The most recommended books about good and evil

A young girl, who appears to be different from the other kids in her town, finds a misplaced robot and teaches it the joys of nature (exploring, petting cats, skipping rocks, etc.). They continue to meet every day, and each day their friendship grows stronger. Eventually, the friends realize they are very different, and the robot longs to find more of his kind. 

The concepts are more advanced in this story than the others I’ve chosen. The girl is a loner who finds a friend she wants to protect by any means. The robot resists her protective nature because he wants to be free. Through this struggle, we watch the girl uncover a talent for tinkering and building that helps everyone in the end. 

Ben Hatke does so much storytelling in his amazing art. Most of the dialogue consists of Jonks, Morps, and other sound effects. I would recommend this… show more.

I love fantasies flavored by fairy tales, and Nettle & Bone is certainly that, with a strong feminist backbone.

Speaking of bones, it starts out dark, in a mysteriously ravaged landscape where a dog is being constructed of bones, which made me nervous. Dark is one thing, but I have my limits, and they end well before quite dark and never go anywhere near relentlessly dark.

But Bonedog turned out to be a very good boy, and the story quickly developed into a quest featuring three seemingly impossible tasks for the stalwart heroine, and I settled right down. Enter the demonic chicken, and I was going wherever this endearingly peculiar group led me.

Nettle & Bone is such an enchanting, hopeful book that I recommend it to fantasy (and chicken) fans to the point of being annoying.  

I admit I have never entirely warmed to most graphic novels, but this one, the first in the Bone series, is timeless. The epic adventures of cousins Fone Bone, Smiley Bone, and Phoney Bone—all of whom look like a cross between Casper the Friendly Ghost and a giant tooth—start here with lots of slapstick and cutesy animals. But there’s a lot going on under the surface. It’s a twisted fairy tale with striking art, endearing characters, and swashbuckling adventure. The whole thing is packed with so many whimsical ideas and situations that whenever I read it, I find myself energized and eager to write.

I first read this as a teen, and honestly, I found it hard at first. It was sometimes a struggle to understand the intricate world-building and sheer scholarship Tolkien invested in this magnum opus. Like many, after watching the films, I decided to revisit the books and immediately found them to be accessible despite the intricacy.

In fact, the level of detail that went into Tolkien’s world-building is maybe rarely equaled in modern fantasy. Tolkien even invented languages for the tome, apparently termed glossopoeia, such as the Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin. He also had a framework for the evil speech and the talk of men, dwarfs, and Ents. Whether you love or even hate it, the lore involved is so masterful it feels more like a ‘living’ fable than a made-up tale. 

The Great Divorce is part allegory, part fantasy, part self-help, part cautionary tale as readers tag along on a bus ride from Hell to Heaven. Through the course of the journey, Lewis uses a fascinating variety of unique characters and strange situations to illustrate how individual perspective and personal choices determine how happy (or miserable) we humans are in this life, as well as what we can expect in the next. 

The Good Demon is unlike anything else I’ve read. It’s eerie, intimate, and spellbinding. Clare’s demon was her best friend, her Only, right up until her parents called a priest to cast the demon out. Now the only thing Clare wants is to get her demon back. It’s hard to say more about this book other than that it is very, very, good. The horror elements are scary in the way of abandoned houses and shadows seen from the corner of your eye. If you like your stories strange and moody and your characters flawed, you should definitely give this book a try.

In this departure from horror, King has penned a truly entertaining crime thriller.

His protagonist is much like that in my latest book. He’s a hitman who has ethics and only shoots bad people. The characters are strong, unique, and, most importantly, human. Unlike many protagonists, Billy Summers has flaws, doubts, and worries.

The book engrossed me and kept me up all night. King captures the essence of life in small-town America and has a great mix of both psychological and physical action. I look forward to more of this type work from one of our most prolific writers.

A simple explanation of this book is Althalas is a thief and lives his life looking for the next heist he can pull off, until the Goddess Dweia hires him to save the world from the desolations of her evil brother Daeva and his henchman Ghend. The telling of this tale is anything but simple. The authors have drawn on past civilisations that can be easily recognised to the reader, such as the Roman and Viking, adding their own lore and history to it. It is richly described and draws the reader to become invested in Althalas’s troubles and successes, along with all of his personable and flawed companions. It is an enjoyable read, and I dare you not to fall in love with Emmy.

Meyer is an exceptional writer who knows exactly how to twist a beloved fairy tale, making it its own story but keeping threads of the original tale that readers love.

Rumpelstiltskin isn’t a commonly retold fairy tale, which is one of the main reasons I loved the first book and needed Cursed as soon as it came out.

Once I started reading, it was impossible to put the book down. Meyer had me on the edge of my seat until the last page – I needed to know how Serilda and Gild’s story ended! 

Clockwork Princess opened me up to a love trio and connection I’d not known possible before.

With Will and Jem’s respect, and care for one another, I was heavily inspired by the possibility of a dynamic that didn’t fall into jealousy, but instead shared a mutual love for the same girl. This is the only book that has ever made me cry. Not only is there very well written character development, but the plot is so unique and alluring.

The oddity of Tess was my inspiration behind one of my very own characters. Nothing says unique like being the only one of your kind.