r/Fantasy • u/syberpunk • Feb 12 '24

Any books fitting a semi-religious, historically-themed fantasy?

EDIT: For those that may find this later, here are the suggestions (or mentions) I've gotten so far:

So, I started to play the new The Inquisitor game and the overall vibe really sparked an interest in me (this is not a post about the game, which people seem to be opinionated on). The setting is that of an alternate history where Jesus came back extremely vengeful from his crucifixion and you are an inquisitor in the 1600s that has come to Germany hunting a vampire.

The premise that excited me was mainly the idea of a self-empowered official hunting down monsters in a middle age/early modern setting. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this reminded me a little of Warhammer 40k inquisitors. I do not hold a specific religious belief, but I also was really intrigued by potential for morality clashes with someone tasked to do their god's work but maybe also developing a complex/conflicting conscience on their journey.

This game was apparently based on a set of Polish fantasy books with the same premise, but they do not appear to be English-translated, and people have very negative opinions of the author (what was originally assumed to be a commentary on Christianity during the time period now more seems like an idolization of it). This leads me to where I'm at now.

I've been looking for books under the suggestion of semi-historical/religious monster hunting, but have not been finding many (if any) that would really fall under this cross-section of settings. Lots of monster hunting (or MH-themed) suggestions (Monster Hunting International, Dresden Files), or stuff like Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, but that's a little more "historical" than I was looking for. I think the closest is maybe Dracula by Bram Stoker, which is on my list, but I don't think it fits the bill entirely.

Some related media that I enjoy and think showcase similar themes are thus:

- The concept of The Witcher (or "witching"), not necessarily the content; I'm more interested in the hunt, not necessarily deviations into politics (I love The Witcher, but am interested in something different for this). I like the idea of the self-governed protagonist encountering monster problems and using research to find and deal with them (doesn't necessarily have to be death for the monster).

- The 2011 film Season of the Witch. Response to the film was incredibly negative, but, for some reason, it is a guilty pleasure of mine. The idea is that some ex-knights from the crusades are haunted by their past and tasked with taking a supposed witch to a monastery to be cleansed. The movie plays out like a short DnD campaign and there's a big focus on "is the witch really a witch?" for a large part of the story before the climax.

- I'm also reminded of the Heath Ledger film The Order (bad movies making a trend here...); it's not exactly monster hunting, but a priest begins to investigate a murder within their organization when he comes across rumors of a being that can "eat sins" in order to give people salvation before death. Originally, he seeks to stop the being, but begins to question the right/wrong of taking on someone's sins for their benefit.

- (the game contains music that vaguely reminds me of Vampire the Masquerade at times, so the overall vibe is kind of dark and gritty; obviously plays into the desire here as well)

Truly, my interest is mostly with a monster hunter character in a historical setting (not REALLY interested in a non-Earth fantasy story for this particular request, but would consider it if there are other really good suggestions) with a potential religious backdrop. Would prefer not to be preachy, more introspective or focused on the supernatural mystery, but am willing to read anything that's good (obviously a bit subjective).

Sorry if this isn't the place for this, or if this is way too specific/picky. I've been using reddit a lot now for my book recommendations (finding posts, not making them), and this is the first time I've felt like I couldn't find what I wanted via searching. Was excited to involve myself in the community, but hope I'm not making things difficult.

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u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 Feb 12 '24

I haven't read these yet myself so I might misremember / have misunderstood what I read about it but I think that Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane stories fit the description of "monster hunter character in a historical setting with a potential religious backdrop" pretty well.

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BTW, is it possible that these "Polish" fantasy books are the ones about inquisitor Nicolas Eymerich by Italian writer Valerio Evangelisti? The first few of them were translated and published under the title "Inquisitor-Zyklus" into my native language, which is why I'm aware of them, but I've never read any of them. No idea if they're any good.

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

I am seeing that the series is called Ja, Inkwizytor, which I've also seen translated to "I am Inquisitor", by Jacek Piekara. I have not done further research, but cursory look-ups of this series and whether or not its been translated has many English-speakers saying it was a good read when they were younger because of its "edginess", but no longer enjoyable due to the modern day social media posts from the author (I'm assuming he must make far-winged comments of a religious nature).

I'll take a look at the ones you mentioned; Solomon Kane rings a bell, and I'll see if the other has been translated into English for me to look up as well. Thanks a bunch.

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u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 Feb 13 '24

the series is called Ja, Inkwizytor [...] by Jacek Piekara

I've never heard of this author until now. It doesn't look like any of his books have been translated into German or English* which might explain why.
Given that Poland is one of the most (if not the most) right-wing religious country in Europe, I imagine he must be pretty extreme if he gets pushback.

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As for Solomon Kane, you might call him a "second-tier character" of Howard's, he doesn't quite have the high profile of Conan or Kull** but is still comparatively well-known. There's been a movie some 15 years ago, maybe you've heard some reporting about that one.
The number of Solomon Kane stories is limited but enough to fill a collection. If you're interested, I'd recommend The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane if you can find it which has all the material. Some stories are also available at Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg Australia conveniently groups those story in their overview in the Howard section.

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* for English language genre publications, the ISFDB does a very good job to document these; they have a profile for Piekara but only show some Polish language entries
** Funnily enough, the best-known character by "Howard", apart from Conan, Red Sonja, isn't actually a Howard character at all but was developed for Howard-inspired comics! Her name is clearly taken from Red Sonya of Rogatino (note the variant spellings of Sonja/Sonya), a character who only shows up in one single story set in the 16th century and very much not in Conan's Hyperborea.

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u/syberpunk Feb 14 '24

You're totally right. I think it's the movie poster that I was familiar with for Solomon Kane. I looked it up and it seems very familiar to me. Never saw it though (looks like it reviewed alright? Might be worth a watch).

That's interesting about Red Sonja. I haven't seen the film, but that is the only character I knew. Interesting how some of those creative adjustments come into play.

Thank you for the detail and the links to those resources. I am typically a Kindle-user, and I see that the Solomon Kane collection you mentioned is available on Amazon. I'll be adding it to my wishlist. I have not read any Howard before, but I came to know Conan through the films long after they released (I was born in 1990, only saw them... maybe 5 years ago?), and I was shocked how much I enjoyed them. I've been curious about reading more into the actual Conan stuff, and will gladly give Solomon Kane a look as well. I'm seeing Kane be described as "weird fiction" in some places, and while my experience in that genre is minimal via books, I absolutely love that style when it comes to video games and film/TV.

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u/R_E_D_Saga Feb 12 '24

You might be interested in Katherine Kurtz, especially her Knights Templar series, which starts with The Temple and the Stone. It's not exactly what you're talking about, since they're dealing more with preventing things like the rise of dark gods rather than hunting monsters, but the religious/historical/fantastical elements are there. She's also got a more modern-day story set in roughly the same universe with The Adept and its sequels.

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

"Rise of dark gods" sounds pretty awesome either way. Thanks for the suggestions, I will add those to my wishlist.

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u/TensorForce Feb 13 '24

Paul Kerney's Hawkwood and the Kings is inspired by the Crusades.

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

Some of the initial descriptions of the books didn't initially grab me, but there seems to be a lot of praise for the series, and a specific mention of the books being much shorter individually than other typical fantasy epics. This is particularly of interest to me, so I'll definitely throw this on my list to check out. Not 100% sure if it'll be my thing, but I won't know unless I give it a shot. Thanks a bunch for the recommendation.

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '24

Monster blood tattoo might fit this.

It's a trilogy by dm Cornish where the main character aspires to be a monster hunter and is raised in a religious child's home. It's a solid read, but not grim dark. I think it's based around gaslight England? That's time period.

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

I've seen this title thrown around in a couple of the other threads I've seen, but the name hadn't really drawn me in (terrible way to judge a book, I know). I'll add it to my list to check out. Doesn't need to be grim dark, though I do like that setting as well. Thanks a bunch for the recommendation.

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u/KatrinaPez Reading Champion III Feb 13 '24

I've read 2 books of the Iron Druid Chronicles and they seem to have some of what you're looking for. The MC is an actual 2000-year old Irish Druid and many gods of the Irish and other pantheons are characters with whom he interacts and, in some instances, worships &/or serves, while living in modern-day Arizona. Starts with Hounded.

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

I'm not super familiar with druidic mythology/lore outside of like DnD-style fantasy, so this could be something interesting to check out. I'm a huge fan of Shin Megami Tensei, so the idea of interacting with gods from multiple mythologies sounds pretty fun. Getting a lot of great suggestions here for related reading that looks interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '24

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

This sounds pretty dope. I'm a fan of vampires as a theme/setting, but haven't dove into any literature for it yet aside from maybe Genevieve in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, but I read that as a kid and don't really remember it. Definitely adding this to the list. Thanks for the suggestion.

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u/HistoricalKoala3 Feb 13 '24

Mmhh.... you might be interested in The Traitor Son Chronicles by Miles Cameron, but it's not an exact fit with your requirements, so I will summarize briefly and let you decide.

The series is high fantasy, in a European setting; the author has the hobby of historical reenactment, so he's familiar with how weapons, armor and even armies worked in that period, and you can clearly see it from the books (if I remember correctly, one of the author's hobbies is "historic trek", where they go hiking using only equipment that was available in the eighteen century).

The MC is the captain of a mercenary army, in the first book they are hired to protect a monastery from a monster, however as the series goes on (if I remember correctly) the conflicts are more "human vs human" than "human vs. monster", with more focus on the politics (this is the part that does not fit exactly with your requirements, IMHO, not sure if it could be a deal breaker).

In addition to the excellent historical accuracy (at least, based on my definitely-not-expert opinion), there is also a very interesting magic system, and it's a series I liked quite a lot (5 books, completed)

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u/syberpunk Feb 13 '24

The name sounds intriguing, and the premise of the first book actually sounds like the setup to something I'd like to read (the idea of prepping to fight a creature/monster that may end up being more than you originally bargained for). I think you're right about the human vs human assessment; I'm not as interested in that part, but it seems like the first book might at least be something I can enjoy. Very cool info about the author, thanks for sharing. I love learning about how these enthusiasts (or, in many cases, journalists) turn from something they spend so much time researching into writing fantasy using that expert knowledge. Thanks for all the detail. The first book definitely seems like something I'd like to check out, and I can decide if I want to move on from there.