Fans pick 100 books like Kushiel's Scion

So, if you haven’t already noticed, for most of this list I have chosen the first book in a series. Let's be honest, if you read fantasy, then you know pretty much every book is part of a series. In The Black Prism we are introduced to one of my favorite magic systems. In this system, the magicians or “Drafters” are able to turn light into substance. Each color of the light spectrum has a different property. A drafter can create constructs using light. Most people can only access one color, but there are those special people that can use multiple colors, and of course, there are the select few who can use all. What I love about this system is that it is only limited to the strength and imagination of the user.

I am a big fan of systems that you have to think to use. Anyone can… show more.

This book captured me from the first moment with Amaranthe determined to be the best enforcer despite being looked down upon because she was a woman doing a man’s job and not doing what her family expected of her.

When she finds herself the target of an assassin which she must target, she gathers a collection of misfits who (spoiler sort of) become the family she needs to succeed and survive along with bumble, trip, fail, and regroup with.

I loved cheering her on and wincing at her (sometimes hilarious) struggles.

This book is so underrated, it’s painful. A truly engrossing read. Han Alister must rise up from the slums of the city to embrace his magic, and find revenge for his innocent sister’s death. She was his heart, and when her life is extinguished, so is that part of himself. Or so he thought, until Raisa. A princess by birth, she’ll have to overcome her so-called privilege to have a chance at real happiness with someone less than a commoner—a reformed thief and gang leader. Or is he? Will revenge prove a more powerful conviction than love? Magical twists and surprises abound, and the depth of this world will suck you right in. If you’re not cheering for Han by the end, do you even like morally gray heroes? 

The Warded Man is a fantasy adventure mystery about a hero who never wanted to be a hero and a man who has to fight both physical, literal demons as well as his own internal demons and a traumatized past. The Warded Man exposes humanity and the emotional and psychological struggles that even a hero can experience. 

In this series, the paladins are generally noble, honest, and wholesome – they are paladins, after all, even if their god is dead. But I don’t read these books for the paladins. What I most adore are the backdrop machinations of the Temple of the White Rat, a religious order interested in saving the world in the most sensible of all ways: with lawyers, doctors, social workers, and a sound understanding of economics.

At least once per book, the delightful – and very, dangerously practical–Bishop Beartongue will turn up to throw a wrench into events, and it delights me every time. I hope she gets her own book someday. Even if she doesn’t, I will continue to eat up this series like the most scrumptious chocolates.

I love that the dedication is to the A to Z Challenge bloggers of 2014. (I was one of them!) Here's a well-written and comprehensive reference guide. There's a strong author voice and a great amount of information. It covers the importance of including diverse characters. I recommend The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch to writers building a fictional world, and to writers using an unfamiliar setting. A necessary reference tool for authors.

My appreciation for this book snuck up on me. I thoroughly enjoyed the first third or so, in which we are introduced to Fetter–destined to assassinate his godlike father–and are introduced to the fascinating city in which the story is set. But I wasn’t as enthralled with what I took, at the time, for a bit of a meandering middle section. However, the utterly creative and mind-twisting final fifth of the book won me back over.

With time, I’ve come to appreciate the subtle thematic and character work in those middle chapters. Of all the books on this list, this one pushes the boundaries of fantasy the most, both in worldbuilding and characterization, but it’s a masterclass in both, and I hope it has a massive impact on the genre going forward.

If you’ve ever wondered what life was like for the people living in the Americas after the last ice age, then read this book. Through the eyes of Young Hunter, we explore what we now call New England thousands of years before the first Europeans crossed the Atlantic. And through Young Hunter, we learn to use weapons, how to survive in the wild, Native American folktales and names, and we learn why Young Hunter’s people fear beings called the Ancient Ones. All of these worldbuilding layers are revealed as Young Hunter embarks on a dangerous journey tracking the creatures that attacked his people, with each layer drawing you in until you are as fearful of the Ancient Ones as Young Hunter and just as determined to face them.

This book is a masterclass on how to write fantasy. The worldbuilding is immaculate, the characters are complex with big personalities, and I was laughing out loud (not an exaggeration) from the first page.

Rasia and Nico are Black girls who know what they want. They constantly clash with each other, never giving an inch when they can take a mile, and I want every lover of fantasy to read this book.

My editor wrote to me a few years ago (mostly all-caps and !!!s) about a book called The Goblin Emperor, and had I read it, and didn’t she think I’d adore it? She was so convincing that I ordered a copy from my favorite indie bookstore right away and read it in a sitting. I almost cried when I realized Addison had written only one other book at that point—until a friend told me she was also the author Sarah Monette. I spent the next month reading everything in her oeuvre. But none I adored with my whole body being like I did The Goblin Emperor: its deep kindness, its gentleness, its world-building and warmth, its high stakes and heightened language, its arc of grace and growth.