Fans pick 100 books like Encrypted

While Bujold is famous for her science fiction Vorkosigan Saga, she has taken a welcome turn to fantasy in recent years with her Penric & Desdemona series, starting with Penric’s Demon. The book focuses on the accidental sorcerer Penric and the demon who possesses him and gives him power, Desdemona. Theirs is a complicated relationship, in no small part because Desdemona retains the memories and personalities of the many people—and animals!—she has possessed before. While having magical powers obviously has its advantages for Penric, demonic possession is not without its dangers, and quite a few people in the world of the Five Gods believe that sorcerers and their demons are best drowned at sea. The book features exciting adventures in an exotic world—but also touching mediations on death, fate, and destiny.

Katie Chandler has moved to New York City hoping for a life of glamour and excitement, only to find herself lonely, frustrated, and deeply baffled that those jaded New Yorkers keep ignoring all the weird things that keep happening. Then she discovers that the average New Yorker can’t see what she sees—she is the rare true mundane, completely unaffected by all magic, including magical camouflage. Her special abilities lead her to a new job for a magical company, and the book leads the reader into a delightful series of adventures that hilariously combine wizardry and enchantment with corporate intrigue and the tropes of Chick Lit.

Lin is well-known among romance aficionados for her groundbreaking Tang Dynasty historical romances. With The Lotus Palace, the first novel in her Pingkang Li Mysteries series, she expands into crime and political intrigue. This is the only non-fantasy or science fiction title on this list, and it’s here because Lin not only crafts an engaging story of murder and romance, she also handles the historical setting like an absolute master. The world of the 9th century Tang capital Changan—from the seedy gambling dens and bars of the Pingkang Li red-light district to the luxurious family compounds of the exclusive northeast quarter—feels familiar and lived-in, rich and complete, fully detailed without reading like a history textbook.

Magic has appeared on Earth, and Addie doesn’t know what to make of it. In fact, she’s not quite sure what to make of anything—she has no recollection of who she is. What she does know is alchemy: While some people are magical, alchemists make magic using potions and powders. The magical don’t like the alchemists, and the New Magical don’t like the Old Magical, the creepy, secretive necromancers who run funeral homes and turn people into ghouls and zombies. The Final Formula has excitement, scares, and some mind-blowing twists—just know that, if you continue with the series, you cannot skip the “in-between” books.

This book veers off the path of mythological source material into the land of metaphysics. It contains explanations and interpretations of Norse runes and how they were (and still are, by modern pagans) used for divination. The first part focuses on lore surrounding the runic alphabet—often called “Elder Futhark” runes, which can be traced back to Viking times. Part two discusses rune staves, which are formed by combinations of the individual runes to create powerful symbols. The book ends with a section on rune casting. In my research about Nordic runes, I found this book quite helpful and enlightening.

Have you ever been curious about changlings, banshees, or megaliths? Have you wondered who, exactly, Merlin the magician was? It's all in Sofia Visconti's timeless tales. This book is a great guide to the Celtic, Irish and Scottish myths. It's like having an encyclopedia of magical beings at your fingertips.

This is a favorite resource when I feel stuck, confused, or at a crossroads. Time to seek guidance from the universe! I’ve always been a sucker for the synchronicity of messages from “beyond”—tarot cards, angel cards, the I Ching, etc. Asking a big question, choosing a rune and reading its corresponding message unfailingly provides clarity and inspiration. In fact, I just selected a rune: Inguz, symbolizing new beginnings. Here is a portion of the message: “…Inguz counsels preparation. Being centered and grounded, freeing yourself from all unwanted influences, and seeing the humor, you are indeed prepared to open yourself to the Will of Heaven, and can await your deliverance with calm certainty.” 

There is no better way to get to know the Vikings than by their own sayings and other contemporary descriptions and stories. This book is a carefully chosen and lively selection of extracts of such sources, from their own rune-stone inscriptions, intriguing poetry and historic writings to English, German and Russian accounts – all set in their context and divided into topics such as ‘All sorts of conditions for men’, ‘Myth, Religion and Superstition’, ‘The Heroic life’ – and ‘The unheroic life’.

Oh, this series was a struggle for me. Such a wonderful concept, with such an unlikeable main character. But I loved the idea of saving a fantasy world, while dying in this one. I can’t just mention one, but instead mention the first omnibus, (including Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War, and The Power That Preserves). The beginning of the 1980s didn’t allow for tremendously long books, though that did come by the end of the decade, this story was an epic fantasy broken down to three easily (relatively speaking) digestible books. And it showed how something mundane from our world could wield great power in another.

I always knew cryptography was political, but I had no idea how political until I read this book. Seeing the subject I am so fascinated by through the words of a political journalist was truly eye-opening. Steven Levy navigates a deeply fascinating period in modern technological history – the late twentieth-century battles between governments trying to maintain power and control over communications, and technologists who saw the fledgling internet as an opportunity to build a new world. Cryptography, which protects digital communications, sat plum on the frontline between these two communities, hence battles over cryptography turned into so-called 'crypto wars’ (although nobody died). Nobody who read this book was surprised with much that Edward Snowden had to say to the world in 2013 – Snowden was just reportage of the latest chapter in the same ongoing conflict.