The best fantasy and mythological fiction books that make you ask, “What if this could really happen?”

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm an avid reader of not one, but many genres. As such, I try to find obscure articles that make me say, “What if that happened now?” I've done extensive research not only concerning fantasies, but also sci-fi, myths and legends, and a smattering of conspiracy theories. By researching and traveling to different places, it allows me to change the universe or people to fit inside my stories. Through reading and exploration of a subject, we can accurately depict it to the readers, and make them want to believe that a person or place we are describing exists. Even if it only exists in their imagination.


I wrote...

A Pale Horse

By Michelle A. Sullivan,

Book cover of A Pale Horse

What is my book about?

Have you ever sat down to read your favorite fantasy or fictional book and thought, ”What if?” What if the fantasy was true, dragons and unicorns really existed, and elves and fairies were real? I've had those same thoughts- so much so that I am writing books that ask those very questions.

Set in the modern world, the brave men and women of ARC protect the world from the creatures that humans only think of as myths and legends. Together with the archangels, they keep the Association and its leaders of Nephilim from using their demons and blood magic from bringing more destructive energy to the Earth. Will they be successful or will the Association bring about the destruction of the Earth and the new reign of demons?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of This Present Darkness

Michelle A. Sullivan Why did I love this book?

This book is a great start in your introduction to angels and demons. It allows you to think of angels and demons in a new perspective. This book is a Christian novel but the story is intriguing and the storyline is easy to follow. It intertwines a real-world perspective and the perspective of how angels and demons might act in certain situations. The characters are well-written and super easy to fall in love with. This is definitely a book that will make you ask, “What if?” and make you wonder about the things that go bump in the night.

By Frank Peretti,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked This Present Darkness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A powerful audio abridgement of this top-selling novel about a prayerful pastor and a skeptical reporter who find themselves fighting a plot to subjugate the human race.


Book cover of City of Bones

Michelle A. Sullivan Why did I love this book?

Cassandra Clare writes about Shadowhunters, a group of Nephilim that hunt demons. In addition, they are on the hunt for a group of rogue Shadowhunters, led by Valentine, that are trying to find the Mortal Cup. This book includes memory charms, vampires, werewolves, and all matter of underworld characters that will make you think about which side you want to root for. The characters are younger, so teens and adults alike can understand the angst of young love and the drama of coming of age. I like this book because of its diverse group of characters and well-thought-out story, and the process of making you think that mythologies and legends can be incorporated into a modern-day setting.

By Cassandra Clare,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked City of Bones as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

Discover this first installment of the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he…


Book cover of The Lightning Thief

Michelle A. Sullivan Why did I love this book?

This is considered a young adult book as the characters are all teenagers, but I love the imagination that it took to think up a story using modern-day demigods. Rick Riordan does an excellent job incorporating ancient Greek mythology with modern-day living. Where else can you expect a minotaur to pick up a car and throw it at you? This book is an introduction to the thinking of the modern with the ancient. The storyline is easy to follow and it makes you remember the lessons you had in school about Zeus and Mt. Olympus. A younger person will relate to the characters but an adult will be able to associate the myths with a good story. So while it is written for a younger crowd, I believe it can be just as enjoyable for an adult.

By Rick Riordan,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked The Lightning Thief as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

The Lightning Thief: the First book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

The first bestselling book in Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series.

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive.

This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky,…


Book cover of Angels & Demons

Michelle A. Sullivan Why did I love this book?

This book allows you to think outside the box. It introduces the reader to the thought of secret organizations and conspiracy theories of powerful organizations. A physicist is murdered and a vial of antimatter is stolen. They hire a symbologist to hunt down the vial from clues left by the Illuminati. The twists and turns the author uses, allows for you to try and come up with your own theories before he finally gives you the answers you’ve been looking for. The use of clever puzzles and clues given throughout the book can easily lead you to a false conclusion. This is a fun book to read.

By Dan Brown,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Angels & Demons as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

CERN Institute, Switzerland: a world-renowned scientist is found brutally murdered with a mysterious symbol seared onto his chest.

The Vatican, Rome: the College of Cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Somewhere beneath them, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion.

In a breathtaking race against time, Harvard professor Robert Langdon must decipher a labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols if he is to defeat those responsible - the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years, reborn to continue their deadly vendetta against their most hated enemy, the Catholic Church.

Origin, the spellbinding…


Book cover of Dragonflight

Michelle A. Sullivan Why did I love this book?

This is the first book of a very long list of books about the dragon riders of Pern. This is one of my favorite series. Anne McCaffrey created a world where dragons and humans coexist to eliminate any threats against the planet of Pern. Only certain humans are chosen to bond with the dragons by linking with them telepathically, once the dragon accepts the bond is made. Once again the heroes have to fight off impending planetary threats while riding on the backs of fire-breathing dragons. Who wouldn’t want to ride on a dragon? While this is not the first book created in Pern, the books that follow are all in the same period. It is easy and fun to get lost in Pern.

By Anne McCaffrey,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked Dragonflight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Volume I of The Dragonriders of Pern®, the groundbreaking series by master storyteller Anne McCaffrey

On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack from a myth that is all too real. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat to Pern reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly . . . and…


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Book cover of Dulcinea

Ana Veciana-Suarez Author Of Dulcinea

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I became fascinated with 16th-century and 17th-century Europe after reading Don Quixote many years ago. Since then, every novel or nonfiction book about that era has felt both ancient and contemporary. I’m always struck by how much our environment has changed—transportation, communication, housing, government—but also how little we as people have changed when it comes to ambition, love, grief, and greed. I doubled down my reading on that time period when I researched my novel, Dulcinea. Many people read in the eras of the Renaissance, World War II, or ancient Greece, so I’m hoping to introduce them to the Baroque Age. 

Ana's book list on bringing to life the forgotten Baroque Age

What is my book about?

Dolça Llull Prat, a wealthy Barcelona woman, is only 15 when she falls in love with an impoverished poet-solder. Theirs is a forbidden relationship, one that overcomes many obstacles until the fledgling writer renders her as the lowly Dulcinea in his bestseller.

By doing so, he unwittingly exposes his muse to gossip. But when Dolça receives his deathbed note asking to see her, she races across Spain with the intention of unburdening herself of an old secret.

On the journey, she encounters bandits, the Inquisition, illness, and the choices she's made. At its heart, Dulcinea is about how we betray the people we love, what happens when we succumb to convention, and why we squander the few chances we get to change our lives.

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