Okay, so you want to write a historical novel, but what period of history do you choose?  The list is endless, but here are a few options…. Featured novel: The King Must Die by Mary Renault Ancient Greece 1200BC – 300BC:  Greek gods, myths, large scale battles of Hoplites… PRO’s:  The birthplace of democracy, the Olympics, philosophy, and other ideas that shaped the modern world, give you lots of subject matter to base your novel around; whilst the mythology of Ancient Greece allows your novel to be full of gods, goddesses, and all the mysticism that goes with it.  If you prefer a little more action, don’t worry – you have the warlike Spartans, their rivalry with the Athenians, or Alexander the Great’s invasion of Persia.  Disclaimer: I couldn’t resist the last on that list, so I tried my hand at that myself in the first novel I wrote. CONS:  It can be more difficult than you think to research a historical period so far in the past.  Although there are a host of non-fictional books …