TTT: Top Ten Historical Settings I'd Love To See

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This week's theme: Historical Settings I want to see

This theme is great because it goes hand-in-hand with my discussion post about how annoyed I was with the huge number of fantasy novels set in medieval worlds. I would love to see technology and magic go hand in hand. Who says technology and magic can't coexist?

1. Ancient Egypt. Hands down my favorite historical period growing up. I think it helped that my first chapter book ever was the Magic Tree House book where they went to Ancient Egypt (Mummies in the Morning, anyone?)

2. Renaissance Italy. There are so many things to love about the Gentleman Bastards series, but one of my favorites is how magic is woven into a Renaissance-era Italy-inspired world. Culture is flourishing and art and technology are both shaping each other, which is such an exciting time to read about!


3. Feudal Japan. I love the rich history and culture of Japan, and the few historical fiction/fantasy books I've read that involve the Samurai and feudal lords have been fantastic! I'd love to read more.

4. French Revolution. I've read a couple of books set in this era, from classics like Les Mis to more contemporary books like Revolution by Jennifer Donnely. It's such a tumultuous time and it makes for a very intense and exciting story! Will the main characters survive, will their heads get cut off, or will they be trampled in the dust?

5. The Roaring 20s. This is such a fun time, and I really liked how a supernatural element can be woven in with the craze over seances and Ouija boards (The Diviners!).

6. The Wild West. Karen Memory is my current favorite steampunk novel, and it's so fun because it mixes in steampunk elements with all the craziness of the wild west. This era is all about the spirit of exploration and pushing boundaries, and even if the movies drive me nuts, I'd love to read more Western books :)

7. Mughal India. This is a time period of India that I don't know that much about, but I do know that there was a very unique melding together of two very different cultures as the Persian/Mughal empire began its conquest of India. Most of my knowledge of this time period comes from a bollywood movie (Jodhaa Akbar, pictured above!) so I'd like to read some books and get a little more historical accuracy :)
 
8. American Civil War. I've read a lot of young adult/children's books set in the years of the civil war or the Reconstruction for English class, but not too many books since then. It was a pretty formative time period for our nation and a very empowering because you get to see people's courage and compassion.

Any recs for books in these time periods? Is there a time period I'm missing that I ABSOLUTELY must read? Let me know!


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