Complete reading orders for popular historical fiction series.
Behind every Tudor history book stands the same six women, and yet their stories are almost always told through the lens of the man they married. Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens series sets out to change that entirely. Six novels,…
If you love historical mysteries packed with conspiracy, religious intrigue, and razor-sharp wit, the Giordano Bruno series by S.J. Parris belongs at the top of your reading list. Set in the dangerous political landscape of Elizabethan England, these novels follow…
The Grail Quest series by Bernard Cornwell brings the brutal reality of 14th-century warfare to life through the eyes of Thomas of Hookton, an English archer whose skill with the longbow makes him both a deadly warrior and a reluctant…
The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell offers a dark, gritty, and historically grounded reimagining of the Arthurian legend. Stripping away the medieval romance and magic, Cornwell presents Arthur as a pragmatic British warlord fighting to preserve Roman civilization against Saxon…
Blood, brotherhood, and the brutal glory of the Viking Age await in Giles Kristian’s acclaimed Raven trilogy, a visceral journey from the shores of ninth-century England to the glittering streets of Constantinople. The Raven series by Giles Kristian is a…
Flavia Albia is the sharp-tongued, fiercely independent daughter of legendary Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco, and in Lindsey Davis’s acclaimed spin-off series, she carves out her own path as a private investigator in the darker, more dangerous Rome of Emperor…
The Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis is one of historical mystery fiction’s most beloved sagas, combining hard-boiled detective storytelling with meticulously researched Ancient Roman settings. Spanning 20 novels published between 1989 and 2010, the series follows Marcus Didius…
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is one of the most beloved time-travel historical romance sagas ever written, blending Scottish history, epic romance, and adventure across centuries. With over 50 million copies sold worldwide and a hit Starz television adaptation…
The Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom is one of the finest achievements in historical mystery fiction, combining meticulously researched Tudor history with gripping murder investigations. Across seven novels spanning 1537 to 1553, we follow Matthew Shardlake, a hunchbacked lawyer navigating…
The Plantagenet and Tudor series by Philippa Gregory represents one of the most ambitious historical fiction projects ever undertaken, spanning over 400 years of English royal history across 15+ interconnected novels. These books bring to life the queens, princesses, and…