Historical fiction...

Since there hasn't been a new fannish5 set of questions this week, I'll answer the set from July 10: Name your five favorite works of historical fiction, and why you love them. I wanted to do this, because historical fiction is my favourite genre - rare these days, and quality historical fiction ever rarer.

A. Books:

1. The Lymond series by Dorothy Dunnett. Set in Europe, particularly Scotland, in the mid-sixteenth century. Anyone who doesn't know these are my favourite books hasn't been paying attention. I love them because they are historically epic; because they are funny and tragic and heroic; and because Francis Crawford of Lymond is the most compelling and brilliant bastard of a hero I have ever encountered.
   
   
2. The Roma sub Rosa series about Gordianus the Finder by Steven Saylor. Detective stories set in late Republican Rome, each centering on a historical event. Good characters, good history.
   
   
3. The Alexander books by Mary Renault, Fire From Heaven and The Persian Boy. The two books cover the life of Alexander the Great; the first is about his youth, the second about his conquest of the world as seen through the eyes of his Persian lover, the dancer Bagoas.
   
   
4. The Lost Queen of Egypt by Lucille Morrison. I read this at twelve, and formed a passion for ancient Egypt and its history. It's a fictionalized account of the life of Ankhsenpaaten, wife of Tutankhamum and daughter Akhenaten. For me, then, it brought the picture of an Egyptian court to life before my eyes.
   
   
5. Ariel by Andre Maurois. Another book which I read at 13 or so, which fed my passion for the English Romantic poets and their philosophies.

( B. Movies... )

B.K.S. Iyengar, another of my heroes...

Someone told me they'd heard B.K.S. Iyengar had died recently. He's been a huge influence on my life; the idea was shocking, as was the idea it might have happened and I hadn't heard. So I looked him up and it seems he's still alive, and his website is up to date.

I am relieved to hear it. Long may he thrive.

I looking him up, I found a detail about him that I hadn't known: "In 2004, Iyengar was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine." How cool!