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Historical Fantasy: Difference between revisions
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* On that note, ''[[Inuyasha]]'' qualifies as well, since it's Sengoku-era Japan but with demons and magic, and yet the timeline appears to be unchanged.
* ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'' is set in Sengoku Japan with a truckload of [[Functional Magic]] and [[Lensman Arms Race]] levels of new hidden powers coming to the forefront.
* ''[[Baccano!]]'' injects [[Hermetic Magic|alchemy]] (specifically, the [[Immortality|Elixir of Life]] and [[Artificial Human|homunculi]]) into the [[Gangsterland|organized crime world]] of the 1930s.
* ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' has some minor fantastical elements, like the existence of ki. Zombies, however, are most likely [[Mushroom Samba|mushroom-induced hallucinations]].
* ''[[Princess Mononoke]]''
* ''[[Blood: The Last Vampire]]'' largely takes place in a 1970s Japan that looks very much like the real world deal...[[Captain Obvious|except for the aforementioned vampires]] running around.
* ''[[Gate Keepers]]'' likewise is set a bit further back, in 1969-70 Tokyo, with a dash of [[Alternate History]]. Aside from the Invaders and super powered heroes, it does manage to capture the real economic and social changes in Japan during that time.
* Arguably due to the presence of [[Anthropomorphic Personifications]], ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' would likely count as well. Especially in the way the Nations are presented in contrast to [[Muggles|their citizens]].
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* [[David Gemmell]] has a few series like this, one set in [[Ancient Greece]] around the time of Philip II and Alexander the Great, and another in [[King Arthur|Arthurian Britain]]. He's also got one set during the siege of Troy, though that one is presented in such a way that almost all of the supernatural things apart from [[Cassandra Truth|Cassandra's precognition]] have obvious natural explanations.
* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Stardust (novel)|Stardust]]'' is an odd example, since most of the action takes place outside of historical England. The majority of the mystical parts are contained within the land beyond the wall. The wall is just a low stone wall running across the bottom of a village, which happens to contain a gate to the world that is spoken of in fairy tales. The part of England in that world is full of living stars and lightning smugglers. The real world, however, is so mundane that any part of the fairy realm that isn't at least partly from the real world would not survive the trip, turning into lifeless matter.
* ''[[Tales of the Otori]]'' by Lian Hearn.
* Sylvain Hotte's ''[[Darhan]]'' series takes place in the time of Genghis Khan.
* [[Guy Gavriel Kay]] is a specialist of the variant, with ''[[Tigana]]'' an obvious stand in for Renaissance era Italy, ''[[The Lions of Al-Rassan]]'' for Spain at the time of the Reconquista, ''[[The Sarantine Mosaic]]'' for Byzantium, ''A Song for Arbonne'' for France at the time of the Albigenoise Crusade.
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* Colleen McCullough's novels set in [[Ancient Rome]] are all considered historical fiction, but feature a few ambiguous fantastical elements such as various prophecies coming true and omens almost always being accurate.
** Acurate prophecies and omens are fairly common in "realist" fiction, and frequently are not considered fantastical elements. After all, lots of people in the [[Real Life|real world]] believes those things to be true. It should also be noted that the Romans themselves placed great stock in fortunetelling and divination.
* Naomi Novik's [[Temeraire]] series is set during the Napoleonic wars ... with [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]] as air support!
* The books in [[Anne Rice]]'s [[The Vampire Chronicles|Vampire cycle]] that are set in the past qualify since they are depictions of history - except with [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]].
** The same is true of the ''[[Vampire Plagues]]'' series.
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* Most of Andrzej Sapkowski's newer, post-''[[The Witcher|Witcher]]'' works fall into this cathegory, including the [[Fan Nickname|"Hussite Trilogy"]], a series of [[Historical Fantasy]] adventure novels taking place in 15. century Silesia and the Kingdom of Bohemia [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|during the time of the Hussite Wars]]...
* ''[[Tall Tale America]]'': a retelling of American history, but focusing less on tariffs and more on people digging the Grand Canyon with their bare hands.
* ''Devil's Tower'' and ''Devil's Engine'' by Mark Sumner: A combination of the fantasy and western genres. The Battle of Shiloh released magic into the world. A generation later the United States and the Confederacy are confined to the east and the western half of the country is broken up into isolated communities run by sheriffs who've mastered some magical powers.
* ''[[Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter]]''
** And ''Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter''
** And ''King Henry VIII: Wolfman''
** And ''Dawn of the Dreadfuls''
** And ''Pride & Prejudice & Zombies''
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* Paul Kearney's ''Macht Trilogy''. The first novel, ''The Ten Thousand '' retells [[Xenophon]]'s ''[[Anabasis]]''; the remaining novels, ''Corvus'' and ''Kings of Morning'', loosely follow the life of [[Alexander the Great]].
* Marie Brennan's ''[[Onyx Court]]'' series recounts the secret history of London and the faeries living beneath it, from Elizabethan times through the Victorian era.
* Modern retellings of the [[King Arthur|Arthurian mythos]] often overlap with [[Historical Fiction]] to show the writer's version of the [[wikipedia:Historical basis for King Arthur|"true story" behind the legend]]. These are set in a more or less historical Europe in the [[Dark Age Europe|Dark Ages]] (or [[The Low Middle Ages]]) instead of the fantasyland Europe of [[Chivalric Romance]], usually depicted as [[High Middle Ages]]. These may trade the glittering castles and [[Knight in Shining Armor|knights in shining plate armor]] for [[Demythtification|wooden hill-forts and horsemen in leather and chain mail]]. But magic and other fantastic elements may remain, thus falling under this trope. Other retellings (listed under [[Demythtification]]) play it straight and omit all fantastic elements.
** Gillian Bradshaw's ''Down the Long Wind'' trilogy. The fantasy elements are strongest in the first book, wherein Gwalchmai (Gawain) receives [[Excalibur|Caledfwlch]] from the Celtic Otherworld and opposes the Dark sorcery of his mother Morgause as a servant of the Light. These elements are less pronounced in the sequels - possibly because of [[Switching POV|different narrators]] in each book: Gwalchmai, then his [[Kid Sidekick|Teen Sidekick]] or "squire", then Gwynhwyfar (Guinevere).
** Stephen R. Lawhead's ''Pendragon Cycle'' series contains virtually no "flashy" magic like spell-casting, etc. But Merlin is descended from [[Atlantis|Atlanteans]], who are treated like Tolkien's Elves - including their longevity and application of magic.
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** Courtway Jones' ''In the Shadow of the Oak King'' similarly strips out the magic except for making Arthur and his half-brother Pelleas telepaths. Pelleas also [[Bond Creatures|bonds with]] a pack of wolves. Merlin is a blacksmith and general wise man.
** ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'' trilogy by Bernard Cornwell takes the [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]] route for the first two books, but the waters get muddy in the third book due to some [[Contrived Coincidence|Contrived Coincidences]]. It also has an [[Unreliable Narrator]].
** [[David Gemmell]]'s ''Ghost King'' and ''The Last Stone of Power'', much more akin to "fantasy" than "historical" fiction though they're set in post-Roman Britain.
** ''[[Gwenhwyfar|Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit]]'' by [[Mercedes Lackey]].
** ''Mad Merlin'' by J. Robert King and its sequels.
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** The ''Arthor'' series by A. A. Attanasio.
** ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' by [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]. It has a series of prequels set in Britain co-authored with, and then (after Bradley's death) solely written by, Diana L. Paxson.
** ''The White Raven'', a retelling of Tristan and Isolde by Diana L. Paxson. Followed by ''The Hallowed Isle'' series, her own retelling of the Arthurian legends.
* ''[[Ragnar Lodbrok and His Sons]]'', a 13th century saga that mixes history and fantasy in its portrayal of the 9th century Viking Age.
* ''The Hammer and the Cross'' series by [[Harry Harrison]] and [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] scholar Tom Shippey (as "John Holm") is set in an [[Alternate History]] 9th century England. It also features the above characters.
* ''Child of the Eagle'' by [[Esther Friesner]]. [[Roman Mythology|Venus]] appears to [[Ancient Rome|Marcus Brutus]] and convinces him to thwart the assassination of [[Useful Notes/Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]].
* ''[[Forgotten Gods]]'' has [[The Fair Folk]] returning 18th century Britain.
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