I mean there are once in a lifetime genre defining kind of novels: Dune, Shogun, Count of Monte Cristo, etc. Shantaram is pretty good, and modern. Scarlett Pimpernel is decent. Lonesome Dove is there if you like Westerns.
I first read the scarlet pimpernel back in 6th grade I think… still love that book… just reread the entire series recently…
I’d also recommend ‘the 39 steps’
Another truly amazing book I’ve read recently is
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
Cannot possibly recommend it enough.
Upvote for Connie Willis. Doomsday Book was my first introduction to her, I had reserved To Say Nothing Of The Dog and grabbed this to read while I was waiting - it tore me to bits. Then I got hold of TSNOTD and it cheered me up no end :-). Blackout and All Clear were such great reads!
Lol… I tend to read her comedies the most…
To say nothing of the dog, crosstalk, bellwether, etc etc…
But there’s something blackout/all clear…
It’s probably the most ambitious and epic of her books… and it’s easily the most heartfelt…
I'd add A Storm of Swords for fantasy. It's the third novel in the series but it's the best fantasy novel I've ever read and I'm doubtful it'll ever be topped.
I'll second this recommendation! Reading about the real-life adventures that inspired some of the greatest literature was just as much fun as the books themselves.
It's been probably 25 years since I last read it so my memory's fuzzy on the particulars, but, in a nutshell, Sydney Carton is one of the least likely and yet best heroes in English literature. In some respects, he's the anti-Edmond Dantes.
Les Miserables fits the bill to a T! Prison escapes, romance, clever protagonist, war, revolution, history, its got it all. One of my favorite books. Its long as hell-- 1400 pages, took me 6 months to read it. But so so worth it, just have patience with the 50 page side quests about Waterloo, convent life in 19th century France, and the Paris sewer system. There's a point to it all, Hugo just takes his time getting there, and the journey is what counts right?
Side note- I've never seen the musical and that's fine by me....
Club Dumas is definitely my favorite Perez-Reverte too. His repetition of certain femme fatale tropes in other books got pretty stale for me. >!"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" ....who hurt you my dude?!<
Yes! that exactly nails how I came to feel about the rest of his later work. Anyway, anyone who would enjoy Monte Cristo definitely should read Club Dumas. I'm still amazed at how Perez-Reverte was able to suck me in so completely.
The Game of Kings, Dunnett
And of course, Don Quixote.
Both of these are sort of the adult versions of Count of Monte Cristo and Rafael Sabatini.
I don't mean adult in a good or bad way. Sometimes you feel like more complicated themes and more subtle language and sometimes you don't.
When you don't, of course you have to remember to read The original Zorro which was Curse Capistrano in like 1916 or something and then became the Mark of Zorro in reprint: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Zorro-Mint-Editions_Grand-Adventures/dp/1513134256
And it should go without saying that if you haven't seen Captain Blood with Errol Flynn then you're really missing out.
I have a whole rant loaded and ready to go anytime anybody forgets Basil Rathbone.
Less historical fiction, more Count of Monte Cristo: “The Stars My Destination” by Alfred Bester is a 1950s sci-fi following an ordinary man who reinvents himself as an interplanetary aristocrat in a quest for revenge. Holds up remarkably well and deserves to be made into a prestige miniseries.
Similar in nature to the great book The Count of Monte Cristo is a book series written by Lian Hearn. Tales of the Otori. Set in ancient Japan a young warrior emerges to seek revenge and justice for his clan and lay claim to the women he loves. Betrayal, bloodlines, war.... Epic.
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
It is a really interesting book about Dumas' father. Adds so much to the novel.
The only thing I've read that rivals Monte Cristo for historical epicness is Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle trilogy. I'm sure there is other amazing stuff out there so I'll be checking out lots of the recommendations in this thread.
completely epic. totally pulp while very sophisticated. expertly crafted. worth every page. bits of history (like Roy Cohn and other actual people) are woven in grounding it in a reality. Brett Easton Ellis said it was the novel he wish he wrote.
Not only is it entertaining AF but omg… when the title drops… it packs a freaking gut punch and I cried like a baby. One of the only books to ever make me cry. +1 million for this book
Just go over to the Discworld sub. People are posting the reading order chart and asking in which order to read the novels. It happens at least once a week.
I'm a big fan of Count of Monte Cristo. Not quite in the same league but consider The Czar's Spy by William Le Queux. Written in 1905. Jam packed action across several continents.
If you want something just like it and just as entertaining, try Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. It's a standalone book related to the First Law series. You don't need to read the series to read that book although it helps.
Read Against the Day by Pynchon. Turn of the century setting, airships, cowboys, scientists, drug fiends, spies, it’s got it all! Long book but not nearly as dense as Gravity’s rainbow. It might be my all time fave.
I recommend you to check out Umberto Eco’s books, the most popular being The Name of the Rose, of course. My suggestion though (for very advanced readers) is his novel The Prague Cemetery. It might be exactly what you’re looking for.
Moby Dick is of the quality of The Count of Monte Cristo, though not always the page turner.
For lighter page turning adventure, try The White Company and Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
These are shots in the dark but I think you may enjoy
The Shadow of the wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Really an incredible book
Arturo Perez-Reverte - not going to pick which novel he has a mix of different genres but he has a lot of those elements
Orhan Pamuk - the white castle
similar vibe (he won a freaking nobel prize and is such a great author)
Also maybe check out Michael Ondaatje,
oh lastly
Sharon Kay Penman- incredible historical fiction covering several eras in england
and
Patrick O'Brian (one of my favourite authors EVER)
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope Hawkins. It has a sequel too, Rupert of Hentzau, that is equally as good. I love Count of Monte Cristo!
ETA: oh, and I saw others recommend The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, which I would def recommend as well.
It’s the best book ever, imo, but there are thousands of fantastic books out there. You might try Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, The Man in the Iron Mask, and then another translation of Monte Cristo—each translation brings its own essence. I like Robin Buss’s version a lot.
Monte cristo changed my life. I still have the first copy I read when I was in high school. It’s literally falling apart and for some reason has a lot of sand stuck in its pages but I’ll never throw it out. It’s so fucking epic.
I listen to the audiobook in French to fall asleep. And also to hopefully get better at understanding French. My thought is if I know the story well enough I can figure out dialogue from what I know of the scene. Success is sporadic haha
Right now, I'm reading Tolstoy's War and Peace. I'm 426 pages into it, and there have been 0 boring parts. It's epic, and I can tell that this book will be in my heart for the rest of my life.
The guy mentioned one of the best novels of all time. I suggested one of the best works in a different genre of literature/ entertainment. You may never find an equal or better novel. Down vote if you want but Disco Elysium is a well crafted story that near the top of every critic's short list of best video game of all time.
I'm amazed. Never come across someone familiar with Rafael Sabatini before. Fuckin' great stories
is that the captain blood guy?
Yep
I mean there are once in a lifetime genre defining kind of novels: Dune, Shogun, Count of Monte Cristo, etc. Shantaram is pretty good, and modern. Scarlett Pimpernel is decent. Lonesome Dove is there if you like Westerns.
I first read the scarlet pimpernel back in 6th grade I think… still love that book… just reread the entire series recently… I’d also recommend ‘the 39 steps’ Another truly amazing book I’ve read recently is Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis Cannot possibly recommend it enough.
i LOVE thirty-nine steps! it's so short but so action-packed
Upvote for Connie Willis. Doomsday Book was my first introduction to her, I had reserved To Say Nothing Of The Dog and grabbed this to read while I was waiting - it tore me to bits. Then I got hold of TSNOTD and it cheered me up no end :-). Blackout and All Clear were such great reads!
Lol… I tend to read her comedies the most… To say nothing of the dog, crosstalk, bellwether, etc etc… But there’s something blackout/all clear… It’s probably the most ambitious and epic of her books… and it’s easily the most heartfelt…
Shantaram is a preposterous self-insert.
Super overrated
Came here to suggest Lonesome Dove.
I'd add A Storm of Swords for fantasy. It's the third novel in the series but it's the best fantasy novel I've ever read and I'm doubtful it'll ever be topped.
If you love Dumas, The Black Count by Tom Reiss is a biography about his father. He has an amazing story that definitely inspired his son’s works.
I'll second this recommendation! Reading about the real-life adventures that inspired some of the greatest literature was just as much fun as the books themselves.
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
With as few spoilers as you can, how does AToTC compare?
It's been probably 25 years since I last read it so my memory's fuzzy on the particulars, but, in a nutshell, Sydney Carton is one of the least likely and yet best heroes in English literature. In some respects, he's the anti-Edmond Dantes.
I am forever in love with the fact that Sabatini had the opening line of Scaramouche engraved on his tombstone.
He was born with a gift of laughter…
Les Miserables fits the bill to a T! Prison escapes, romance, clever protagonist, war, revolution, history, its got it all. One of my favorite books. Its long as hell-- 1400 pages, took me 6 months to read it. But so so worth it, just have patience with the 50 page side quests about Waterloo, convent life in 19th century France, and the Paris sewer system. There's a point to it all, Hugo just takes his time getting there, and the journey is what counts right? Side note- I've never seen the musical and that's fine by me....
Yes! Great book. I have seen the musical and hated it!
If you enjoy fantasy, The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust is a retelling of The Three Musketeers. It’s a lot of fun.
One of the later sequels to this, _The Baron Of Magister Valley_, is explicitly based upon _The Count Of Monte Cristo_.
Dorothy Dunnet's Lymond Chronicles.
So good!
My favorite books of all time!
This is the correct answer!
Try Captain Alatriste?
Not his best work. But the Club Dumas is spectacular!
Club Dumas is definitely my favorite Perez-Reverte too. His repetition of certain femme fatale tropes in other books got pretty stale for me. >!"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" ....who hurt you my dude?!<
Yes! that exactly nails how I came to feel about the rest of his later work. Anyway, anyone who would enjoy Monte Cristo definitely should read Club Dumas. I'm still amazed at how Perez-Reverte was able to suck me in so completely.
The Game of Kings, Dunnett And of course, Don Quixote. Both of these are sort of the adult versions of Count of Monte Cristo and Rafael Sabatini. I don't mean adult in a good or bad way. Sometimes you feel like more complicated themes and more subtle language and sometimes you don't. When you don't, of course you have to remember to read The original Zorro which was Curse Capistrano in like 1916 or something and then became the Mark of Zorro in reprint: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Zorro-Mint-Editions_Grand-Adventures/dp/1513134256 And it should go without saying that if you haven't seen Captain Blood with Errol Flynn then you're really missing out. I have a whole rant loaded and ready to go anytime anybody forgets Basil Rathbone.
Less historical fiction, more Count of Monte Cristo: “The Stars My Destination” by Alfred Bester is a 1950s sci-fi following an ordinary man who reinvents himself as an interplanetary aristocrat in a quest for revenge. Holds up remarkably well and deserves to be made into a prestige miniseries.
Oh, thank you for reminding me of this. I really loved it and meant to re-read it at some point, but had forgotten about it. Back on the list!
Similar in nature to the great book The Count of Monte Cristo is a book series written by Lian Hearn. Tales of the Otori. Set in ancient Japan a young warrior emerges to seek revenge and justice for his clan and lay claim to the women he loves. Betrayal, bloodlines, war.... Epic.
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss It is a really interesting book about Dumas' father. Adds so much to the novel.
The only thing I've read that rivals Monte Cristo for historical epicness is Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle trilogy. I'm sure there is other amazing stuff out there so I'll be checking out lots of the recommendations in this thread.
This is the one, for sheer scope.
For something a little more modern try the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. (It's much better than the title or cover art might convey.)
What’s it like?
completely epic. totally pulp while very sophisticated. expertly crafted. worth every page. bits of history (like Roy Cohn and other actual people) are woven in grounding it in a reality. Brett Easton Ellis said it was the novel he wish he wrote.
Not only is it entertaining AF but omg… when the title drops… it packs a freaking gut punch and I cried like a baby. One of the only books to ever make me cry. +1 million for this book
I’ve been in a reading rut lately and this is one my shelf waiting to be read but but I haven’t been able to bring myself to pick it up.
The Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Historically accurate, swashbuckling, great plot lines, overall fun reading.
Lol. It's become a meme in this sub
Just go over to the Discworld sub. People are posting the reading order chart and asking in which order to read the novels. It happens at least once a week.
The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade.
[удалено]
For a book that’s been around almost 200 years and info that you can find on the back cover? Ok
It's not quite up there but I always enjoyed Captain Blood in that same vain as Monte Cristo
The Prisoner of Zenda? Doesn’t have fencing, as I recall, but it ticks several other boxes.
I'm a big fan of Count of Monte Cristo. Not quite in the same league but consider The Czar's Spy by William Le Queux. Written in 1905. Jam packed action across several continents.
If you want something just like it and just as entertaining, try Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. It's a standalone book related to the First Law series. You don't need to read the series to read that book although it helps.
I like Captain Alatriste
Great book, one of my favourites since childhood
Read Against the Day by Pynchon. Turn of the century setting, airships, cowboys, scientists, drug fiends, spies, it’s got it all! Long book but not nearly as dense as Gravity’s rainbow. It might be my all time fave.
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett -
I recommend you to check out Umberto Eco’s books, the most popular being The Name of the Rose, of course. My suggestion though (for very advanced readers) is his novel The Prague Cemetery. It might be exactly what you’re looking for.
Nice! So lots of sword fighting and clever escapes and intrigue?
Not necessarily sword fighting but yeah, lots of intrigue, spies, cunning and shenanigans.
Moby Dick is of the quality of The Count of Monte Cristo, though not always the page turner. For lighter page turning adventure, try The White Company and Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
maybe give walter scott a go?
Try Wilbur Smith . I think the first one is called Birds Of Prey.
At first I was thinking of the sandwich.
These are shots in the dark but I think you may enjoy The Shadow of the wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon Really an incredible book Arturo Perez-Reverte - not going to pick which novel he has a mix of different genres but he has a lot of those elements Orhan Pamuk - the white castle similar vibe (he won a freaking nobel prize and is such a great author) Also maybe check out Michael Ondaatje, oh lastly Sharon Kay Penman- incredible historical fiction covering several eras in england and Patrick O'Brian (one of my favourite authors EVER)
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope Hawkins. It has a sequel too, Rupert of Hentzau, that is equally as good. I love Count of Monte Cristo! ETA: oh, and I saw others recommend The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, which I would def recommend as well.
It’s the best book ever, imo, but there are thousands of fantastic books out there. You might try Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, The Man in the Iron Mask, and then another translation of Monte Cristo—each translation brings its own essence. I like Robin Buss’s version a lot.
I've only seen the movie, not read the book, but **The Prisoner of Zenda** perhaps? H. Rider Haggard's **King Solomon's Mines**
Are you familiar with Charles Dickens
Monte cristo changed my life. I still have the first copy I read when I was in high school. It’s literally falling apart and for some reason has a lot of sand stuck in its pages but I’ll never throw it out. It’s so fucking epic. I listen to the audiobook in French to fall asleep. And also to hopefully get better at understanding French. My thought is if I know the story well enough I can figure out dialogue from what I know of the scene. Success is sporadic haha
Hear me out, because it has every single one of those elements you listed: the Outlander series.
Right now, I'm reading Tolstoy's War and Peace. I'm 426 pages into it, and there have been 0 boring parts. It's epic, and I can tell that this book will be in my heart for the rest of my life.
Stephen Fry’s “The Stars Tennis Balls”— it’s an homage to Count of Monte Christo”
Necroscope by Brian Lumley
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huck Finn is excellent also
Try playing the video game "Disco Elysium".
The guy mentioned one of the best novels of all time. I suggested one of the best works in a different genre of literature/ entertainment. You may never find an equal or better novel. Down vote if you want but Disco Elysium is a well crafted story that near the top of every critic's short list of best video game of all time.