Historical Fiction Quotes - Page 2

• As much as I love historical fiction, my problem with historical fiction is that you always know what's going to happen.

  George R. R. Martin

  Historical, Fiction, Problem

  "Personal Quotes/ Biography". www.imdb.com.

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• The general consensus among historians, among the ones who can handle the fact that 'Lincoln' is, in fact, historical fiction, is that we demonstrate enormous fidelity to history and that, beyond that, we've actually contributed a line of thinking about Lincoln's presidency that's somewhat original.

  Tony Kushner

  Thinking, Historical, Fiction

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• The annual award of $5,000 goes to an author for a meritorious book published in the previous year for children or young adults. Scott O'Dell established this award to encourage other writers--particularly new authors--to focus on historical fiction. He hoped in this way to increase the interest of young readers in the historical background that has helped to shape their country and their world.

  Scott O'Dell

  Country, Children, Book

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• I like historical fiction. I fell in love with New Orleans the first time I visited it. And I wanted to place a story in New Orleans.

  Isabel Allende

  New Orleans, Historical, Stories

  "Allende Examines the Caribbean's Chaotic History Through New Novel". "PBS NewsHour" with Jeffrey Brown, www.pbs.org. May 23, 2010.

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• There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles,” Chiron said. “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?

  Madeline Miller

  Grief, Thinking, Law

  Madeline Miller (2011). “The Song of Achilles”, p.79, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• lightning thief was good but the sea of monsters is better and has more action!

  Rick Riordan

  Sea, Monsters, Lightning

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• If anyone ever said biopic I would say, "It's not a biopic." We're fighting uphill against the weight of history. I was like, why don't we just call it historical fiction?

  Don Cheadle

  Fighting, Historical, Fiction

  "We talked to Don Cheadle about his new Miles Davis movie, biopics, and why he's not boycotting the Oscars". Interview with Jason Guerrasio, uk.businessinsider.com. January 25, 2016.

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• "Hard" science fiction probes alternative possible futures by means of reasoned extrapolations in much the same way that good historical fiction reconstructs the probable past. Even far-out fantasy can present a significant test of human values exposed to a new environment. Deriving its most cogent ideas from the tension between permanence and change, science fiction combines the diversions of novelty with its pertinent kind of realism.

  Jack Williamson

  Mean, Past, Ideas

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• I sometimes joke that I am the first writer of historical fiction who can look out his window and point to the objects in his novels. I have a view of the entrance to the Bosporus, the old city, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque.

  Orhan Pamuk

  Blue, Views, Cities

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• I'm a huge historical fiction and non-fiction fan.

  Gale Anne Hurd

  Historical, Fans, Fiction

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• I've always really loved big worlds and the kind of worldbuilding where you can open a portal into a new realm that feels full and complete. At the same time, I also really love history. So the combination of big worlds and history draws me directly into fantasy. Well, it should turn me towards historical fiction but I'm such a perfectionist about research that I'm not sure I could ever write a book in that genre properly. In fantasy, you have to have the same level of precision, but it's not as research-based. Plus, I get to write my little info sheets and draw my maps.

  Victoria Aveyard

  Book, Writing, Historical

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

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• The thing about being a mystery writer, what marks a mystery writer out from a chick lit author or historical fiction writer, is that you always find a mystery in every situation.

  Tana French

  Historical, Fiction, Mystery

  "Tana French: I'm haunted by Ireland's ghost estates" by Alison Flood, www.theguardian.com. July 27, 2012.

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• When I was growing up I loved reading historical fiction, but too often it was about males; or, if it was about females, they were girls who were going to grow up to be famous like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton, or Harriet Tubman. No one ever wrote about plain, normal, everyday girls.

  Kathryn Lasky

  Girl, Growing Up, Reading

  "Kathryn Lasky About A Journey to the New World". Interview with Richard F. Abrahamson and Linda M. Pavonetti, www.scholastic.com.

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• As you see, I bear some resentment and some scars from the years of anti-genre bigotry. My own fiction, which moves freely around among realism, magical realism, science fiction, fantasy of various kinds, historical fiction, young adult fiction, parable, and other subgenres, to the point where much of it is ungenrifiable, all got shoved into the Sci Fi wastebasket or labeled as kiddilit - subliterature.

  Ursula K. Le Guin

  Moving, Years, Historical

  "Ursula K. Le Guin talks about genres, gender, and broadening fiction". Interview with Michael Cunningham, electricliterature.com. April 2, 2016.

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• Historical fiction of course is particularly research-heavy. The details of everyday life are there to trip you up. Things that we take for granted, indeed, hardly think about, can lead to tremendous mistakes.

  Sara Sheridan

  Mistake, Thinking, Historical

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• No one writes better historical fiction than Steven Pressfield. The Afghan War that was waged by Alexander the Great 2000 years ago is eerily similar to the one that's being fought today. This book should be required reading for anyone who wants to better understand what American and Coalition forces are up against in one of history's most tribal and troubled regions.

  Vince Flynn

  War, Reading, Book

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• As a journalist, I would talk to writers, directors, creative people, and discover that for an awful lot of them, the moment they became successful, that was all they were allowed to do. So you end up talking to the bestselling science-fiction author who wrote a historical-fiction novel that everybody loved, but no one would publish.

  Neil Gaiman

  Successful, Fiction Novels, Talking

  Interview with Tasha Robinson, www.avclub.com. September 28, 2005.

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• I've always been drawn to historical fiction.

  Karin Slaughter

  Historical, Fiction

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• I am not a fan of historical fiction that is sloppy in its research or is dishonest about the real history.

  Kate Mosse

  Real, Historical, Fans

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• The Heretic Queen is historical fiction at its best. Michelle Moran seamlessly incorporates accurate details into a story full of suspense, intrigue, and tenderness that's impossible to put down until you've reached the last page. An absolute triumph!

  Tasha Alexander

  Queens, Historical, Triumph

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• I am in the interesting position of being sometimes skimmed by the critics and called literature and sometimes called historical fiction.

  Philippa Gregory

  Interesting, Historical, Fiction

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• I just love historical fiction.

  Jennifer Donnelly

  Historical, Fiction

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• What writers of fantasy, science fiction, and much historical fiction do for a living is different from what writers of so-called literary or other kinds of fiction do. The name of the game in F/SF/HF is creating fictional worlds and then telling particular stories set in those worlds. If you're doing it right, then the reader, coming to the end of the story, will say, "Hey, wait a minute, there are so many other stories that could be told in this universe!" And that's how we get the sprawling, coherent fictional universes that fandom is all about.

  Neal Stephenson

  Games, Names, Creating

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

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• As for whether genre considerations influence what I write, they don't at all, but I might sell more books if they did. The Night Journal is a hodge-podge of historical fiction, western, mystery, and contemporary domestic drama. It doesn't settle into a specific market, reviewers have a hard time describing it, and sometimes it gets classified weirdly in bookstores. But from a writer's standpoint, I like that it's hard to categorize.

  Elizabeth Crook

  Drama, Book, Writing

  Source: www.elizabethcrookbooks.com

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• Historical novels are about costumery. I think that's the magic and mystery of fiction. I don't want to write historical fiction but I do want the story to have the feel of history. There's a difference.

  Chang-Rae Lee

  Writing, Thinking, Historical Novels

  Source: therumpus.net

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