75 books like Fool's Errand

Aside from the gripping descriptions of the medieval setting, what sets the Assassin’s Apprentice apart is the humanity of its characters. I always like to advocate for the realness of characters, even in plot-driven stories.

As a reader, I need to be able to connect with the humanity of the characters I encounter. This novel’s protagonist is a flawed and relatable hero whose struggles and triumphs feel truly real. Likewise, the supporting cast, from nobles to servants, are complex characters. This pleases me as a reader and inspires me as an author. 

This is one of those books that catches you by surprise. I wasn’t sure I could handle all the death pervading this story from start to finish. But woven amidst the grief are determination and courage as Gauge and his friend Roux fight for survival and evade the authorities. By the end, friendship and hope twinkle through death’s veil and they’re out in full force by the epilogue. I love the magical wolf narrator, who may seem secondary to the plot but in fact mirrors Gauge’s and Roux’s despair from loss and intense need for love and family. In the end, friendship saves them all.

I admire so much the time, patience, and thought put into Firekeeper. She's not a human wolf; she's a wolf in a human body with human limitations, faced with frustrations in trying to shift between the body-oriented language of wolves and the verbal-focused language of humans while staying true to herself.

I'm also in awe of how Lindskold layers in so many different cultures and approaches to power and how characters see themselves.

This is a book (and a series) I reread regularly, and I always find some aspects I hadn't noticed before. All that, and great characters on top. Firekeeper, of course, but I also respect and admire Derian, Elyse, Blind Seer, Sapphire, and so many more.

Told from multiple points of view, this book is a gorgeous romp through Russian folklore. While reading this book, I had the chance to live as a wolf, a young girl, and as Baba Yaga. I got to cast spells, experience powerful forest magic, save a princess, transform into animals, and defeat a terrible king. In real life, I could never experience any of those events, but I could while reading Karah Sutton’s incredible book. I especially appreciated that the story itself came together like a puzzle, pieces fitting neatly together in unexpected ways. This one is a surprise and delight at every turn.

I found myself regularly asking, 'How does she keep going!!?’ Rosie is an amazing person, battling through temperatures as low as -62 degrees C, deep snow, packs of wolves, a monotonous diet, and breaking equipment. After running and pulling a cart between 500 yards and 30 miles a day (depending on weather conditions), she reached home 5 years and 53 pairs of shoes later having run 20,000 miles around the world.

The book recounts all the challenges and how they were overcome. I felt it was a summary of diary writings which wasn’t always fluent or of the same level of detail but then I thought ‘no wonder!’ given the level of difficulty of the expedition. I felt compelled to read to the end of the book. An inspirational tale.

Reflecting on the first decade with wolves back in Yellowstone National Park, this book highlights milestones in the reintroduction effort, takes you out in the field with a wildlife biologist, and shares compelling stories of individual Yellowstone wolves and their packs. With more than 25 years spent overseeing wolves and elk in the park, Doug Smith is a unique authority on wolves and wolf behavior. Around the time our wolf project was coming to an end in the mid-’90s, those first wolves were released into central Idaho and Yellowstone. When we read this book some ten years later, we heard the echoes of our own experience in the behavior and characteristics of the wolves in Yellowstone.

Again, who doesn’t love an animal sidekick? Especially if that companion is a wolf who has a special gift in which she can judge people’s character and is dedicated to protecting those in her “pack!”

Lady Jewel is a large white wolf who is an important companion to our primary protagonists, Lord Adamo and Sephone Winters. Pair this loyal wolf with a post-apocalyptic fantasy world in which memory trading is a lucrative business, and you have an intriguing narrative for adult readers (and, like all titles in this list, it’s clean, too)!

Moving away from middle-grade-specific books, my next recommendation is aimed at young adult and adult audiences.

When people hear animal companions in fantasy, wolves tend to come to mind pretty quickly. Toothbreaker focuses on a special group of people, Eritam, who have a unique gift of taming and working with wolves. So, there are wolves within this narrative!

A spin-off novella of Elrich’s Daughters of Tamnarae series, Toothbreaker is a fast-paced yet beautiful story of second chances, granting others and yourself grace, and finding purpose. My favorite part of this book, after the wolves, includes the ease in which readers can connect with Sage and the other characters.

Plus, there are references to other groups within the fantasy world—did someone say dragon tamers?? 

As a young girl, most afternoons you could find me up a tree, book in hand. My favorite stories all had a common theme: animals. I felt a stronger connection to the animal world than to my own species. When I first read Julie of the Wolves at the age of 8, I was far too young to understand all the social implications of being a barely pubescent orphaned girl forced into a child marriage, but I resonated with the overwhelming desire to escape the confusion and pressures of human relationships. How I longed to be Julie, living among the wolves! 

I love when fantasy meets reality and that’s just what happens in Linger. A virus turns people into werewolves and the transformations are controlled by the temperature. A worldwide virus and an unpredictable climate? Talk about a dose of reality. Grace Brisbane is an anomaly – she was bitten by werewolves when she was young, but somehow has never shifted and as a result she’s dying. The book follows Grace as she and her friends try to save her life. It’s a fantastical story, but grounded in real human emotions. The perfect blend of truth and fiction.