NOTE: I made this list a long time ago. I have much more to add, when I get around to it. Meanwhile, Katherine Neville has some excellent suggestions on her own website: Forerunners to The Eight, successors to The Eight, and books that Katherine Neville has blurbed. I agree with a lot of these suggestions, except The Da Vinci Code, which I think is badly written. I know a lot of you will disagree with me, though.
Since I put this together, I have read The Count of Monte Cristo and I totally agree with Katherine Neville's recommendation. And now I know where she got the name Valentine from.
(Unless
otherwise stated, these suggestions are all my own, and they
are in no particular order. I would be glad to add your recommendations
to this list.)
Barbara Wood, The
Prophetess. In December 1999, a woman archaeologist finds
some ancient scrolls which contain a powerful secret. This is very much
the same type of book as The Eight or The Magic Circle. I
also recommend Barbara Wood's newest book, Perfect Harmony. Like
The Eight, it moves back and forth between two time periods, and,
as in The Magic Circle, family relations are not what they seem.
By the way, Barbara Wood is not Katherine Neville writing under a
pseudonym!
Ann Benson, The Plague Tales. This book is similar in structure to
The Eight; it
alternates between two different time periods. (In this case, the
fourteenth century and a near-police state in the early twenty-first
century.)
Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel. Like
The Eight, this book features a chess-based mystery, combining a
contemporary storyline with a historical element. Note from 2018: I
also highly recommend this author's The Club Dumas and The
Fencing Master.
Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light and In Pursuit of the
Green Lion. Riley is one of my favorite authors. These books, which
take place in the Middle Ages, have a lot about alchemy in them
(especially the second book) and include a fantasy element. She has also
written two other books, which, I'm sorry to say, I haven't read yet. (But
I'm going to!)
Paula Volsky, Illusion. This is basically the French Revolution
set on a fantasy world. I had a hard time getting into this book at
first, but once I did I couldn't put it down. The heroine has a cousin
who reminds me of Valentine. (I didn't think the heroine was much like
Mireille, though, except for her courage.) Read a review of this
book by Karl Henriksson, from Fantasy Finder.
Elizabeth Peters. This author has three mystery series, as well as
several non-series books; her detectives are Amelia Peabody, Vicky Bliss, and
Jacqueline Kirby. All of these books feature strong, intelligent
heroines, and the books take place in various exotic settings, especially
Egypt. The Amelia Peabody series is my favorite, but I love all of
them.
Laurie R. King. Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell series. This is
another of my favorite series. The number 8 plays an important role in
the first book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, and the third book,
A Letter of Mary, features a historical puzzle. Interestingly,
Katherine Neville says she also likes Laurie King, but she has read only
the first book of the Kate Martinelli series. I started the Kate
Martinelli series over the holidays, and I highly recommend these books,
too. Fans of A Calculated Risk might especially enjoy the San
Francisco setting. Also, Laurie King's new book, A Darker Place,
has a lot about alchemy, "power points" on the earth, etc. It is
wonderful, and I highly recommend it for fans of The Eight and
The Magic Circle.
Ian Watson, Queenmagic, Kingmagic. This is another chess-based
fantasy, with two worlds in a war which follows the rules of chess. I
thought it was not nearly as good as The Eight, although I did
enjoy it.
William Kotzwinkle, The Game of Thirty. Someone recommended
this to me as something people who liked The Eight would like, but
it was much too violent for my tastes. If you're not bothered by violence
(or by the male detective's attitude towards women), you might like
it.
Lawrence Norfolk, Lemprière's Dictionary. My father
recommended this one, and I finally read it. It contains an intellectual
puzzle which is somewhat similar to The Eight, but it is more
difficult to read. It's a strange book, but I liked it in spite of
this.
Robert Goddard. Recommended by Sarah Johnson, who says, "Most of Goddard's
books have to do with secrets from the past
that are unearthed by the protagonist in a search for truth." I finally
read one of Goddard's books, In Pale Battalions, and I highly
recommend it. It has a very complex plot, full of twists and
turns, with more than one time level.
Donald Harington. Recommended by Erin Podolsky (oppsie@umich.edu), who
says that Some Other Place. The Right Place is the best book to
start with.
Floyd Kemske, The Third Lion: A Novel About Talleyrand. I just
finished reading this book, and I highly recommend it to readers of The
Eight. It gives us a completely different interpretation of Catherine
Grand's character. Unfortunately, it skips over the years of the French
Revolution; it goes right from Talleyrand's meeting with Voltaire in 1778
(which is also given a very different interpretation) to the Directoire
period in 1797, and only briefly mentions the fact that Talleyrand had
been in England and America during the years of the Terror. But, since
this is a short novel, it can't cover everything.
Ellen Godfrey. Murder Behind Locked Doors. A murder mystery set in
the world of business and computers. I think fans of The Eight and
A Calculated Risk would enjoy it. The author, a member of the DOROTHYL
listserv, is also a fan of Katherine Neville.
Sarah Smith. The Vanished
Child and The Knowledge of Water. These books combine mystery,
suspense, and romance; the first is set in 1906 Boston and the second in
1910 Paris. Sarah Smith
helped Katherine Neville with her website.
Carole Nelson Douglas.
Irene Adler series. This is a series about the only woman who ever
"outsmarted" Sherlock Holmes; it features puzzle-type mysteries set in the
late 19th century, with many historical figures.
Susanne
Alleyn. A Far Better Rest. Excellent retelling of A Tale of
Two Cities. Katherine Neville wrote a blurb for the book. Also
includes historical figures from the French Revolution, including
Robespierre, Marat, and Charlotte Corday.
Connie
Willis. Author of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the
Dog.
Suzanne Frank. Reflections in the Nile. Recommended by Athena Carter, who says
it's a time-travel, mystery-adventure that goes back to ancient Egypt.
It's the first of a trilogy; the other two books are set in other places
such as Atlantis. The titles of the other two are Shadows on the
Aegean and Sunrise on the Mediterranean.
Giorgio De Santillana, Hamlet's Mill, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, and Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians, all recommended by Michelangelo Giorgi, who says that Katherine Neville has recommended these titles. I also enjoyed The Great Game very much.
Also, Katherine Neville told me that some of her favorite authors
were:
Robertson Davies
Alexandre Dumas
Sparkle Hayter. I like
Sparkle Hayter's books, too. She writes humorous mystery novels, which
are very enjoyable.