If You Like….
If you like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, you’ll probably also like….
— Into the Wilderness, by Sara Donati (no time travel, but Claire shows up as part of an interwoven world);
— Island of the Swans, by Ciji Ware;
— Through a Glass Darkly, by Karleen Koen (again, no time travel, but a very lush, eighteenth century world);
— The Winter Sea, by Susanna Kearsley;
— Kingdom of Shadows, by Barbara Erskine;
— Legend in Green Velvet, by Elizabeth Peters.
Any other suggestions?
Love today’s topic — I’ll definitely be taking notes on all the suggestions!
Rivals for the Crown; On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens – excellent historical fiction with great storytelling.
Jan Cox Speas is an oldie but goodie if you can find them in print: Bride of the MacHugh and my favorite, My Lord Monleigh. Both novels are rich with highland clan conflict and adventure with light romance.
For super sexy adventure I recommend Pamela Clare’s MacKinnon Rangers historical trilogy — Surrender, Untamed, and soon-to-be-released Defiant. The MacKinnon brothers may just give Jamie Fraser (of Outlander) a run for his money as a warrior and lover!
All of the choices you recommend above are great (especially Barbara Erskine and Susanna Kearsley if you like time travel); I’m off to check out Legend in Green Velvet as that’s the only one I don’t have on my shelf. Thanks!
I’ll be interested to see the reccies for this one. I’m a huge fan of the Outlander series and really can’t think of another that compares to it. Outlander has everything–family saga, historical panorama, romance, time travel, etc. There are many books/series that have one or more of the elements of the Outlander series, but not all.
I have tried several times to get into the Donati series as I have it both in PB and ebook format. It just doesn’t grip me for some reason. But I may give it another shot.
I’m tempted to offer up Kristin Lavransdattar–it has the “sweep,” but I don’t know that the two are otherwise comparable.
A lot of Outlander fans recommend the Jean M. Auel Earth’s Children series. Totally different time period, but the same grand sweep and great storytelling (from what I’ve heard, I’ve read books 1-5 in the Outlander series but not these).
If you love Barbara Erskine (and I do), read Lady of Hay and Child of the Phoenix before reading Kingdom of Shadows. They are a loose-knit trilogy and all very good.
If you like racy sexy books, Highlanders and time travel, read Karen Marie Moning’s 8 book Highlander series. Verra entertaining.
I too had trouble getting into the Wilderness series by Sara Donati but am glad that I persisted. Although there is no time travel, there is a rich family saga that will leave you bereft at its conclusion.
Has anyone ever seen a Literature Map? I accidently found one for Anya Seton then decided to type in Lauren and WOW! So many names I hadn’t heard of and a few shared on this site. It’s a little dizzying at first but check it out~ http://www.literature-map.com/lauren+willig.html
OK–Linda’s convinced me to give Donati another whirl!
Barbara Erskine’s also on my list. I have Lady of Hay on my Kindle, and will have to break down and get the others in PB if they’re not made available soon.
(That literature map is a trip–in more ways than one–but very interesting.)
Thanks to Lauren and the other posters for the excellent suggestions.
Susanna Kearsley is fab, have recently read The Rose Garden and think it’s my favourite of hers. I’ve only read one Barbara Erskine, Midnight is a Lonely Place, and wasn’t all that impressed, very long-winded I thought, but perhaps I’ll give her another go.
I love this list of recs and look forward to reading them. They look really promising. Funny thing: I wrote this list down, went to the bookstore and didn’t find any which was unsurprising since it was Borders and they’re down to their last titles in their closing sales. But today I happened to be in a thrift store (with no list) and saw a pretty hardcover standing upright on top of a clothes rack. After a moment, I realized it was on the list! So now I have Through a Glass Darkly. Serendipity, huh?
Florencia Bonelli (year of fire trilogy). Not historical and no time traveling (nevertheless she writes mostly historical but this contemporary trilogy is the only one translated to english), but her style is very similar to Diana’s. She’s an awesome story teller and all the ingredients we love in Diana’s books are there: complex plot, intrigue, adventure, sex, romance, to-die-for-heroes. it’s unforgettable. She’s the most successful author in Argentina, her homeland and her fans are as much crazy for her books as Diana’s fans. 🙂
Carla, based on your recommendation I jumped into Obsession by Florencia Bonelli. Wow! Now, 12 days and 1800 pages later, I must thank you for leading me to Bonelli’s fantastic “Year of Fire” trilogy! Each book was better than the last. HIGHLY recommended for Gabaldon fans!
Só happy to know that, Nancy. ♥️😚