46 books like Pegasus in Flight

I know, another “children’s book”—but another with plenty to say to me as an adult (and later books in the series are more obviously oriented to older readers). The adventures of the young man Sparrowhawk at a wizarding school dive deeply into the power of names and naming. (Earthsea predates by 30 years that other boy-coming-of-age-at-wizard-school book.)

I love the richly detailed fantasy world, with a society that’s like ours but also not, and the wise but real characters with human failings they struggle to overcome. Along the way, there are lots of interesting ideas about language. I still get lost in the world of Earthsea, as I do in a few other books.

Matilda—both in prose and musical form—is one of my favorite stories about bullies getting what’s coming to them, and the victim emerging with a better life.

Matilda’s parents and older brother are terrible people; her schoolmates and headmistress are not any better. But Matilda has a champion—an ally—in her corner: her teacher Miss Honey. With the confidence and support that just one friend brings, Matilda stands up to all the others.

She speaks up for herself and won’t let the bullies get away with their bad behavior. In doing so, she charts a happier course for her life—an end result to which anyone who’s being bullied can aspire.

By chance, I stumbled upon the Chrestomanci series after exhausting all the books that were available on the Library Van.

Initially, I had been deterred by the covers of the novels. Victorian dresses on the cover didn’t appeal to me at the time, but the story became the gateway to Witch Week. This is set in an English boarding school, but unlike Malory Towers, it has magic in it.

It starts off in the ‘real’ world but gets going in the end. In this dimension witches get burned and when someone sends a note to say someone is a witch in class, well, we all know what happened in Salem…

Although Jobber possesses the rare and powerful gift of fire, it comes with a heavy price - death by hanging, as is the fate of anyone discovered to have one of the Gifts of Oran.

These abilities stem from the elements themselves, and those who possess them must keep their powers hidden.

What sets this book apart is the inclusion of several strong female characters, defying the typical "sole hero" archetype. However, my favorite has always been Jobber, whose tomboyish nature resonated with me on a personal level.

Beneath her shabby scarf and thick glasses, Ophelia hides singular gifts: she can read the past of objects, and walk through mirrors, into other worlds.

Unexpectedly betrothed to an icy foreigner, Thorn, Ophelia is torn from her peaceful home and must learn to survive in a new place, cold and cruel. She quickly comes to realize that she is at the center of a conspiracy that could threaten the entire universe.

This fantasy novel is richly layered and incredibly gripping. But while the plot and world are brilliantly crafted, what truly stuck with me is the “will they, won’t they” love story at its core, so emotional you won’t be able to put the book down. 

Forerunner is the book that made me a fan of Andre Norton. I enjoyed how she mixed space travel, ESP powers, and remarkable world-building.

Andre Norton’s Forerunner influenced the paranormal part of my own world-building. The alien girl, Simsa, was a compelling character. Starting off as a streetwise orphan on the planet Kuxortal, the human spaceman Thom takes her on a journey of self-discovery.

They must stop space pirates from plundering ancient warships. To do so, she must discover her true heritage of power and nobility.

I loved this book for the new concepts it brought to me about psychic abilities, specifically telepaths that could block other’s psychic abilities.

After this, I was drawn to the book for the way it blurred the lines of reality, making me question alongside the main character if anything they were experiencing was real. I also thought the idea of the UBIK drug that kept people in a 'half-life' was fascinating and a different way to show addiction and its consequences.

Lastly, the ending was quite thrilling and kept me reading into the wee hours of the morning, even though I had work the next day! 

Is this a nine-book series? Well, yes. Sort of. It’s also a four-book series, then a duology, then a trilogy.  And the first four are set in the Pleistocene. Stay with me. 

May commits to world-building that encompasses ESP—but taken to 11; time-travel; international, intergenerational, and intergalactic political intrigue; powerful familial and romantic relationships; gut-wrenching tragedy, and the transcendence that compassion can make possible. 

To say there is a large cast of characters doesn’t begin to convey how many richly imagined, memorable creatures (not all human) populate these books; the main characters, in particular, are absolutely indelible, by turns terrifying, seductive, tortured, and quietly extraordinary. 

I could easily pick five Stephen King novels to put on this list. But if I had to pick my favorite, it would be Firestarter.

The main reason is that, out of all of King's stories, I felt this one perfectly nailed the ending. How many books have you read, and you reach the end and think, "Really? You made me read hundreds of pages for that?" Not Firestarter.

Ever since writing my first novel, I've strived to leave the reader completely satisfied or desperate for more.

Far Journeys is a profound and unusual book. The story in which Robert Monroe, who was a radio executive, finds himself having spontaneous out-of-body experiences sometimes reads like science fiction. Yet it is his honest account. Dedicated to an exploration of human consciousness, he later founded a nonprofit called The Monroe Institute, which pioneered research into changing brainwaves using only binaural sounds. Monroe kept pushing the envelope with his explorations, learning to explore places beyond our world that most have only dreamed of; and it’s given me such great inspiration for my stories. It also blew my mind and helped me make sense when I had my own glimpses of the energetic realm that he describes here. This is technically his second book, but I feel it’s even better to start here.