83 books like Prince Caspian

I’ve loved this book since I was a teenager, but I always feel frustrated and angry at Miss Havisham’s entrapment of Estella and Pip. Central to the story is Satis House, a metaphor for getting stuck in life—its name is very close to Stasis. 

The original end of the novel works much better for me. Pip and Estella meet by chance in the street and part for the last time. The ‘new’ ending has them go off together against a backdrop of burned-down Satis House, thus removing the irony of the book’s title. Although there is the heavy-handed metaphor of the death of the house freeing them, I prefer that it retains its static power and condemns their expectations forever.

Susan Howatch walked away from her career as a highly successful novelist some years ago, but she’s well worth a read. Penmarric is the name of another Cornish mansion that is the fixed point in a swirling family saga. She took as her template the lives of the Plantagenet King Henry II and his powerful wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, plus their warring sons, with the house Penmarric standing in for the throne they fought over. You don’t need to know medieval history to enjoy the yarn.

Divided into five sections, each is narrated by a different family member. The action kicks off in 1890 with Mark Castallack clapping eyes on his complicated, older, future wife, Janna, in a churchyard. His mother, Maud, has directed her whole life towards regaining possession of the family estate, left to her cousin Giles instead of her because of primogeniture, and Maud was the wrong… show more.

I know most people’s favorite Shirley Jackson haunted house book is The Haunting of Hill House, but I find the mystery in this book even more compelling.

Give me two sisters, a family killed by poison under mysterious circumstances, a suitor, an angry mob filled with class envy, and an unreliable narrator, and I will be filled with that peculiar combination of happiness, unease, and dread that all of us haunted house readers desire. I love this novel. 

If you think Georgette Heyer is all sprigged muslin, firm-jawed heroes, forthright heroines, and cod-Austen visits to Bath, think again. This is a bizarre novel, indeed. 

It’s not even one of her "mysteries" like Footsteps in the Dark—fairly straightforward murder stories where something has to be solved. Instead, Penhallow is a house, a seething breeding ground for horrible people intent on doing awful things to each other. 

Each character is drawn in frighteningly frank detail, so you are left in no doubt of their weaknesses and peccadillos. Penhallow is like some kind of disgusting nest, and the manipulative patriarch Adam Penhallow, disabled in some unspecified way, has dragged all the best antiques into the huge drawing room where he infests a vast Tudor bed and holds court every night.

Nearly everyone hates him but can’t break away. He likes to keep his family, illegitimate and otherwise, under his… show more.

I love this series of three short novels enough to have read it more times than I can count. The language of the novel is simple and evocative. I love the main character, a young wizard who starts out as proud, angry and arrogant, but becomes deeply compassionate when his hubris leads him to make a tragic and evil use of magic.

I could feel myself grabbed by the world of the novel, a world of men and dragons, of islands dotted in an endless sea, of powerful mages who interfere at their peril with the precarious balance of the world between good and evil. 

I love this book for its keen originality, which turns tropes on their heads while telling a story that both kids and adults enjoy. It is set in a strange, whimsical, and fragmented fairyland. I simply cannot get over how wonderfully surprising Valente's tone and writing style are.

It's both fluid and fun, yet matter-of-fact in its telling of September, a brave and stubborn heroine as she navigates a mostly broken Fairyland and its cadre of colorful and unexpected creatures, such as a soap golem, centipedes, and a spoonless witch, to name a few. 

It was surprising how much a series for children spoke to my heart. I loved the deep worldbuilding that didn’t shy away from the darker things. As I listened with my daughter, I was overcome by the message of truth, transformation, and the power to do good. This beautiful story encouraged us to have value and purpose in this world–one that is more about being than doing.

This fantasy, set in a reimagined Italy, literally made me want to dive into the world.

I am still thinking about the romance of the book and the predicament Alessa finds herself in. Oh, and did I mention all the delicious food within the book? I could basically taste the gelato.

While I was heavily invested in the romance, I thought the plot was so interesting and well-woven into the story.

Eileen is one of the most twisted and unconventional literary heroines I’ve ever read. Behind her quiet demeanor and dull face hides her mind, which is like a killer’s, always furious and seething.

While working at a juvenile correctional facility, Eileen meets Rebecca, another key character far removed from most women of their generation. Seductive and deceitful, Rebecca cajoles Eileen into joining her act of crime–a violent, underhanded plan to restore her idea of justice. 

I was immediately enthralled by this queer Jewish-found fantasy book, pitched as Scorpio Races meets Peaky Blinders.

The daughter of a renowned family facing impending ruin teams up with a rogue enchanter and an ambitious heir to win a deadly horse race using forbidden magic.

As I read this book in a single sitting, my heart felt like I was the one running a race. I loved the entire gang, as well as the star of this particular found family—the cat.