Here are 2 books that From Holywood to Hollywood fans have personally recommended if you like
From Holywood to Hollywood.
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I’ve been fascinated with history and adventure for as long as I can remember. Nothing thrills me more than an epic quest, particularly if the hero is flawed. As an author of historical fiction, I’ve read countless books and spent thousands of hours researching topics and places, from South America to Europe to Asia. I hope you enjoy these epic historical adventures as much as I have! If you have recommendations of your own, please share!
James Clavell’s Shogun is the granddaddy of epic historical adventure.
From the moment I stepped into feudal Japan, I was captivated by the intricate political maneuvering, ruthless power struggles, and cultural clashes between East and West. Clavell created unforgettable characters whose loyalties shift constantly, making every alliance feel fragile and every conversation dangerous.
I especially loved how strategy often proved more powerful than the sword, with victories won through patience, deception, and psychological warfare. The novel also offers a richly authentic look at samurai honor, religion, trade, and the complexities of navigating an unfamiliar world.
By the final pages, I felt as though I had lived another life. It's an unforgettable adventure that rewards every minute invested.
'Clavell never puts a foot wrong . . . Get it, read it, you'll enjoy it mightily' Daily Mirror
This is James Clavell's tour-de-force; an epic saga of one Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, and his integration into the struggles and strife of feudal Japan. Both entertaining and incisive, SHOGUN is a stunningly dramatic re-creation of a very different world.
Starting with his shipwreck on this most alien of shores, the novel charts Blackthorne's rise from the status of reviled foreigner up to the hights of trusted advisor and eventually, Samurai. All as civil war looms over the fragile country.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
A satisfying (if less-renowned) TV highlight of 2024 was the six episode AMC series Monsieur Spade that boldly took the familiar Sam Spade private eye character of The Maltese Falcon fame and transplanted him from San Francisco in the 1930s/1940s to France in the early 1960s. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.
While quite familiar with the Hollywood film adaptations of Spade, we had never read the original Dashiell Hammett book where Spade made his debut. Spurred again by a new TV series, we sought out this fine 1999 collection of Hammett’s five full-length novels (from the late-1920s to mid-1930s). Only one involves Spade, but it is here where you see the birth of the classic “noir/hard-boiled” private eye persona that so influenced more than a generation of pulp writers.
The last novel has Hammett changing tone to create the more urbane, cocktail-loving married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles,…
In a few years of extraordinary creative energy, Dashiell Hammett invented the modern American crime novel. In the words of Raymond Chandler, “Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse. . . . He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes.” Beginning as a prolific contributor to the pulp magazines of the 1920s, he succeeded during his brief career in making his kind of crime fiction a crucial part of…
