Historical Fictionistas discussion

After the 2020 we have all had, I think it can be agreed that there is a need for some traveling. Books provide the perfect opportunity for a person to travel even in uncertain times. The goal of historical fiction is to transport a reader to an entirely different time and place.

In 2021, we are introducing the Million Miles Challenge. The goal is to travel a million miles in a year through books.

The only real rule for this challenge is that books need to be historical fiction. Each member will have their own travel log to keep track of the miles traveled. When completing an entry it might look something like this-

Sent to the Devil by Laura Lebow
Setting - Vienna, Austria
-to-
Lamentation by C.J. Sansom
Setting - London, England

Trip Total - 919 miles

Lamentation by C.J. Sansom
Setting - London, England
-to-
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
Setting - Alexandria, Egypt

Trip Total - 3,049 miles

Challenge Total - 3,968 miles

If you don't measure distance in miles, you can use kilometers. Each entry should include the primary location of the book. If the book takes place in multiple locations, you can include the distance traveled in-between locations as a separate entry but the book's final destination would be the starting point for your next journey. Make it as simple or complicated as you would like.

Each participant is responsible for calculating their own trips. I used Google Maps. You can use whatever works for you.

You may begin your travels on January 1, 2021 and take as much time as you need. If you feel like a shorter journey, that's fine too. Just make sure to note in your travel log how many miles you wish to travel.

Del wrote: "One way to pile up the miles. Nellie Bly goes around the world in 80 days as a subplot in this book. Lots of train travel across U.S. in 1888. [book:At The Bat: The Strikeout That Shamed America|55..."

See our rules regarding self promotion.

Wonderful challenge! One question - do fictional towns set in real states/countries count? Like Tom Sawyer, which is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, in Missouri?

Daphne wrote: "Wonderful challenge! One question - do fictional towns set in real states/countries count? Like Tom Sawyer, which is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, in Missouri?"

(I know Tom Sawyer's not historical fiction, it's just the first book with a fictional setting I could think of off the top of my head)

This sounds fun! I loved this years Around the World Challenge.

Love this idea, thanks for setting up this challenge.

Daphne wrote: "Wonderful challenge! One question - do fictional towns set in real states/countries count? Like Tom Sawyer, which is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, in Missouri?"

Needs to be an actual location on a map.

This is amazing!! I’m in!!

I'm in.

I'm really excited about this challenge. 2020 was a pitiful year, reading wise. Started challenges and ran out of steam. Barely made a dent in my reading for work, much less just for fun.

My IRL book club (well, semi in real life - we now meet via Zoom) will get me moving around the world! Our first 6 months have us going to Calcutta, Zambia, Lisbon, Amsterdam, England and the US. And the Centuries Challenge has me "moving" around quite a bit as well.

Thank you, Gretchen, for setting this up. Looks like a unique and fun challenge.

Thanks Gretchen for setting up another fun challenge. I look forward to getting started.

Gretchen; Thanks for setting up this new challenge! Do we create a new post in our thread or edit our original post during our reading travels?

Peggyzbooksnmusic wrote: "Gretchen; Thanks for setting up this new challenge! Do we create a new post in our thread or edit our original post during our reading travels?"

Whichever one is easier for you since you have your own thread.

Jasmine; Thanks!

This sounds a great challenge. I'm game for it.

If anyone wants an idea about what their thread might look like outside of this post, I've finally gotten around to starting mine - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

What a fun idea! Now, if someone in a book travels several times to distant places, does each trip count? And who rates the books for distance travelled? Is that the reader, author or someone else?

Chris wrote: "What a fun idea! Now, if someone in a book travels several times to distant places, does each trip count? And who rates the books for distance travelled? Is that the reader, author or someone else?"

If you want to track the miles your main characters travel through the course of the book, you sure can.

Participants are responsible for their own travel logs. However they wish to track their miles is completely up to them. There are a few tracking threads already posted by other participants that have a few different examples of how you can set up your own challenge thread.

Thanks Gretchen, the clarification is great.

Is it too late to join in?

Nope.

Can a non fiction book qualify for this challenge?

is it okay to use a non-fiction book for this challenge?

See The first posts-only rule is that it has to be HF

We're more than halfway through the year already, let's see where everyone is at.

Post your travel updates in this thread - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Gretchen; Thanks for setting up this fun challenge! I especially enjoyed seeing where other members were travelling. Added a lot of new books to my TBR list! Happy reading in 2022 :)