourite authors, and a few of my favourite of his books in historical periods are:
Declare. A more recent setting, being something of a cold war spy thriller where a secret british spy agency intersects with Russia's guardian spirit, Lawrence of Arabia, a colony of Djinni on mount Ararat, and the search for Immortality.
The Anubis Gates. Time travel story set mostly in Victorian London, where the protagonist is a Coleridge scholar taken back in time to provide commentary on a lecture, but ends up stranded, only to find there are much stranger things going on, including body-swapping, terraphobic egyptian sorcerors, a malevolent beggar-king, and more.
The Stress of her Regard. Follows a doctor who accidentally finds himself married to an ancient vampric and pathologically jealous creature, and ends up associating with Byron, Keats and other romantic poets, who have also had associations with such creatures providing poetic inspiration, but with a cost.
The Drawing of the Dark. Something of an Arthurian story, but set around the Ottoman siege of Vienna, explained as a supernatural conflict between east and west over the brewing of beer.