100 books like Deryni Rising

J.R.R. Tolkien's masterful storytelling is unmatched, and The Lord of the Rings weaves together moral dilemmas and profound philosophical ideas seamlessly, encouraging me to contemplate the nature of power, the importance of preserving the natural world, and the significance of individual choices.

The book's themes of heroism, friendship, sacrifice, and the struggle between good and evil resonate deeply. In addition, each of his characters feels like an aspect of oneself; the introspection it inspires is brilliant!

The Lord of the Rings instills a sense of wonder, ignites the imagination, and imparts timeless wisdom, which heavily transformed my perspective on life, my values, and my understanding of the human condition.

Like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Frank Herbert’s book tells the story of a man who could be the villain or the hero, depending on who you ask. I love watching how an intelligent yet malleable person can be swept up in feelings of duty, responsibility, and leadership only to make highly questionable decisions.

Paul Atreides’ moral ambiguity is undeniably engineered by the shifting and slimy political landscape of the Dune universe, driving home the idea in my mind that good worldbuilding can set the stage for truly complicated characters.

This science fiction novel, written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name James S. A. Corey, was the beginning of the Expanse series (now totaling 9 novels and additional stories). It is one of the best space science fiction novels of the 21st century and became the basis for one of my favorite TV/streaming series, The Expanse.

The books dive deep into the political, social, and cultural complexities of sending humans to live on the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt, and it’s a nuanced reflection of our current ideas and ambitions when it comes to spaceflight. I am particularly drawn to the depiction of humans who, after multiple generations off Earth, consider their primary identity to be Martian.

This is possibly the best known book on my list, yet it took me a long time to discover it.

This is a thriller-style adventure that follows Nathaniel, a young magician’s apprentice on a quest for revenge, who summons Bartimaeus, an all-powerful djinni. Nathaniel (unwittingly) and Bartimaeus (unwillingly) get caught up in a tangled plot of magic-fueled mayhem in which they have to work together to survive.

Bartimaeus’ sarcastic observations and side tangents add an element of humor that keep it from staying dark and somber, while also highlighting the underlying threads of slavery and social injustice in this fantasy world.

It seems that there is no detail of life in the late 1700s and early 1800s that Winston Graham doesn’t know. From aspects of history, geography, social class culture, medicine, ship-building, mining… Graham is ‘The Man’. But he is also a composite storyteller, weaving a compelling, generations-spanning narrative that charts the turmoils and triumphs of Ross Poldark and his family. One detail that I love is the representation of genuine female experience in a mode that is not about feminist agendas; Graham writes his women with compassion and complexity, making them far more than the housewives and bodice-rippers characteristic of some historical fiction. Quintessentially English, but never rose-tinted, these novels are a treasure that deserve greater acknowledgment.

I first read the Belgariad as a series of books as a child. I love the banter between characters, the growth, and development of the characters throughout the story, the way that individuals impact the world, sometimes in great ways and sometimes in small ones, and how there is a contrast between good and evil, hope and despair.

Royce Melborn is exactly the assassin I’d expect: scowling, suspicious, irritable, prone to violence, and scarred by hard life. So, of course, he ends up forming a team with Hadrian Blackwater, the most cheerful, upbeat swordsman in the world.

The “mismatched friends” and “grumpy/sunshine” flavor of the story was immensely fun—reminiscent of all my favorite buddy cop TV shows and movies—and did a wonderful job of anchoring me to these two characters as they fought their way through a world determined to harm them.

The dynamic between the characters is mirrored by a twisty-turny plot, a fascinatingly detailed world, and an epic storyline that kept me turning the pages to find out what came next. 

I had never planned to read this book, but by a strange twist of fate, it became highly influential for me. I saw the cover art first, featuring the protagonist with his ‘coldfire’ blade and with the dark creeping lines of magic at his feet—this became the basis for an early rendering of the central character in Kiranis.

Rising focuses on a dark power that attacks the minds of humans, thriving on their fear. There was a wonderful tone to this dark fantasy story that permeated the creepy forests in which I recall most of the action taking place; and the anti-hero at the centre of the story occupies this gothic, almost Victorian Stoker-esque world. Tarrant was an ‘evil’ character with the hope of redemption through a woman he falls in love with, and this story, alongside my reading of Gemmell and Feist, taught me how to create more depth… show more.

Where to start? Lord of the Rings contains countless unlikely heroes. From Frodo and Sam, simple hobbits who have to undergo an impossible task to save the entire world, to Theoden or Faramir, the books are full of tales of valor and strength as the good of the world strives to overcome an impossible evil.

The books are written with the key theme that even ordinary people can do great good, and that is reflected in the Hobbits. They are an ordinary race, unimportant for most of history, but they possess the courage and the heart to save their world. I love these books above all else, and the characters are all inspiring and loveable.

I didn’t know Georgette Heyer wrote outside of Regency romances until I read The Conqueror. The period covering William the Conqueror’s life, from his accession as Duke of Normandy to his invasion and conquest of England, captivated me.

Heyer’s portrayal not only of the romances of William and Matilda of Flanders and a Norman vassal and English lady but also of the bond of friendship and loyalty between William and Raoul, the aforementioned vassal, were so plausibly written I almost believed both bond and fictional characters existed. Even better, she depicted 11th-century Normandy, England, and France in such riveting detail without sounding like an encyclopedia, often using her characters to help recreate that era. This book remains one of my favorites, and frequently re-read historical romances.