100 books like Eisenhorn

What I loved most about this classic series is the detailed story world the author creates. When you read beyond the first book in the series, you start to get more and more of it — cultural, anthropological, geological, and more. It is a very cool and fully immersive world.

While the new movie series has captured the imagination of many and certainly has super cool production design elements, it does take some license with the story. Allow it to merely whet your appetite for the books. They're better.

I chose this book because I have a love of Asia, especially Japan and this story has a rich Asian setting with martial arts, yakuza-like elements, and a magic system based around the precious stone, jade that provides the wearer with special abilities. I also like how the story is centered around a family and the complex relationships between the different members which you don’t see very often in fantasy novels. This complicated family saga had me engrossed as it racked up the tension with great pacing, awesome characters, and dialogue.

Those familiar with me and my favorites will have been expecting, well…this entire list, but will most especially have been waiting for this series to make its appearance. A cult classic from the early 80s, Gene Wolfe’s masterpiece, The Book of the New Sun is far and away my favorite science fiction series, surpassing even Frank Herbert’s Dune, which held that title for most of my life. Gene Wolfe is, in my opinion, the finest writer our genre has ever produced. No less than Ursula K. LeGuin called him “our Melville,” and not without reason. These books are gorgeous, but they are so rich and dense that I can understand why he never reached the mainstream appeal of Herbert or Asimov. The entries on this list have gotten more complex and perhaps difficult to read as I’ve gone on, but the reason why I think this is the perfect,… show more.

A man is chosen. A hero emerges. Deep, dark future action and adventure at its story-telling best. As a beast created to kill other beasts, what keeps Ragnar in check? What controls his path? Great questions, but who cares? These are adventures of the purest, most entertaining form. King offers the perfect balance of action and coming-of-age in a dystopian future. As the main character, Ragnar Blackmane can best be described as a noble savage, ascending within the pantheon of heroes that leave their mark on the galaxy. It’s this combination that makes it all work, and I wish King would have written more. 

This is a monster mm romance in a dystopian setting with a human soldier who hates the monsters that breached into the human world.

When faced with the enemy, the soldier learns that the monsters are not what they seem.

I love this one because the monsters aren’t all good, but neither are they the evil the world thinks. The lines are blurred, and I think it works. 

Do not read this series if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). 

Coral is on vacation when her world lights up. It starts with a fire so intense that the ash entirely blocks out the sun, not for a season, but for years. The sky is perpetually grey, and her world goes seriously cold. She must survive the elements, but the real threat comes from the desperation of those left alive and fighting for their lives. This is a brutal world. 

As a paranoid survivalist, this book had me taking notes. Some books you read and forget, others teach you something. Most authors push a moral agenda, but this book teaches real-life skills, like how it’s a good idea to burrow into snow when it’s REALLY cold, or why hanging out in caves isn’t just for Neanderthals, and my personal favourite, how to spot a cannibal. 

This is a new dystopian matriarchal novel, first in a series, that I’ve just discovered. Interestingly, it’s been described as the opposite of The Handmaid’s Tale.

The story is of a female-controlled society in which men are kept imprisoned and used as breeders. Neen, a female scientist who is interviewing men for their potential as sperm donors, begins to question the status quo when some of the men she meets don’t fit her preconceptions.

I was attracted to the book because its story is comparable to my book, but the tone and world-building are completely different. I loved the plot twists and the focus on ethical dilemmas.

It’s a dystopian YA novel where the Australian landscape is beautifully rendered in all its glory and danger. It’s also a tightly written and intense page turner, when even quiet moments are infused with a sense of menace.

It has echoes of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, although this book is unmistakably Australian - right down to speculation around where our nation’s attitude to asylum seeks may lead us. It’s not as bleak as The Road (a book I admire), but Mark reminds us how easily our veneer of society could slip away in the wake of a catastrophic, world-changing event.

I did worry for Finn’s dog as much as for Finn himself. (I’m still scarred by The Knife of Never Letting Go. This has parallels to that nail-biting novel, too.)

In this dystopian novel, the apocalyptic event is the financial collapse of the United States. In the neighborhood of Logan Pond, the neighbors must work together to survive while hiding from the tyrannical government which has usurped authority after the collapse. I loved this book because the characters were so genuine, I almost believed they were real. If it weren't for the horrifying situation these characters found themselves in, I think I would actually enjoy the challenge of living off-grid in a community like this. The ending of the story was satisfying, not exactly a happy ending, mind you, but a hopeful one all the same. This is a must-read for anyone who likes the post-apocalyptic/dystopian genre or is worried about the financial stability of our country. Highly recommended! 

I absolutely love the high-intensity emotion and forbidden love in this story. Tanya Bird did an incredible job of pulling me into the tension between two characters, and I love how each book is about a different love story between characters within the same world!

A bit different from my usual fantasy picks, this series has a more dystopian and historical fantasy vibe, but it’s such a well-crafted dark world and the romantic tension is so good that I almost forget there are no real magical type elements.