#Napoleonic historical fiction

[badwolf-gallagher88]

Yes, having a crush on a fictional character is bad. But have you ever had a crush on a fictionalised version of a vaguely problematic historical figure??

[apurpledust]

guys I was reading this book written in the 1950s, which is basically a fictionized retelling of Napoleon's life, but it really reads more like a romantic biography. The author includes this Napjuno crumb,,,,

oh my goddddd someone sedate me also there's this scene with Napoleon sort of joking with Murat before revealing his displeasure of Junot's "indiscreet disclosures"

the part mentioning Junot's death😭

[itz-skyline]

"Back to another time" historical fanfic

a question to all napoleonic fans out there:

What should be changed or improved if a time travel were to travel back into the Napoleonic era?

So it's no secret of mine that I've been planning of writing a historical fanfic of a surgeon leonard dunard who's a pretty big napoleonic era nerd travels back in time during 1794 the siege of toulon. I've been kind struggling piecing this story together because of the not so many sources that I can go off

I just have alot of questions and not so many answers.

Now of course I'm not really thinking about giving napoleon the biggest W of all time there are going to be struggles but I think we can all agree that the peninsular wars and the attack to Russia can be avoided.

But I'm not only thinking of the way of how napoleon could've won but I was also think of how our modern surgeon Leonard could improve the medical field more.

I know that our boy larrey is definitely going to be involved since he was in most of the campaigns.

So I will just write down my questions under here and hope that some of yall can answer it I'll even organize it from which battle/chapter it would be used for you can ask me to explain further if some of it doesn't make sense.

Siege of toulon:

-how would a young surgeon inlist themselves into the medical field of the army?

-what was expected from a chirurgien sous aide major?

-what were the major issues the in the 18th century medical field? And how can they be fixed?

- how could dunard(oc) meet larrey? (So in what way could they have met eachother and stay in contact without napoleon introducing them to eachother)

Italian campaign 1796-1797:

-was is it common practice for surgeons to be in the midst of an active battle rescuing patients ?

-could a surgeon be given command to a battalion if it was needed?

-were nurses a thing in that time? And if not how could dunard incorporate them in the medical field?

-why wasn't there symbol for the medics to indicate that they're medical staff?

Egyptian campaign:

-how did the French army handle the spreading of the plague and could it be more improved?

-if the French fleet would have won at the battle of the nile against the British fleet would the British do more to sabotage the French army? Or would they just give up?

-> and would the Egyptian campaign only have taken 1 year to finish? Instead of 3 years

Italian campaign 1800

- what if desiax lived would he and davout been a unstoppable duo?

-if messena got navy support would he have continued fighting?

-should napoleon not have split his army that much in the battle of marengo?

Napoleons reign 1804-1812

-would it have been better if napoleon didn't become emperor?

-is it possible for a surgeon to become a marshal?

-could alot of the coalitions have been avoided if napoleon took the right steps?

Now I'm asking these questions because I struggle to find answers to these questions and I genuinely want to discuss more about my history fanfic so that I can maybe make fun fic to read that doesn't completely go of the rails i do kind what to keep it "realistic" if you know what i mean. so if your interested in it as I am I would love to talk about it more ^^

[sunsolii]

I've been reading Tokyo Ghoul again and got inspired to make one of those character info sections that's behind each cover for Napoleon and here's the final result

I tried matching the fonts with the original layout as best I could. It pains me using more than 2 fonts but hey I gotta make some sacrifices. I also attempted to replicate Ishida's old art style as well!

Here's the full image

[sparvverius]

speaking of underrated historical figures you know who never gets featured in frev stuff ever?? augustin robespierre. i swear you could watch all the most popular frev movies and not even know maximilien robespierre HAD a brother. much less that that brother was at least somewhat important. didnt even merit an ALLUSION in the new napoleon movie even though it showed that bizarre version of thermidor. in lrf he is just physically not present when he should be. he might not have been the most notable politician but... that even the incredible courage and loyalty of his decision to share his brother's fate is so forgotten even in accounts that center his brother... it's a little heartbreaking to me

[mythosphere]

Contrary to popular belief, I don't need my historical fiction films to be historically accurate all of the time. However, Ridley Scott hitting historians critical of Napoleon with a "how do you know? You weren't there" is CRAZY.

[empirearchives]

The Duellists, dir. Ridley Scott (1977)

Film based on the novel, The Duel, by Joseph Conrad

[burningvelvet]

I've been considering different ideas for historical fiction novels about the Romantics and one of my concepts teeters into the realm of the alternate history subgenre. As a result, I decided to start doing some preliminary research on the history of the subgenre itself. Then I find this...

Of course I've known that there have been a bunch of historical fiction & alternate history novels made about the Romantics throughout time (maybe most famously Henry James' Aspern Papers in 1888). BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR INSPIRING THE WHOLE SUBGENRE!!!

The Romantics/Georgians were so iconic they inspired their fans to invent historical fanfiction over a hundred years ago & we're still writing it... their impact...!!!

But tbf I should have known Byron would be involved somehow because most roads of modern literature often point back to him & his cult of personality — & practically everyone who knew him or was inspired by him ended up writing books about him, whether fiction or nonfiction.

[king-ofworms]

aah i have so many wips with uni work building up ○|￣|_

have some lineart of my OC elio, writing his goodbye letters before his first campaign with the french army :]

[bigredmagnus]

Character Development

I am currently rereading the “Empire of Ivory” (the fourth book in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik for those who are unfamiliar) and at the end of the book, our main characters Laurence, a naval captain forced into the aerial corps, and Temeraire, and the dragon that chose Laurence as his own handler/captain, discover that their government will be sending a dragon sick with a highly contagious and deadly virus to France to greatly reduce their own dragons numbers. Laurence and Temeraire become concerned, and rightfully so in my opinion, that this virus will spread not only across France but through the rest of the continent as well and greatly harm their allies as well. Laurence and Temeraire decide to defy orders and bring the cure to this plague over to France in order to prevent this from occurring. After which, they return to Britain, despite Napoleon’s assurances that they will be treated as heroes in France, and face the consequences of their actions, where they are both named traitors and are forcibly separated from each other. Laurence is sent to prison and awaits execution and Temeraire is sent to Britain’s dragon breeding grounds.

Later on in the series, in the eighth book “Blood of Tyrants”, Laurence loses his memory of his time in the aerial corps due to an injury to the head. Later on in the book when Laurence learns of his actions, he is upset with himself for having defied orders from the government, despite the stakes. Only after further reforging his bond with Temeraire and almost losing him in a rockslide does Laurence realize why he decided to go against the government.

I bring this up because it shows a great example of character development Laurence goes through throughout the series. From following orders without question to standing true to his morals, despite what the people around him, and his superiors, believe.

[the-golden-vanity]

Disclaimer: this is all just based on the boat media I've enjoyed over the last couple of years—a lot, but certainly not everything!

I'm currently watching the 1990s Horatio Hornblower series, mainly to see who the pretty boys my mutuals keep putting on my dash are, and it's made me realize something about the difference between Age of Sail TV series/movies and Age of Sail books.

An Age of Sail book protagonist can be anyone. Sure, they can be a captain or other officer, but they can also be a deckhand, a doctor, a gunner, a stowaway... if they're a kid, they can even be a cabin boy or a midshipman.

An Age of Sail screen protagonist is almost invariably an officer. And I wonder why that is? Is it classism? Is it the aesthetic appeal of a blue coat with brass buttons? Is it the (possibly not unwarranted) assumption that a modern viewer would find scenes of life before the mast kinda grim and grimy?

I don't have any answers, I just think it's an interesting pattern.

[chiropteracupola]

[lying on the floor eating my phone] does anyone. does anyone want to suggest me some people to put in my silly little pokeverse.

[piningpercussionist]

HELLLPP I WAS SHOWING MY SISTER STUPID FUCKING SCOTT PILGRIM MEMES AND I MENTIONED GIDEONSUGGESTIONS' "GIDEON X READER HEADCANONS" POST AND WE JUST:

"Gideon?"

Graves.

"Like. Gideon?" (Said with the inflection of Gideon from Gravity Falls)

Graves. Gideon GRAVES.

(She gives me side eye.)

GIDEON GRAVES. HE VAPORIZES YOU. I AM LITERALLY SHOWING YOU A SCOTT PILGRIM BLOG RIGHT NOW.

"OHhhhh! I'm sorry, I'm stupid today."

I can't with this fucking girl 😭

[sunsolii]

Random sketches: Ney as a fire user

Got inspired by his fiery personality haha (bad pun I know)

The timeline of flame colors goes with orange flames awakening during the French Revolution and blue flames awakening during the French retreat from Russia. Let me know what y'all think of this idea or whatever :D

Extra doodle: Lannes being Lannes

[elliepassmore]

His Majesty's Dragon review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fiction, dragons, historical fantasy, alt history

I actually got two copies of this at a book event nearly 10 years ago, never read it, then gave both of them away in 2020, only to come back and read it and love it, lol. Admittedly I like this cover a lot better than the one I had, so it's probably a good thing.

This book is set during the Napoleonic Wars, and everything is roughly as it was in actual history, except there are and have been dragons, which obviously changes some things. I'm not an expert on the Napoleonic Wars, but the broad strokes of it seem to be the same, with Napoleon facing down Britain's navy on one side and a flagging Austria on the other. Tensions are high and everyone is worried about an invasion. The battle of Trafalgar happens with, I think, only a couple notable differences (spoilery, so I won't say).

I haven't read a ton of alt history books (I think the Lady Trent memoirs might be the only other?), so I really enjoyed seeing the differences between what I know of history and what played out here. It's also interesting because it's less of a "what if X won Y war instead" alternate history, and more of a "what if we've always had dragons" kind of alt history. There are a lot of changes to the basic setup of things because dragons are a known thing and have been for a while, so obviously certain accommodations have to be made and some things play out differently because how could they not?

Will Laurence is an upright navy man faced with the end of his Navy career and the beginning of his Aerial Corps one. I did feel bad for him in the beginning since he seems to really like his life and he has a nice setup for getting married soon, but over time as he and Temeraire bond more, I feel less bad since he also feels less bad. Laurence is one of those people who believes in Duty, Honor, Country, and generally thinks they're the same thing. It can be annoying, though it isn't here yet, so I'm interested to see in how things play out in later books. I liked seeing how Laurence bonded with Temeraire and I'm glad that the two of them not only get along but seem to genuinely love each other. He does things a little differently than most riders, but it's to the benefit of his dragon. I also liked that Laurence was open to the little ones and willing to help them learn.

Temeraire is a rare breed of dragon who ends up partnered with Laurence. He's exceptionally smart and is quick to learn new things. I enjoyed his thirst for knowledge and love of reading and having intellectual conversations/debates. He's got a lot of natural curiosity that I enjoyed. At the same time, Temeraire is also compassionate and extremely loyal. He feels for other dragons and riders when something goes wrong, and at times bad things happening to others puts him in somewhat of a depression. His loyalty is to Laurence, which causes some friction when he wants to protect Laurence potentially at the cost of others/England's defense, which I feel like makes sense considering what Temeraire knows at this point in his life. I do think he gets 'duty' a little more at the end of the book, when they're faced with a big battle.

Considering this is the intro to the world and to the Aerial Corps, I feel like we don't totally get to know the other characters all that well yet. There's Catherine Harcourt and Lily, the leaders of the formation Laurence and Temeraire are in. Lily is also a young dragon, but doesn't have too much page time, and Catherine is much younger than a lot of the other characters. She clearly loves Lily, but we don't get a great feel on her yet. Same with Matthew Berkley and Maximus, but they do get a little more page time. Berkley and Laurence hit it off right away, despite things seeming rocky at first.

We get a little bit more page time with Rankin, which ends up being interesting. I'll be honest, and this has nothing to do with the series or the author, but the author of the main source for the research project I'm working has a last name of Rankin and it did bring me out of the story a little every time I read his name. Besides that, Rankin and Laurence hit it off quickly, albeit not for long, due to their similar interests and the fact that he's one of the few Aerial Corps people who isn't annoyed Laurence got the fancy dragon instead of one of their own.

Granby also gets a decent amount of page time, surprisingly. He appears friendly at first, but becomes more antagonistic when he learns what dragon Laurence has. Most of his other appearances for a while are him being petty/antagonistic toward Laurance. However, after spending time on Laurence and Temeraire's crew, Granby softens up and seems to recognize that Laurence not only takes good care of his dragon but also that he's a good leader. I ended up liking Granby and Laurence's relationship and how they came to rely on one another.

Overall I enjoyed this book and liked seeing an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars if there were dragons. It's a somewhat slow book, but I enjoyed getting to know the characters and learning about the world and dragons.

[isa-ko]

This isn’t actual napoleonic historical people but I really liked how it turned out 🤲 my silly products of a napoleonic brainrot