Book picks similar to
Heart of the World by Cecelia Holland


alternate-history
historical-fiction
syria
waiting-4-misc

Robledo Mountain


P.C. Allen - 2018
     Driving down the road in the Mesilla Valley of southern New Mexico, sandwiched in the few hundred yards between the Robledo Mountains to the West and the Rio Grande to the East, Paul loses consciousness while returning home from a gun show. An hour later, he regains consciousness finding himself swept away on the tides of time. Is he really in the past? Is he dreaming? Is he in the midst of a psychotic episode? So begins his journey of discovery. Along the way, he battles Apache, Comanche, and Navajo warriors, fights bushwackers, discovers his roots, mines gold, finds love and friendship, and makes powerful enemies, all while establishing a home in the Mesilla Valley on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Disturbance in the Wake


S.A. Ison - 2020
    Ten-year-old Hiroki Tanaka grew up in a fishing village on an island just off the coast of Honshu, Japan. While he helps his father fishing, a large earthquake hits his island. Hiroki falls from the boat as the waters become choppy and he is pulled under water. He is desperate to get back to his father. When he surfaces, his father and the boat are gone. When Hiroki swims to shore, he realizes that he has been swept back in time to an era of violence and the samurai. Amy Ohara is celebrating her twenty-first birthday by going on a cruise, off the coast of Honshu, Japan. She had grown up in Tokyo and is well acquainted with Japan's rich traditions and ancient history. Betrayed by the man she had been dating, Amy is now awaiting transport as human cargo. As her life swings in the balance, Amy has a choice, dive into the black waters and perhaps drown or be taken by the human traffickers. When the yacht blows up, Amy feel lucky to be alive and swims for shore. Yet she has arrived at the shore of distant past. Amy has been washed back in time nearly 700 years, 300 years before Europeans stepped foot in Asia. With her red hair and green eyes, she stands out.

Suti and the Broken Staff


Jerry Dubs - 2016
    Discovering that the queen is missing, the scribe ties the queen’s disappearance to a mysterious Medjay warrior, Suti travels the length of the Two Lands in search of the missing queen and her escort, Lord Imhotep. After braving the treacherous cataract at the far reaches of the river Iteru, Suti falls prey to the corrupt governor of Ta-Seti and a murderous giant. Beaten and tortured, the young scribe escapes to continue his search for the queen. When at last he discovers the truth, Suti realizes that he possesses a secret that could end the reign of the world’s most powerful leader.

The Shield: a novel


Nachman Kataczinsky - 2014
    M. Stirlings’s Island in the Sea of Time. Twenty-first century Israel finds itself transferred to 1941 days before Nazi Germany plans to attack the Soviet Union. Opportunities abound for changing history and the population – including terrorists, tourists, diplomats, and pacifists – has divergent goals. Everything is debated and every action has unpredictable consequences. The Shield follows an extended family as they adapt to their changed world. The businessman sees opportunities, his son in the army faces new enemies, and the cousin visiting from America is confused and angry. The Israeli government, a fractious coalition with diverse goals, struggles to protection the population in a world they only think they understand. Fun reading for fans of alternate history and time-travel fiction – highly recommended!

Crown Jewel (The Battle for the Falklands)


Peter von Bleichert - 2013
    During the 1980s, Argentina invaded and fought an unsuccessful war with the British. However, despite this failed campaign, Argentina has never abandoned its claim to the islands, what they call 'Las Islas Malvinas.' Prince Albert—an Apache helicopter pilot fresh off a haunting tour of Afghanistan—is sent to the remote islands for a royal visit, an affirmation of London’s commitment to their windswept, oil-rich overseas territory. Argentina, manipulated by a former Nazi and seeking to cure economic malaise, invades once again, catching Prince Albert in the unfolding operation, forcing him to face personal demons, as well as an Argentine commando sent to hunt him down. This novella is an exciting action-filled military thriller that incorporates real places, tactics, and weapons. Please visit "Crown Jewel: The Battle for the Falklands" on Facebook for items of relevance to the book.

Virginian (Matt Miller in the Colonies, #3)


Mark J. Rose - 2019
    He’s become a wealthy businessman and politician, with a beautiful wife and family, but the American Revolution looms on the horizon. When a prominent British leader mysteriously disappears, Ben Franklin summons Matt to London to help investigate the involvement of Patrick Ferguson, a man whose ambitions are to change the future. Unknown to them all, another time traveler, with separate motivations, will join them in a struggle across two continents to change the destiny of Western Civilization.

Caesar Triumphant


R.W. Peake - 2013
    The story opens with the last target of conquest: an island nation known then as the Isles of Wa, and what we know today as the country of Japan. It will be the final challenge of a remarkable career, but facing him and his battle-hardened Legions are a race of people as fiercely dedicated to the profession of arms, and fanatically devoted to their emperor as any foe Caesar and his Romans have ever faced. The Wa have never tasted defeat, repelling every attempted invasion of their sacred islands. In these warriors, has Caesar and his unstoppable force of an army finally met their match in the immovable object, in the form of the men of Wa, or will Caesar once again be triumphant? Caesar Triumphant is an alternative history, by the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Marching With Caesar series, R.W. Peake, featuring Titus Pullus, Legionary of Rome.

Hindustaan: An Epic Adventure of the Mughal Empire


Mainak Dhar - 2011
    That superpower was what we know today as India under the Mughal Empire. Years of internal strife, attacks by Afghan raiders and finally conquest by the British led to the decline and destruction of this mighty empire.But what if India had never been conquered by the British? What if it remained a mighty and prosperous nation under the rule of the Mughal Empire?A nation known as Hindustaan.Dilli, 1857. The Mughal Empire is at the peak of its power and is gearing up to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of its victory over the British, an occasion where the popular Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar is widely expected to announce his successor. The Empire is thrown into sudden chaos when the Emperor is assassinated and a new regime seizes power in a bloody coup. In this maelstrom, three unlikely companions find themselves thrown together by fate. Ranveer, a young officer in the elite Mughal cavalry, who is now hunted by the very Empire he served; Theo, a rakish English traveller with a mysterious past and Maya, a beautiful and spirited Princess they rescue. Together, they embark on a series of dramatic adventures across Hindustaan. A journey that takes them from bloody skirmishes with Afghan raiders, rescue missions in remote forts, joining a coalition of rulers who band together against the new despotic regime to protect their independence, and finally back into the heart of Dilli for a dramatic mission.The stage is set for a monumental struggle that will decide not just their fate, but that of the whole of Hindustaan.

The Battle for England


Bernard Neeson - 2017
    The RAF is on the verge of defeat, the Royal Navy near mutiny.In an underground bunker, Churchill and the British commanders await the onslaught. Their plan to throw back Hitler's army is about to be put to the test.Churchill is confident they can throw back the enemy.But not all his enemies are abroad.

The Great Pagan Army


Vaughn Heppner - 2010
    They are the Great Pagan Army—the largest array of Vikings ever assembled into one host. No army or city can resist them; no one dares… until a crippled young count finds an old Roman book on tactics. With a handful of desperate knights, Count Odo fortifies the river fortress of Paris and awaits the savage host. Neither he nor the Vikings realize that this will be young Paris’s most brutal siege and of incredibly fateful importance. THE GREAT PAGAN ARMY is the recreation of a historical campaign of brutal savagery. It is a full novel, 113,000 words in length by bestselling author Vaughn Heppner.

Blood on the Bighorns


Carson McCloud - 2019
    First it took his mother, then his father, and now it threatens to end his own life as well. Merciless killer Kip Lane found Brett and his sweetheart, Allie, while they were out for an afternoon ride. Now Allie is missing and Brett lies at the bottom of a deep hole carrying three bullet holes. He’s got to escape and then rescue Allie from Kip’s clutches, but first he’s got to survive the cold lonesome night. Kip Lane isn’t Brett’s only concern though. There’s another man lurking behind the dashing outlaw. A dangerous man with money, powerful friends, and more than one gunfighter on his payroll. He aims to be the territory’s biggest rancher and Brett’s ranch is the key. Brett has a few allies he can count on. Gideon Sweeney and his daughter Lisa at the local Mormon settlement along with Red Elk, an old Crow medicine man, and Mourning Song, a beautiful Cheyenne woman with her own tragic history. Will it be enough to take back Brett’s heritage or will young Rawlins find his end beneath the guns of his enemies? Either way there will be Blood on the Bighorns.

Time Game


E.B. Brown - 2015
     When he made the choice to save two lives in 11th century Vinland, Tate had no idea his decision would create a rift that must be fixed. With one more mission to Vinland, Tate could erase all that had happened – yet how could he erase the son he loved more than his own life? Will he correct the mistakes he made? Or will the rift haunt Tate forever?

Hail! Hail!


Harry Turtledove - 2018
     Fresh from Duck Soup (1933), Julius, Leonard, Arthur and Herbert Marx - or as the world knows them, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo - are transported by a freak electrical storm to Nacogdoches, Texas in the year 1826. Landing in the midst of the Fredonian Rebellion (the first attempt by settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico) and into the company of the only other Jewish person in town, they are in deep dreck. Falling in with Stephen F. Austin and inadvertently filling his head with knowledge of what is to come, our heroes risk tampering with the future of Texas, and perhaps the entire U.S.A., in their quest to return to their own time. Will they find their way back? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives without indoor plumbing?

Waiting on Zapote Street: Love and Loss in Castro's Cuba


Betty Viamontes - 2015
    It is a highly-rated novel that marked the introduction to the literary world of its independent author, Betty Viamontes, and continues to expand its international reach. Rio and Laura, two people from opposite backgrounds, meet in Havana, Cuba in January, 1961. A single, unselfish decision to help a stranger shatters their lives. The revolution they unwittingly helped solidify creates a powerful and myopic socialist government that tears them apart. Neither one of them is prepared to face the roller-coaster ride their lives become. Neither one of them could have imagined how much their love for each other would be tested, or for how long, or the impact their choices would have on their families. Also check the author's second book: "Candela's Secrets and Other Havana Stories," an anthology of vivid and engaging stories that is captivating readers in the United States and abroad.

Soldiers and Marines: A Novel of War


Martin Archer - 2014
    It is fast paced and action-oriented as casualties and a willingness to sign up for additional front line tours and new wars result in Roberts shouldering responsibilities far beyond his years. The second book in the series, "Peace and Conflict," follows Chris Roberts' as he serves a long peace time hitch in Europe broken by several assignments to Viet Nam - first with the fabled Second Parachute Regiment of the Foreign Legion as it goes down at Dien Bien Phu and then as an observer of the military effort to defeat the Viet Cong. The third novel "War Breaks Out" describes the role and decisions of Roberts and his men in the intense war that occurs when Russia paranoid leaders decide to invade Germany and fight NATO instead of giving up power. The fourth and fifth novels describe the decisions and intense combat that may be about to happen in the near future: The fourth describes what happens when the US sides with Russia when China invades to retake its traditional lands in the Russian east. The fifth, "The Islamic - Israeli War," describes the intense combat and agonizing decisions that occur when a coalition of Islamic Countries launches a surprise attack on Israel that permanently changes the boundaries of the Middle East.