Here are 63 books that Blood Red Horse fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve always had a healthy dose of skepticism, having been a scientist before I was an author. I look for the con when something’s too good to be true, even in fiction…so don’t insult me by saying, “a magic amulet that makes everyone nice all the time.” If you want me to believe in pixie dust, tell me what’s in place to keep pixie dust smugglers from rigging the system. I raised smart, critical-minded kids, so I always pointed them to my own favorite young-audience books: those that felt real, even if they were fantastical, instead of ones with the more common “just trust me” attitude.
This book was a turning point for me in Harry Potter. There’s darkness in the books before it, but I still feel like Rowling was pulling her punches. Instead of sunshine and rainbows, this is where things got real.
I steamrolled through it in days and don’t normally read that fast. My wife and I had to buy our own copy, and I had to outrace her so her poorly concealed reactions couldn’t spoil anything for me.
We finally see how the wizarding world works in good and bad aspects, down to corruption and the fallibility of otherwise-squeaky-clean characters. If wizards and magic were real, this book was the first one balanced enough to make me believe it.
The fifth adventure in the spellbinding Harry Potter saga - the series that changed the world of books forever
Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors' attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord's return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces.
Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort's savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and…
As a geek and tech professional, I've worked on software and gadgets in multiple countries and just as many industries. I'm fascinated by work that leads us to a better future built on technology while being fully aware of the dangers involved if we're not vigilant. I've built websites, fitness devices, and even spent some time working on Wikipedia's data structure. But my first tech love was that strange and beautiful blend of art and science we call video games. I’ve played more games than I can count and created a few of my own, but as a novelist and reader I found myself drawn to books about games just as much as the games themselves.
I first read this book back in 2004 when I was spending way too much time with MMO games. This YA novel is certainly a product of a time where the tech of today was within sight but social media and smartphones didn't exist as we know them now. But the story more than makes up for this unfortunate timing with its witty characters, a structure reminiscent of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books and a fantasy game setting that leads this book to cross genres. I’m a big fan of sci-fi stories that follow the “Groundhog Day” structure like Returnal and Edge of Tomorrow. Do-overs are a crucial part of gaming and this novel builds that idea into its core premise while adding a unique twist.
In Heir Apparent there are as many ways to win as there are to get killed. "A stylish tale [that] addresses both fantasy gaming and censorship." (New York Times Book Review)
From Edgar Award–winning author Vivian Vande Velde comes a rollicking story that puts a high-tech twist on the classic medieval fantasy-adventure.
In the virtual reality game Heir Apparent, there are way too many ways to get killed—and Giannine seems to be finding them all. Which is a shame, because unless she can get the magic ring, locate the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf's dumb riddles, impress the head-chopping statue,…
I’ve been more than lucky to live a life of adventure from the start. My family did things a little unusually – we lived on a boat, we bought a ranch, we trained (and I still train) horses, we traveled, and through it all, we read. My entire adventuring family always had books, even on that boat when we have very little space. We would all go to the main cabin at night and either escape to a new world in novel or, in my case quite often, a note book. I’ll be forever grateful for these experiences because it was adventure shaped who I am as an author and reader.
I won’t lie, I am an audiobook fan because I can listen to them as I work. The story in The Spirit of Things, combined with the excellence of Nigel Peever as a narrator, is seriously fantastic! A Human boy raised among elves wants to find his way to finally being accepted. After having a vision, Fulco realizes what just might be his answer – he needs to find a way to possess magic.
A land in peril, a traitorous goddess, a human outcast living among the elves. Will he learn to harness his mysterious powers before it is too late?
By the age of seventeen rotations, Fulco has had a tough time growing up in a forest village. Abandoned as a baby and raised by a loving elven family, he is despised by the village elves as humans are deemed a plague upon the land.
Hoping to gain their approval through sportsmanship, Fulco dreams of winning a position on the elven Portare team. An epic sport where players must ride upon a beast,…
I grew up on fairy tales and folklore in the Appalachian Mountains. Stories of adventure and dusty fairy tale books in my grandmother’s attic were my entertainment. The library trips we took “into town” added to my reading. I discovered that the step from fairy tales to classics wasn’t as wide as folks argue. Years later, when I went off to college, I became an English major, then a graduate student, and then started teaching literature at college. From childhood to adulthood, magic and fiction were my life... which led to selling a book of my own. Over the last 17 years, I’ve been writing fantasy.
Childhood me, adult me, mommy me, writer me, all version of me wanted adventure—and swords. Her books were treasured enough in my home that my (now-adult) daughter and I bothhad to buy replacement copies over the years.
I read Tammy Pierce’s books with my daughter in the years before I was published, never knowing that years later, I’d be teaching sword fighting and chatting with Tammy herself about swords and books.
This recommendation is listing the one book, but it’s part of a whole set of connected series books.
This was our entry into a world of strong adventurous women, and honestly, I’m not sure I’d have ended up a writer if not for her writing.
Kel will not allow this first test to be her last. Her adventure begins in the New York Times bestselling series from the fantasy author who is a legend herself: TAMORA PIERCE.
Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl who dares to take advantage of a new rule in Tortall—one that allows females to train for knighthood. After years in the Yamani Islands, she knows that women can be warriors, and now that she’s returned home, Kel is determined to achieve her goal. She believes she is ready for the traditional hazing and grueling schedule of a page. But standing…
I'm an American writer who grew obsessed with all things King Arthur at age 10. Trying to be the best 7th-grade Arthurian scholar in the world set me on a path of life-long learning and research. My historical fantasy novels for children have been flatteringly called "maybe the only [fiction] depiction of the complexities of feudal obligations & responsibilities I've ever seen" by a real medievalist. While that wasn't what I was going for, it speaks to the thing I seek out when I read: total immersion in another world. If you don't feel like you scrubbed pots in the Middle Ages, why would you read about a medieval scullery maid?
Gillian Bradshaw is one of the best historical fiction writers I know of, and everyone else should know of her too. The Wolf Hunt is based on Bisclavret, one of the Lais of Marie de France, and fairly drips with historical detail (please use a coaster). The fantasy element is the major plot point, but the magic that allows for it is so subtle and low-key that I nearly forgot to classify the book as historical fantasy. This is a grown-up Catherine, Called Birdy in its ability to evoke a medieval mind and setting, minus the humor, plus more romance. And while there's no floor-scrubbing, it has big floor-scrubbing energy.
THE WOLF HUNT is a breathtaking and romantic adventure. When Marie Penthievre of Chalendrey is abducted and taken to Brittany's court she vows never to dishonour her family by marrying a Breton. There is only one who might change her mind: Tiarnan of Talensac, a handsome and noble knight...and a werewolf. But Tiarnan marries someone else - and when his new wife learns of his secret, she betrays him. When the widow joins forces with Tiarnan's enemy, Marie realises something is dreadfully wrong. Only she is clear headed enough to rescue Tiarnan and return him to his rightful status -…
I’ve always been fascinated by history, and when I dreamed of being an author, imagined I’d write historical fiction. However, it took many writing detours to arrive there. (Nim’s Island, by the way, has no basis in historical fact!). When I first imagined the story that led to the Minoan Wings trilogy, I fell in love with researching this era, which is particularly intriguing because there are virtually no written records. Visiting the ruins of a four-thousand-year-old town on Crete under the guidance of an archaeologist who had not only excavated there but had become passionately involved with my imaginary characters, was an absolute highlight of my life.
I fell in love with the irrepressible Pagan as soon as I read this book. It’s difficult to imagine that life with the Knights Templar at the time of the Crusades was highly amusing – but despite the wealth of knowledge and detail that informs this book, it is wry and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Who wouldn’t love Pagan’s favorite curse: "Christ in a cream cheese sauce’?"
Wham! So here I am, standing in a sea of dirt, with a big mad Templar lobbing rocks at my head. Wham! Like some kind of martyr. Wham! He throws like a catapult.'All right, Pagan, that's enough.' (I should damn well think so.) 'Do you see what your problem is?'Wait - don't tell me. You are.It's twelfth-century Jerusalem, the time of the Crusades. Shrewd and scrappy Pagan has been plucked from the streets to work for Lord Roland, a Templar knight. Set against a background of mounting tension as Saladin's infidels close in on the Holy City, Pagan's Crusade is…
I grew up watching 80s Saturday morning cartoons, playing RPGs such as Final Fantasy. Those cartoons and games didn’t care about genre, they cared about telling a story, about making you care about the characters. Hence you could have wizards driving space cars, or knights battling giant robots and so on. They were proof of how wonderfully crazy our imagination can go when we threw labels away and just create stories. The books in this list allow themselves to do that and go bigger, go bolder, showing us the readers what’s possible if we let loose. I hope this list takes others on such wonderful rides, like they did with me.
Cosmic horror and fantasy have shared a close relationship since the times of Robert E. Howard. But historical fantasy and cosmic horror? Now that’s different.
If you are a fan of series such as The Last Kingdom, or enjoy a bit of cosmic horror in the vein of the Cthulhu Mythos, this is for you. Written by Gary Whitta, who also wrote the script for Rogue One. Set during Alfred the Great’s rule, this is a story about a knight that saves his kingdom at great personal cost thanks to the dabbling in dark magic from a deranged monk.
The tension and trepidation grow with every page. And that’s just half the story. Don’t let the body horror distract you, this is at its core a story about family love.
"Whitta is a master of suspense. Abomination grabs you and doesn't let go." ―Hugh Howey, New York Times-Bestselling Author of Wool
He is England's greatest knight, the man who saved the life of Alfred the Great and an entire kingdom from a Viking invasion. But when he is called back into service to combat a plague of monstrous beasts known as abominations, he meets a fate worse than death and is condemned to a life of anguish, solitude, and remorse.
She is a fierce young warrior, raised among an elite order of knights. Driven by a dark secret from her…
We tell stories for many reasons, but one of the best reasons is to teach our kids (or remind ourselves!) how to navigate in the world. We’ve all read Aesop’s Fables and at the end, the moral lesson is spelled out. This ruins the conversations you can have with someone else about what the story was about. Instead of feeling entertained, we feel like we were being told what to think and how to feel. As a writer, I love to include multiple themes in a book so that, depending on the age of the reader, or how many times the story is read, new ideas jump out of the book and into your brain.
This beautifully illustrated book gently teaches that an act of kindness is always returned ten-fold. While my youngest child may not understand the biggest lesson in this book until he reads it to his own children, he did understand that helping others is always a good deed, and that sometimes we have to delay fulfilling our own wants and put others before ourselves. I read this book to my children over and over again, not only because we loved knights and tales of medieval times, but because the book has so much heart and soul in it, that it begs to be taken off the shelf.
This is the tale of a brave knight who sets out one day to serve his King. But as he rides toward the castle, frightened travelers seek the knight's aid and protection. Though he resists, something inside will not allow him to refuse. He presses on, but his mission is delayed again and again as the knight stops to help those in need.
Has he been loyal to the King by following his heart, or has he been an errant knight after all?
My passion for the Middle Ages began with castles. I lived in Germany for a time, where there are a lot of castles, and I got sucked into the whole romantic notion of living a castle life, though I’d probably have been more of a scullery maid than a princess. When I decided to try writing a novel, I figured castles had to be involved somehow. I started doing research on medieval subjects that would make a good book. Unfortunately, the time period I ended up choosing for my novel was the early 8th century—no castles. I spent over twenty years researching and writing my novel, so I hope I learned something.
If I had to pick a perfect writer, Chadwick would be it. Her prose, her dialogue, her historical detail, and her characters are all pitch-perfect—it’s like she was reborn from the Middle Ages and is just reporting what she saw. This book is the first in a series about William Marshall, and if you don’t know who he is, you need to. Not only was he the greatest tournament champion ever, but an all-around exemplary soldier and statesman who saved the English crown at least a dozen times. Best of all, he lived during the most intriguing time of English history, the reign of Henry II, when the indomitable Eleanor was queen, and their four sons, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, were wrestling for the throne. (Two of my favorite movies, A Lion in Winter and Becket, also take place during this fascinating period.) William’s story has gotten lost…
Historical fact and fiction are entwined in this engrossing story about the infamous William Marshal. He was the penniless young knight who was plucked from obscurity to become a royal favourite and went on to be described as 'the true Lancelot'. This is the fascinating fictionalised story of the jealousies, romance and conflict within the royal court that led to him becoming a forgotten hero.
My faith is a driving force in my life. Writing and dragons are my passions after my family. When not writing I mentor young people in their own writing. I’ve taken several writing courses and continue to study and work on honing my craft. Dragons serve as messengers of God in my books. I studied dragon lore and found the dragons an excellent vehicle for sharing God’s message. The dragons play a sentient, teaching, guiding role in the books they are featured in. That doesn’t mean there aren’t bad dragons to challenge the characters and the good dragons.
The first thing that drew me to Davis’s books was that teen/dragons were the main characters. Throughout the series these teenagers with dragon abilities face many crises in faith as they battle the forces of evil. Another interesting twist is Davis used the story and characters from the King Arthur story. These characters help and hinder the teen in their efforts to save their dragon world and fight evil. The reader watches with bated breath as Billy and Bonnie fight to preserve a secret legacy and discover their place in God’s world of dragons.
“Bryan Davis writes with the scope of Tolkien, the focus of Lewis, the grandeur of Verne, and most of all the heart of Christ.” ―Jeremiah F., reader
A boy with fiery breath . . . a girl with dragon wings . . .
Outcasts Billy and Bonnie must come together to preserve a secret legacy more than a millennium in the making. They find their lives turned upside down when they are thrust into a war against evil, a war they didn’t even know was being waged. Their newly formed friendship is tested and shaped as they are forced to…
