Here are 60 books that Rhythm of War fans have personally recommended if you like
Rhythm of War.
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I grew up watching 80s Saturday morning cartoons, playing RPGs such as Final Fantasy. Those cartoons and games didn’t care about genre, they cared about telling a story, about making you care about the characters. Hence you could have wizards driving space cars, or knights battling giant robots and so on. They were proof of how wonderfully crazy our imagination can go when we threw labels away and just create stories. The books in this list allow themselves to do that and go bigger, go bolder, showing us the readers what’s possible if we let loose. I hope this list takes others on such wonderful rides, like they did with me.
Cosmic horror and fantasy have shared a close relationship since the times of Robert E. Howard. But historical fantasy and cosmic horror? Now that’s different.
If you are a fan of series such as The Last Kingdom, or enjoy a bit of cosmic horror in the vein of the Cthulhu Mythos, this is for you. Written by Gary Whitta, who also wrote the script for Rogue One. Set during Alfred the Great’s rule, this is a story about a knight that saves his kingdom at great personal cost thanks to the dabbling in dark magic from a deranged monk.
The tension and trepidation grow with every page. And that’s just half the story. Don’t let the body horror distract you, this is at its core a story about family love.
"Whitta is a master of suspense. Abomination grabs you and doesn't let go." ―Hugh Howey, New York Times-Bestselling Author of Wool
He is England's greatest knight, the man who saved the life of Alfred the Great and an entire kingdom from a Viking invasion. But when he is called back into service to combat a plague of monstrous beasts known as abominations, he meets a fate worse than death and is condemned to a life of anguish, solitude, and remorse.
She is a fierce young warrior, raised among an elite order of knights. Driven by a dark secret from her…
I have had a love of sci-fi and fantasy since I was twelve, and I have been an avid reader since then. I have always had an obsession with all things space and the mysteries that reside out there, and it was my dream to create a story that intermixed that with the fantasy worlds I grew up adoring. Since I released my debut book, I have broken into the indie social scene across multiple platforms. I am part of a sixteen-person author group where we share our passion and ideas for one another’s writing, and I have been on numerous BookTube channels and podcasts discussing the craft.
I recommend this bookbecause it is my favorite book series ever. The expansive world-building, the storylines that come full circle throughout the fourteen-book series, and the epic magic system all awed me.
This series was the first time I felt pulled into an in-depth world created by an author. It was like traveling to a new dimension in my mind, and it was a fantastic experience. This recommendation is book one in the series.
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the Two Rivers seeking their master's enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al'Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light .
I’m a lifelong fantasy reader, but all too often, I find myself grousing at the characters: “Listen! You could solve all your problems with a really confident lie!” Or: “...by revealing the truth in a public campaign before the villain gets you!” Or: “May I suggest a well-placed arrow?” Or: “Is he really the villain? The infrastructure seems pretty sound, and you have no expertise in governance!” Every now and then, I’m delighted to find characters as pragmatic as I am (or as I would be if I were a fantasy hero). These are my favorites.
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.
Stephen’s god died on the longest day of the year…
Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…
From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far…
I identify as a member of the GLBTQ+ community. My husband and I had a church wedding. I have written several stories that have GLBTQ+ representation and are love stories. I have also read and familiarized myself with many GLBTQ+ children’s books.
In this follow-up to Prince and Knight by Daniel Haack, our two heroes fight a dark shadow spread over the kingdom. Their love is tested when the prince saves the knight’s life from beasts and monsters. When they reach the Shadow King, the cause of the darkness, he sees the love between the prince and knight, which gives him hope for the future. He realizes that it’s okay to love someone of the same gender.
The book has beautiful messages of acceptance, forgiveness, and being proud of your own authentic self. The illustrations are charming, like an animated film.
I started writing way back in grade school, and I love to read. My first book came out in 1990, after much work and many classes. It was one of the proudest days of my life. To date, I've published over forty books, both fiction and non-fiction. I worked hard on my writing and, later, also on developing my psychic gifts to help lost, lonely souls. Both are the result of lots of studying and development, but both of which give me immense satisfaction. Along with years of writing experience, I have over thirty years of paranormal investigative experience.
A Knight in Shining Armor was the first time travel I ever read.
I immediately fell in love with the genre and the story. It is a story with a conflict that appears to be impossible to overcome: two people perfect for each other but without a chance at a future together. Dougless travels back to Nicholas' time, centuries in the past.
To her, he's a miracle, a man who accepts her as she is. The adventures they go through only strengthen their love for each other. Yet there's always the conflict of her returning and leaving him behind.
Still, there's one of those happy-ever-after endings that gives you hope and lingers in your memory rather than a romance you don't remember after you close that last page.
A time-travel romance featuring a present-day heroine and a dashing hero from the sixteenth century!
Abandoned by a cruel fate, lovely Dougless Montgomery lies weeping upon a cold tombstone in an English church. Suddenly, the most extraordinary man appears. It is Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck...and according to his tombstone he died in 1564.
Drawn to his side by a bond so sudden and compelling it overshadows reason, Dougless knows that Nicholas is nothing less than a miracle: a man who does not seek to change her, who finds her perfect, fascinating, just as she is. What Dougless never imagined…
All the best books have a cat sidekick. Over and over, when people talk to me about my book, they pause in the middle of whatever they were about to say and go, “Oh my gosh, Biscuits,” and then launch into a list of things Biscuits the cat does, and how they are similar to things their cats have done, presumably up to and including throwing hands (paws?) with horrifying monsters that want to eat your heart. Biscuits is the latest in a long and proud tradition of literary feline companions, an essential element of many of my favorite and formative texts growing up.
The thing about a pet finding its way into your life at exactly the right time is that it does kind of feel like a divinity sent you a little helper to keep your life from completely falling apart while you are pretending to be a boy so you can become a knight or while you are on a writing deadline and very stressed out, which are two challenges that are equally difficult and noble.
From Tamora Pierce, the second book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award.
Alanna, disguised as a boy, becomes a squire to none other than the heir to the throne. Prince Jonathan is not only Alanna’s liege lord, he is also her best friend—and one of the few who knows the secret of her true identity. But when a vicious sorcerer threatens the prince’s life, it will take all of Alanna’s skill, strength, and magical power to protect him, even at the risk of surrendering her dreams…
I've always been fascinated by the way history feels inherently uncanny, as we inhabit the same places as people long dead. I suppose that’s why the novels I write tend to be in historical settings, and they tend to have a speculative twist. For much of my working life, I was a journalist, so I love the research part of writing historical fiction. I tend to be drawn to old stories, and I especially love looking at those stories from angles I haven't seen before. Two of my novels bookend the European Middle Ages: The Valkyrie, set in the 5th century CE, and The Chatelaine, set in the 14th century CE.
Some novels lean into the alienness of their historical settings, making them feel almost like secondary worlds.
The Buried Giant is one of those. It takes place partly in legend, after the death of King Arthur, and follows an elderly married couple in a society that has quite literally lost its memory. I struggled with this book at first because the prose is so unassuming, but it got under my skin.
Ishiguro's simple prose creates a feeling of unsettling ordinariness, like the way your dreaming brain accepts a logic your waking brain never could.
*Kazuo Ishiguro's new novel Klara and the Sun is now available*
The Romans have long since departed, and Britain is steadily declining into ruin.
The Buried Giant begins as a couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen for years. They expect to face many hazards - some strange and other-worldly - but they cannot yet foresee how their journey will reveal to them dark and forgotten corners of their love for one another.
Fantasy is my favorite genre, and honestly, I’m pretty deep in it. Not only do I read a lot of fantasy, I also write fantasy novels. I’ve been an active TTRPG player for the last few years, even creating and running a few campaigns. In addition, I wrote a one-shot campaign set in the world of my fantasy series, the Gifted Lands, which people can get for free when they sign up for my newsletter on my website. So it’s safe to say, I like fantasy. :) If you check out any of these books, let me know what you think of them!
Hilari Bell’s Knight and Rogue series is about Michael, a nobleman turned knight-errant, and his reluctant squire Fisk.
In Lady’s Pursuit, they work together one last time to save a damsel in distress, but it’s the relationship between the two men, with their different backgrounds and worldviews, that really make the book stand out.
Lady’s Pursuit is a satisfying conclusion to a fun and thoughtful series, and can be read alone (although I do recommend the whole series if you want more backstory).
Hilari Bell is my go-to author for mid-story twists—bad guys aren’t necessarily bad, they have strong reasons for their actions. Makes for a satisfying, thought-provoking read.
Rescuing a damsel in distress should be the perfect job for a knight errant... Unfortunately this damsel is the liege heir’s mistress, and figuring out what happened to her will bring Michael into close contact with the court—the last thing an unredeemed man, who is dead to the law, needs. Not to mention that news of his ex-squire Fisk’s engagement might get back to Kathy’s father—which might be worse than a brush with the law! But the heir’s mistress is Kathy’s best friend, and it looks like she really has been kidnapped. Pursuing an abducted damsel across the realm, with…
I’m Lindsay, and I never stop falling in love with human creativity. From the moment I first cracked open a library-borrowed copy of The Wizard of Ozas a child, I’ve been asking “What if…?” and I’ve delighted in how other authors imaginatively tackle that question. My interests are eclectic, ranging from history and politics to baking and sparkly things. I read to be swept away and to take a peek inside the storyteller’s mind and heart.
The quintessential YA Christian fantasy story in my opinion! Jill hits every fantasy beat perfectly, and I particularly loved the obvious care she put into the details. The result is a world that feels ripped from the pages of history, yet it’s overlaid with spiritual themes, supernatural happenings (bloodvoicing, anyone?), and allusions to Christ that will resonate for followers of Jesus. When I want a story that has overt and uplifting Christian themes, I reach for this series.
Half of Er'Rets is locked beneath an impenetrable shroud. On the side that still sees the sun, two young people struggle to understand the mind-communication abilities thrust upon them.
It's called bloodvoicing. Some say it's a gift. One of the newly "gifted" wish it had never come.
Achan had been a slave all his life. Worse than a slave—a stray. He is consigned to the kitchens of a lord and forced to swallow a foul potion every day. When an enigmatic knight offers to train Achan for the Kingsguard, he readily accepts. But his new skills…
Full disclosure: I don’t know much about swords. But as a children’s author and English teacher, I’ve learnt what makes kids want to pick up a book. In short, make it fun! My teenage membership in the Young Archaeologists Club sparked my love of history and archeology. It wasn’t quite as glamorous as Indiana Jones would have you believe, but the idea that hidden treasures might be lurking under our gardens has fascinated me ever since.
Who doesn’t love this book? Only those who haven’t read it.
I love the blend of humour and adventure but, in particular, the way that White transforms these characters from mythical figures to real people. And what a story! Which, you may have forgotten, also features an appearance from another legendary British figure: Robin Hood.
The extraordinary story of a boy called Wart - ignored by everyone except his tutor, Merlyn - who goes on to become King Arthur.
Collins Modern Classics are re-launched with gorgeous new covers bringing these timeless story to a new generation.
"Come, sword," said the Wart. He took hold of the handles with both hands, and strained against the stone... but nothing moved...
When the wizard Merlyn comes to tutor Sir Ector's sons, Kay and the Wart, studying suddenly becomes much more exciting. After all, who wouldn't enjoy being turned into a fish, or a badger, or a snake?
