historical-fiction
Past-set invented narratives
Historical fiction is narrative set in a past era, blending invented characters and events with actual historical settings, figures, or circumstances.
The genre ranges from meticulously researched novels faithful to period detail to looser reimaginings that use history as backdrop: She writes historical fiction set in Tudor England.
The hyphenated form typically functions as an adjective: a historical-fiction novel.
New and unusual
- sagaExtended heroic narrative
- epicImpressively grand in scope
- narrativeAccount of events
- bodice-ripperSensational romantic fiction
bestseller · trilogy · series · paperback · audiobook · adaptation · screenplay · miniseries
Of the Middle Ages
- VictorianOf a prim era
- TudorSixteenth-century English ruling family
- RegencyProxy rule period
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
ancient · colonial · wartime · antebellum · Edwardian · Byzantine · Viking · Meiji
Domain under unified control
- warArmed struggle between groups
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- intrigueSecret plotting or fascination
betrayal · survival · class · identity · colonialism · slavery · migration · plague
Systematic fact-finding effort
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- verisimilitudeAppearance of being factual
- anachronismHistorical time-placement error
- world-buildingCreating fictional universes
dialect · voice · setting · atmosphere · pacing · flashback · epistolary · first-person
novel
New and unusual
bodice-ripper · bestseller · trilogy · series · paperback · audiobook · adaptation · screenplay · miniseries · blockbuster
medieval
Of the Middle Ages
Renaissance · ancient · colonial · wartime · antebellum · Edwardian · Byzantine · Viking · Meiji · Mughal
empire
Domain under unified control
- warArmed struggle between groups
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
intrigue · betrayal · survival · class · identity · colonialism · slavery · migration · plague · revolution
research
Systematic fact-finding effort
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- verisimilitudeAppearance of being factual
- anachronismHistorical time-placement error
world-building · dialect · voice · setting · atmosphere · pacing · flashback · epistolary · first-person · foreshadowing
Shogun
Japanese military dictator
historical-fictiondocumentary
Factual film about reality
nonfiction · history · journalism · biography · memoir
historical-fictionscience fiction
Speculative fiction with technological themes
speculative fiction · contemporary fiction · dystopian fiction · space opera · cyberpunk
historical-fictionfantasy
Imaginative mental wandering
high fantasy · epic fantasy · fairy tale · supernatural fiction · paranormal fiction
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