Love Defender of Walls? Readers share 100 books like Defender of Walls...

By Tanya Bird,

Here are 100 books that Defender of Walls fans have personally recommended if you like Defender of Walls. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Caraval

Angela Kecojevic Author Of Scareground

From my list on kids books to give you serious goosebumps.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved horror stories, right from when I was a kid, and I first watched Friday the 13th, the ultimate scary movie. The jump scare moment was everything. I spent time studying great suspense writers like Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, and R L Stine. I was in awe at how they had me turning the pages, unable to look away! I think more and more children are discovering the fun and thrill of scary stories, and I love nothing more than making sure I try and implement some of these rules, adding in my own originality, too! 

Angela's book list on kids books to give you serious goosebumps

Angela Kecojevic Why did Angela love this book?

This is more suited to the YA market with an appealing darkness that had me gripped from page one.

An allure of illusions, rich description, and magic. I loved this book! Every sentence was beautiful and intriguing–it was quite unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Add in the mystique of a carnival, and this makes for a remarkable read.

Scarlett was a strong female protagonist, and her desperate need to escape had me reading this long into the night. 

By Stephanie Garber,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Caraval as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

***The Sunday Times bestseller***

WELCOME TO CARAVAL, WHERE NOTHING IS QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS . . .

Scarlett has never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year week-long performance where the audience participates in the show.

Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure. And for Scarlett and her beloved sister Tella it represents freedom and an escape from their ruthless, abusive father.

When the sisters' long-awaited invitations to Caraval finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show's mastermind organiser,…


Book cover of Fable

Jess K. Chavez Author Of The Flame of the White Horseman

From my list on fantasy book series with great romantic tension.

Why am I passionate about this?

With my degree in journalism, you’d think I would be firmly rooted in real-world dramas, but all my time in news did was push me deeper toward my love of fantasy and romance stories. A natural optimist and a bit of a dreamer, I have always been a voracious reader of the fantasy romance genre. I love a story that can take you away from the real world for a time with amazing heroes, end-of-world stakes, and of course, thick romantic tension. I have a special fondness for series’ where I can watch the characters grow in depth or where each story covers a different character's perspective or experience.

Jess' book list on fantasy book series with great romantic tension

Jess K. Chavez Why did Jess love this book?

I loved the high-seas, pirate vibe of this incredible book. The heroine's story starts in a harsh and tragic setting that I couldn’t help but get sucked into. And it was impossible for me not to admire Fable’s backbone, perseverance, and determination. She was so impressive!

I was immediately sucked into this story and rooting so hard for Fable. And the romantic tension that builds between her and one of the ship captains puts a perfect cherry on top of this lovely tale. 

By Adrienne Young,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Seventeen-year-old Fable is a dredger-a freediver who excavates rare gemstones from the coral reefs that fill The Narrows. For the last four years, she's been trying to get off the island of Jeval, find the father who abandoned her there, and claim her mother's place on his trading crew. But when she finally makes it off the island, she discovers it may have been the safest place for her.


Book cover of The Kiss of Deception

Jess K. Chavez Author Of The Flame of the White Horseman

From my list on fantasy book series with great romantic tension.

Why am I passionate about this?

With my degree in journalism, you’d think I would be firmly rooted in real-world dramas, but all my time in news did was push me deeper toward my love of fantasy and romance stories. A natural optimist and a bit of a dreamer, I have always been a voracious reader of the fantasy romance genre. I love a story that can take you away from the real world for a time with amazing heroes, end-of-world stakes, and of course, thick romantic tension. I have a special fondness for series’ where I can watch the characters grow in depth or where each story covers a different character's perspective or experience.

Jess' book list on fantasy book series with great romantic tension

Jess K. Chavez Why did Jess love this book?

Probably one of my favorite reads of all time; I have read it more than once, if that tells you anything about my love for it.

The fantasy elements in this story are subtle and have a mythical legend vibe more than outright powers. But the world and story is so richly built it’s perfect. Told from various POVs with layers of secrets, deception, and assassination attempts, I love how you don’t quite figure out who is who until the end.

All this combined with the thick romantic tension happening in this story and it was over far too soon for me.

By Mary E. Pearson,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Kiss of Deception 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?

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia's life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight - but she doesn't - and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighbouring kingdom - to a prince she has never met. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive - and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an…


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Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it…

Book cover of Divine Rivals

Jess K. Chavez Author Of The Flame of the White Horseman

From my list on fantasy book series with great romantic tension.

Why am I passionate about this?

With my degree in journalism, you’d think I would be firmly rooted in real-world dramas, but all my time in news did was push me deeper toward my love of fantasy and romance stories. A natural optimist and a bit of a dreamer, I have always been a voracious reader of the fantasy romance genre. I love a story that can take you away from the real world for a time with amazing heroes, end-of-world stakes, and of course, thick romantic tension. I have a special fondness for series’ where I can watch the characters grow in depth or where each story covers a different character's perspective or experience.

Jess' book list on fantasy book series with great romantic tension

Jess K. Chavez Why did Jess love this book?

I loved the uniqueness of this storyline and the combination of magic being an accepted everyday thing in a historical world. Think old-world 1940s newspaper era meets World War 2 and manipulative Gods, with threads of magic woven throughout.

I absolutely adored the idea of rare typewriters linked by magic that can send missives to each other and the beautiful and rich enemies-to-lovers trope that develops around the typewriters. Its cute You’ve Got Mail vibe was beautifully executed in a story and world that I loved to step into.

By Rebecca Ross,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Divine Rivals as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman…


Book cover of The Settlement

Paul E. Hardisty Author Of The Forcing

From my list on dystopian worlds of our own making.

Why am I passionate about this?

After half a lifetime working all over the world as an environmental scientist, I am now a full-time writer of fiction and non-fiction. I’ve studied the effects of oil industry waste in Yemen, monitored groundwater contaminated with radioactive tritium from bomb-making sites in Europe, and remediated oil pits in the South American jungle. I ran Australia’s national climate adaptation program and was CEO of Australia’s national marine science agency, which does much of the research on the Great Barrier Reef. And everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve seen how environmental destruction hurts people, societies, and, inevitably, our future. Each of my six novels and my non-fiction examines this issue in different ways.

Paul's book list on dystopian worlds of our own making

Paul E. Hardisty Why did Paul love this book?

The Settlement describes a dystopian world set not in the future, but in the past. The 1830s, to be precise.

The misguided evangelist George Augustus Robinson sets himself the task of rounding up the last remaining original inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania, to save them from slaughter. Under his care, they are convinced to surrender and are relocated to desolate Flinders Island in the Bass Strait.

This is a finely-wrought historical novel of great compassion that brings to life the extinction of a race.

By Jock Serong,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Settlement as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On the windswept point of an island at the edge of van Diemen’s Land, the Commandant huddles with a small force of white men and women.

He has gathered together, under varying degrees of coercion and duress, the last of the Tasmanians, or so he believes. His purpose is to save them—from a number of things, but most pressingly from the murderous intent of the pastoral settlers on their country.

The orphans Whelk and Pipi, fighting for their survival against the malevolent old man they know as the Catechist, watch as almost everything about this situation proves resistant to the…


Book cover of The Crooked God Machine

Erica L. Satifka Author Of How to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters

From my list on apocalyptic and dystopia you haven’t read yet.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve long been fascinated with the dark side of science and human behavior, and grew up on a combination of dystopian classics and horror fiction. When I started writing for publication, apocalyptic themes quickly emerged. As the world around us grows more fraught by the day, I find a strange sort of comfort in reading and writing fiction that doesn’t shy away from depicting the negative aspects of social media, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, or any other technology that has the capacity to create manmade disasters beyond our understanding. And as a small-press author myself, I’m always on the lookout for books that didn’t get enough love.

Erica's book list on apocalyptic and dystopia you haven’t read yet

Erica L. Satifka Why did Erica love this book?

Unlike some of the others on my list, the apocalypse(s) at the center of The Crooked God Machine are in no way quiet. The narrator, Charles, has been born into a world in a constant state of collapse. Taking the form of a bildungsroman, the novel recounts the medical advancement of slip implants, “hot wire spiders” that live in one’s brain and turn its user into a brainless zombie. There are also buses that take you to hell, oracles with laser eyes in the back of their heads, and a family-killing murderess who’s considered a hero by the denizens of this demented world. Every page brings fresh horrors, and without giving away the ending I can say that the conclusion doesn’t provide any hope of improvement.

By Autumn Christian,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Crooked God Machine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Black Planet is an oppressive world terrorized by a masked god. Charles is a young idealist struggling to keep his family from falling apart amidst daily violence and chaos. When Charles falls in love with the enigmatic Leda, she gives him hope for an existence outside of the masked god's regime. After Leda disappears one night, Charles leaves his small town to search for her. Along the way he uncovers the origin of the Black Planet, and confronts the god that would destroy all life in pursuit of a perfect and unchanging paradise.

The Crooked God Machine is a…


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Book cover of Domesticated Magic

Domesticated Magic by Wendy Palmer,

Mateo Taurasi and his family fled their island home when their people turned to sorcery. Mateo’s own magic is tame but it’s still banned in the Vaeringan Empire...and his family still use it every day in their cosy teahouse. The last thing they need is an Imperial barging in to…

Book cover of Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats

Paul E. Hardisty Author Of The Forcing

From my list on dystopian worlds of our own making.

Why am I passionate about this?

After half a lifetime working all over the world as an environmental scientist, I am now a full-time writer of fiction and non-fiction. I’ve studied the effects of oil industry waste in Yemen, monitored groundwater contaminated with radioactive tritium from bomb-making sites in Europe, and remediated oil pits in the South American jungle. I ran Australia’s national climate adaptation program and was CEO of Australia’s national marine science agency, which does much of the research on the Great Barrier Reef. And everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve seen how environmental destruction hurts people, societies, and, inevitably, our future. Each of my six novels and my non-fiction examines this issue in different ways.

Paul's book list on dystopian worlds of our own making

Paul E. Hardisty Why did Paul love this book?

The only non-fiction book on my list, this prescient, chilling work examines the geopolitics of climate change.

Written in 2008 by an ex-naval officer turned journalist, this book works on two levels. First, cogent explanations of the science and interviews with senior military personnel from America and Great Britain. Then, eight scenarios that describe how the world might react as emissions rise.

Scenario One: 2045. The average global temperature is 2.8°C higher than in 1990. Prognosis: Awful.

And the scary thing is that’s pretty close to the trajectory we are currently on.

By Gwynne Dyer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Climate Wars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dwindling resources. Massive population shifts. Natural disasters. Spreading epidemics. Drought. Rising sea levels. Plummeting agricultural yields. Crashing economies. Political extremism. These are just some of the expected consequences of runaway climate change in the decades ahead - and any of them could tip the world towards conflict. Bold, unflinching, and based on exhaustive research, "Climate Wars" grippingly reveals how world leaders are likely to react, and promises to be one of the most important books of the coming years.


Book cover of Worldshifter

Clare Rhoden Author Of The Pale

From my list on dystopian books with heart, soul, and dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

The first book I read on my own was the Little Golden Book of Puppies and Kittens. I decided then, aged three, that the best books have animals in them…and I haven’t changed my mind. While fantasy novels with animals are among my all-time favorites, I’ve developed a deep love for dystopian novels which leave room for hope. I especially love the stories that show more than just humans living on Planet Earth. What better species to represent all that’s good on Earth but dogs? I can’t imagine ever writing a story without a dog in it. 

Clare's book list on dystopian books with heart, soul, and dogs

Clare Rhoden Why did Clare love this book?

Worldshifter is a fabulous science fiction story full of wonderful characters. You will laugh out loud at times, and your heart will race as the action careers across the galaxy.

On a very degraded and hostile planet, the lowest remnants of humanity slave away for the powerful alien races. I loved every page of this adventure with sweet, simple, giant-hearted Klom who hasn’t got a nasty bone in his oversized body. His compassion for the strange, doglike alien – who he calls Tugger -- contrasts brilliantly with the harshness of the world where Klom lives. Klom and his companions chase across planets and star systems to rescue Tugger, and on the way, they find the answer to life's greatest mystery.
Long live Tugger, who’s not strictly a dog (because he’s an alien), but certainly embodies all that canine perfection of character. I do hope there are more stories from this…

By Paul Di Filippo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Worldshifter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A high-octane tale of sweeping scope and and imagination packed into the pages of a breathless novella. Reminiscent of Jack Vance at his best in its sweep and imagination, but wholly Di Filippo in its execution.


Klom is a big, simple man who works in the salvage yards on the planet Asperna as a shipbreaker. One day, while deep in the bowels of an antique ship, Klom discovers an active organic stasis pod. He splits it open and out tumbles a large quadruped that seems friendly, harmless, but non-sapient. Klom adopts it as a pet and names it Tugger. Little…


Book cover of The Silent Multitude

James Marshall Author Of The Poster

From my list on dystopian books set in Britain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved reading alternative visions of Britain since I read a Strontium Dog saga in ‘2000AD’ as a boy. What was science fiction then has become closer to reality now. The idea of one event, such as a meteor shower in Triffids or a virus in ‘Grass,’ causing havoc worldwide is gripping. I prefer the British stories because they are closer to home. Many of these were written close to the Second World War, and their authors describe deprivation in unflinching detail. Recent political events have turned my mind to how human actions can cause dystopian futures, as in Orwell’s 1984.

James' book list on dystopian books set in Britain

James Marshall Why did James love this book?

I loved the detailed characterization of the main protagonists (including a cat) in this novel set in Gloucester. Comptom’s prose is a delight to read; it is clear, descriptive, and unobtrusive. It is rare to read about a homeless person and their struggles, especially from that time and the obvious mental illness that he suffers from. His dealings with the vending machine and the cat are humorous and touching.
The novel reminded me of the Beatles song ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ with a Father Mackenzie-type vicar and a lonely female journalist. It is sad, touching, real, and a good story. I read it in a couple of sittings.

By D. G. Compton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Silent Multitude as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the near future, the super-modern city of Gloucester has been transformed - completely redesigned and rebuilt to the principles of 'scientific city planning'. This gleaming city is threatened with extinction by a mysterious spore from space that brings mankind's proud structures crashing to the ground . . .


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Book cover of Forsaking Home

Forsaking Home by I. Graham Smith,

Forsaking Home is a story about the life of a man who wants a better future for his children. He and his wife decide to join Earth's first off-world colony. This story is about risk takers and courageous settlers and what they would do for more freedom. 

Book cover of The Wizard of the Kremlin

Nina Burleigh Author Of Zero Visibility Possible

From my list on helping you survive and even laugh at our dystopian times.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about words and reading, and I love books that examine and record the chaos and mayhem of human existence. When I think about why I don’t want to die, it’s mainly because I can't bear the thought of missing out on what happens next. I feel privileged to be alive during this strange, fraught time of epochal change and to be able to use my skills as a writer to record not just the facts of what happens but how it feels to witness it all, the sensibility of our time, the recording of which is, I believe, the essence of great literature.

Nina's book list on helping you survive and even laugh at our dystopian times

Nina Burleigh Why did Nina love this book?

I was surprised at how much I loved The Wizard of the Kremlin. I was sorry to reach the last page. Why? The central character is a fascinating post-modern Machiavellian political strategist whose machinations set the global standard for disinformation as a political tool in the post-modern, digital world.

Vadim Baranov is based on a real-life character, Russian President Putin’s long-time former PR man and advisor, Vladislav Sirkov. The book is an imagined one-night meeting with the now-retired former reality TV producer, an utterly cynical but simultaneously surprisingly morally aware man, who unwinds the story of his career. 

By Giuliano da Empoli, Willard Wood (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wizard of the Kremlin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION - a stunning work of political fiction about the rise to power of Putin's notorious spin doctor

'A great book, casting light on the creatures that crawl and slither behind the Kremlin's walls, on the mineral hardness of Putin, on the chaos engine that is his way of hurting us' John Sweeney

'An acute and timely dissection of Russian power, told through the eyes of a shadowy political advisor to Putin' Financial Times

'A fictional wandering through the dark corridors of the Kremlin' The Times, Biggest Books of the Season

__________

They call him the Wizard of…


Book cover of Caraval
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