Regency / Napoleonic · Adventure & epic · ~1789–1837
Looking for historical fiction in the adventure & epic lane set during the Regency / Napoleonic (~1789–1837)? Regency / Napoleonic adventure & epic historical fiction books collects historical novels that match both filters—Balls, war, empire, Austen-adjacent and beyond. Sweeping quests, voyages, and large-canvas history HisFic is a free historical fiction discovery app: open a full reading journey with the same era and story-type filters, then add region, themes, or audience. Shelves mix curated historical fiction picks with Open Library titles so even thin combinations still have books to explore.
Curated HisFic picks first, plus Open Library fills for this era + story type.
Alexandre Dumas
In 1815, sailor Edmond Dantès is framed for Bonapartist treason and locked in the Château d’If; he escapes, claims a hidden fortune, and returns to Restoration France as the Count of Monte Cristo to ruin the men who stole his life. Dumas’s novel is Napoleonic-aftermath historical adventure—prisons, treasure, and a revenge plotted across Marseille, Rome, and Paris.
Regency / Napoleonic · Adventure & epic · Literary
C. S. Forester
In 1793, seventeen-year-old Horatio Hornblower is dumped aboard HMS Justinian, seasick and untried, then wins his sea legs through prize crews, a duel, fire ships, and a stretch as a prisoner in Spain on the way to lieutenant. C. S. Forester’s novel is Napoleonic naval historical adventure: the first chronological Hornblower, and the making of a Royal Navy legend.
Regency / Napoleonic · Military & war · Adventure & epic
Rafael Sabatini
In Brittany on the eve of the Revolution, lawyer André-Louis Moreau watches a marquis kill his closest friend, then goes from a Rennes courtroom to a traveling theater—where he plays the clown Scaramouche—and on to a Paris fencing hall as France turns on its nobles. Rafael Sabatini’s 1921 novel is French Revolution historical adventure of disguise, the sword, and a man born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.
Regency / Napoleonic · Early modern · Adventure & epic · Romance
Patrick O'Brian
In 1800, luck and patronage put Jack Aubrey in command of the brig Sophie, with ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin as friend, naturalist, and intelligence officer. The first Aubrey–Maturin novel is Napoleonic naval historical fiction: prize-taking, seamanship, and a friendship that carries a twenty-book series.
Regency / Napoleonic · Adventure & epic · Military & war
Baroness Orczy
In 1792, as the Terror’s guillotine claims French aristocrats, a foppish English baronet named Percy Blakeney leads a league that smuggles the condemned out of Paris under the sign of a small red flower. Baroness Orczy’s novel is French Revolution historical adventure: double identity, a Channel chase, and the template for the masked rescuer.
Regency / Napoleonic · Adventure & epic · Romance
Daphne du Maurier
On a November night Mary Yellan crosses Bodmin Moor to keep a promise to her dying mother, and finds Jamaica Inn shuttered to honest travelers: her Aunt Patience cowers, Uncle Joss Merlyn runs wreckers, and Mary is drawn to Joss’s brother Jem—a horse thief she dares not trust. Daphne du Maurier’s 1936 novel is Regency mystery historical fiction of Cornish smugglers, a haunted inn, and a young woman who will not look away.
Regency / Napoleonic · Mystery · Adventure & epic
David Mitchell
In 1799, Dutch clerk Jacob de Zoet arrives on Dejima, the fan-shaped island that is Japan’s only window to the West, to make a fortune and sail home—until the midwife Orito Aibagawa, a magistrate’s bargain, and a mountain nunnery’s secrets pull him into the closed country’s dangers. David Mitchell’s 2010 novel is Napoleonic-era historical fiction of translation, love, and power at the edge of the shogunate, longlisted for the Booker Prize.
Regency / Napoleonic · Literary · Adventure & epic
Esi Edugyan
In 1830 on Faith Plantation in Barbados, eleven-year-old George Washington Black is taken from the cane fields to serve Christopher “Titch” Wilde, who is building a hydrogen balloon he calls the Cloud-cutter—and when a death puts a bounty on Wash, the two cut the tether and flee. Esi Edugyan’s 2018 novel is adventure historical fiction of the 1830s, from an enslaved boy’s escape out of Barbados through Virginia, the Arctic, Nova Scotia, London, and Morocco.
Regency / Napoleonic · Adventure & epic · Literary
Eoin Colfer
Flying-machines · Adventure and adventurers · Juvenile fiction · Fiction
Victorian / Gilded Age · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Kathleen Baldwin
Juvenile fiction · Fiction · Historical fiction · Ink
Regency / Napoleonic · Romance · Military & war · Open Library
Bobbi Miller
River boats · Pirates · Buried treasure · Adventure and adventurers
Victorian / Gilded Age · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Andrew Lane
Mystery and detective stories · Missing persons · Juvenile fiction · History
Victorian / Gilded Age · Mystery · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Theresa Dowswell
Juvenile fiction · Fiction · Sea stories · Naval History
Regency / Napoleonic · Victorian / Gilded Age · Military & war · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Wendy McClure
Orphans · Fiction · Homeless persons · Adventure and adventurers
Victorian / Gilded Age · Late 20th century · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Kathleen Kent
Fiction · History · Historical · Brothels
Victorian / Gilded Age · Romance · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Tim Tingle
Conduct of life · Indians of North America · Adventure and adventurers · Navajo Indians
Victorian / Gilded Age · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Christabel Forsyth Fiske
Classical and English · Comparative Literature · English and classical · English language
Victorian / Gilded Age · Adventure & epic · Literary · Open Library
Sally M. Keehn
Fiction · Cats · Magic · Adventure and adventurers
Victorian / Gilded Age · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Looking for a broader list? See Regency / Napoleonic historical fiction or adventure & epic historical fiction.