Here are 98 books that Spellslinger fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember. When I was young, girls my age were seeking out babies to admire. I was around the corner looking for puppies, frogs, or any other animal I could get my hands on. I’ve spent decades seeking out animals, and the more I learn about them, the more I realize how much they can teach us, point out what we otherwise might have missed, or offer a startlingly different (and often more helpful) perspective on things. The following books are some of my favorites that bring to light the unique and profound truths animals reveal to us.
Who hasn’t dreamt of being able to converse with a wolf? We get our chance in this intriguing story of Fitz Farseer, my all-time favorite character.
There’s much to enjoy in this series—royal assassins, secret mentors, and family betrayal—but what I love most is the outlawed magic that creates a deep bond between Fitz and a fearless wolf named Nighteyes, allowing them to communicate.
Nighteyes, another favorite character, reminds me of my childhood golden retriever, only with sharper fangs and claws. He reveals exactly how much we’re missing out on when we can’t converse with animals like him—sharing their sharper perceptions, grasping the wolfishly obvious, or having our human foolishness pointed out in their bluntly canine way.
Voyager Classics - timeless masterworks of science fiction and fantasy.
A beautiful clothbound edition of Assassin's Apprentice, the first book in the critically acclaimed Farseer Trilogy.
In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.
Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if…
As a fantasy writer, I love to play with possibilities and invent new words for our experiences. I find that humorous fantasy is especially powerful in this regard because it pairs possibilities with absurdity, coming at reality sideways or backwards, putting everyday life into a new and more interesting light. Humor has the unique ability to transcend genres, from thrillers to cozy mysteries. It helps you process difficult emotions, or lift your spirits when the world feels a little too dark. These are some of my favorites within this category, and they all happen to be the first books in a series (you’re welcome). I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
This is possibly the best known book on my list, yet it took me a long time to discover it.
This is a thriller-style adventure that follows Nathaniel, a young magician’s apprentice on a quest for revenge, who summons Bartimaeus, an all-powerful djinni. Nathaniel (unwittingly) and Bartimaeus (unwillingly) get caught up in a tangled plot of magic-fueled mayhem in which they have to work together to survive.
Bartimaeus’ sarcastic observations and side tangents add an element of humor that keep it from staying dark and somber, while also highlighting the underlying threads of slavery and social injustice in this fantasy world.
The first volume in the brilliant, bestselling Bartimaeus sequence.
When the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice, he expects to have to do nothing more taxing than a little levitation or a few simple illusions. But Nathaniel is a precocious talent and has something rather more dangerous in mind: revenge. Against his will, Bartimaeus is packed off to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, a master magician of unrivalled ruthlessness and ambition. Before long, both djinni and apprentice are caught up in a terrifying flood of magical intrigue, murder and rebellion.
I am an avid fantasy reader and writer. I have been writing for many years and love to craft detailed worlds and complex characters that surprise and delight readers. Stories are about challenges, overcoming the barriers that are put in front of us, and growing in the process. Characters do not have to be good or bad; they can be both, a mixture, just like real people. I strive to create characters that make people stop and think, make them question their assumptions, or relate to them in ways that they had not expected. Fantasy is about bringing real emotions to readers through an imaginary setting, and I love it.
I loved the Nevernight books because the main character is not necessarily always a hero. Mia is an assassin and cares only about killing. This means it can be uncomfortable to support her decisions and actions when they involve so much death and bloodshed.
She kills for reasons that she thinks are justified, but that isn’t always right, and it is great to see her grow and become something more than just a killing machine. She has a great personality and endures many hardships through the series but I loved reading along and seeing how she overcame everything she faced.
In a world where the suns almost never set, a woman gains entry to a school of infamous assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers that destroyed her family. Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father's failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she wanders a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and its thugs. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the hearth of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock…
I'm a long-time role-player/gamemaster and reader of SFF, and I've read, created, and played (and written!) a lot of stories.Good stories come from good characters. We all know that. But part of what makes characters good is that they're believable, and to me their believability is inextricable from the worlds they come from. A world-build—setting, weather, technology, magic, science, cultures, and languages—should BE as much of a character as the protagonist(s). While I admit a fond nostalgia for ye olde semi-Euro-medieval setting, I lovea world-build that challenges or surprises me, and I love the characters and stories that come out of those worlds. I hope you do too.
Shapeshifting lizard people. Oh. You want me to say something else?
How about... a world like no other, peopled by all manner of beings (but no humans, which is honestly a delight). The setting is so fantastic, but also so meticulously designed—every settlement and civilization feels organic, fully realized, and unlike anything else. But what about the story—?
Moon doesn't know where he's from, but he knows he's the only shapeshifter he's ever met, and the only person with wings...and worse, he thinkshe's part of the terrible Fell, a species that seems to be invasive and hostile and looks a lot like him.
Then he meets another Raksura, and learns how wrong he's been about everything, including himself.
Nominated for the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Series. "Wells...merrily ignores genre conventions as she spins an exciting adventure around an alien hero who anyone can identify with."-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Moon has spent his life hiding what he is - a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight.
An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself . . . someone…
As a kindergarten teacher and a mother of three boys, I live at the intersection of weird and wonderful, so I expect nothing less from my library. Indie authors offer unique points of view, aren’t afraid to break the rules, and are motivated by their passion for the craft of writing. I'm drawn to those writers who let the voices in their heads lead the way, creating characters you become invested in from page one. I love writing around my characters, because once I have them developed, the books tend to write themselves. Some of my best storylines are ones where my characters took over and led me in weird and wonderful directions.
The Other F Wordis a fun fantasy featuring freaky fairies. Stec’s characters are what draw me to her work. Sassy, strong women always lead the way in her stories. Reading about these fairy teens brought me back to high school: cliques, drugs, crushes, being embarrassed by my parents. I particularly enjoyed Stec’s clever fairy-sized world where dragonflies are the main mode of transportation, kids get high on honey, and Disney references are used as curse words. It’s a fun read with fabulously flawed characters and a fascinating twist.
Wandermere is anything but your typical fairy forest kingdom. You won't find any dainty, innocent, classical fairies sitting on toadstools petting baby bunnies. Instead, you'll stumble upon mouthy teen fairies wearing designer knockoffs and texting on their smart phones. It wasn't always like this, and the adults claim the reasons behind the change is to help them better deal with trips to the human world, but Dekram begins having doubts about what is real and who has been lying.
As a writer I like to explore many genres, and one of my favorites is young adult supernatural. I think I was destined to write in this world because the first book I took out of the library was Where the Wild Things Are. My favorite books as a teenager all dealt with supernatural themes – Summer of Fear, Carrie, and Audrey Rose. Writing about changelings allows me to explore the tenuous connection between what lies inside of us – our psyche, our minds, our souls – and what might exist on the other side of our known world. It’s the search for that missing link that keeps me writing.
I really enjoy C.B. Lee’s books. She writes stories with diverse characters, LGBTQ themes, and possesses a really fun voice. In this book, which is part of the Sidekick Squad series, Bells Broussard is having a hard time because he’s now a wanted villain. Lee flips the whole hero/villain archetypes and makes us question what’s good and what’s bad. Her books are for the middle grade set, but if you like superheroes and a comic book mythology like me, you’ll enjoy them.
Bells Broussard thought he had it made when his superpowers manifested early. Being a shapeshifter is awesome. He can change his hair whenever he wants and, if putting on a binder for the day is too much, hes got it covered. But that was before he became the countrys most wanted villain.After discovering a massive cover-up by the Heroes League of Heroes, Bells and his friends Jess, Emma, and Abby set off on a secret mission to find the Resistance. Meanwhile, power-hungry former hero Captain Orion is on the loose with a dangerous serum that renders meta-humans powerless, and a…
Maybe I’ve just watched too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I love stories about girls facing down terrifying monsters and coming out triumphant. These are often the kinds of books I like writing too, whether those monsters are ghosts, serial killers, or amorphous supernatural entities. As a writer of supernatural thrillers for teens, I know how empowering and cathartic it is to watch a character who has been through tough experiences face down her fears and fight for all she’s worth.
Sawkill Girls is so scary that I couldn’t read it before bed. In fact, I wouldn’t even bring it into my bedroom! But it’s also gorgeously written—eerie and atmospheric, with the most immersive worldbuilding. Its monster is terrifying, but the main characters—all girls—are so, so powerful. This is one of my top YA novels of all time.
"Reader, hang on for dear life. Sawkill Girls is a wild, gorgeous, and rich coming-of-age story about complicity, female camaraderie, and power." -Sarah Gailey, author of River of Teeth
"An eerie, atmospheric assertion of female strength." -Mindy McGinnis, author of The Female of the Species
FIVE STARRED REVIEWS
NAMED ONE OF YALSA'S 2019 BEST FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS
A BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE
A LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD NOMINEE
From the New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn comes a breathtaking and spine-tingling novel about three teenage girls who face off against an insidious monster that preys upon young women. Perfect…
Hi! I'm Maxine Kaplan and I'm a writer who is also a genre magpie. My favorite thing to do as a writer is to take a background character, or non-playable characters in gamer-speak, and make them real. What’s an archetype? It’s a type. A character described by their occupation—the princess; the femme fatale; the tavern wench (ahem)—basically the tropey background players that nobody feels the need to unpack as idiosyncratic individuals, with vibrant inner lives. This list is full of books that do this sooooo well.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this YA by the incomparable Patrick Ness. Turning the contemporary Chosen One trope on its head, The Rest of Us Just Live Here is about Mikey, just a normal kid—in a high school beset with the occasional, say, zombie problem that the other, more special kids have to take out. It’s both a classic of the genre while also lovingly parodying it. It will make you feel seen. Read it.
Award-winning writer Patrick Ness's bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.
Award-winning writer Patrick Ness's bold and irreverent novel powerfully asks what if you weren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there…
Traveling through Ireland, everyone notices the low stone walls separating fields, but occasionally much larger stones rising from the green like giant cogs on a wheel—mystical standing stone circles. One in particular—Beltany in Co. Donegal—became the inspiration for my Circle of Nine series, which is a mix of Celtic mythology, pagan ritual, and magic set within alternating historical and modern storylines. It’s no wonder that the books I most like to read are also the same kind I write. There’s nothing better than picking up a new book and immersing myself in these worlds with their rich magical systems, historical details, suspenseful plots, and often a good dose of romance.
The Sweep series was one of the first witch series I ever read, and I promise you that it is still so, so good. Plus, there are 15 books to provide hours of entertainment. The story is very Wicca-based with well-described details of rituals and rites that will immerse you in each scene. I was immediately drawn to the main character, Morgan, and her struggles as she learns of her powers. The characters engage in familiar teenage drama, but everything is heightened by the magic they’re immersed in. Suspenseful, fast-paced, and just a little bit dangerous.
Morgan and her best friend, Bree, are introduced to Wicca when a gorgeous senior named Cal invites them to join his new coven. Morgan falls for Cal immediately? and discovers that she has strong,inexplicable powers.
As a Gen X kid growing up in a very conservative place, I struggled with gender, not feeling like the girl I was supposed to be. I knew I wasn’t a boy, and that just led to uncertainty and perpetual emotional discomfort. When I first heard about the concept of nonbinary gender a few years ago, my mind was blown. I knew if I were young, I would have immediately come out as nonbinary. But as an older person, it felt weird and pointless. Writing and reading books about people struggling with gender gave me the courage to finally be true to myself, and acknowledge that I am agender.
Reading this graphic novel just feels good. It’s so positive and full of all kinds of sweet relationships—romantic, friends, and family.
It’s also a fantastic portrayal of numerous people with something that makes them different from most others, including wearing hearing aids, lesbian grandmas, large bodies, and last but not least, being nonbinary. None of these things is an issue in the book, and instead they’re presented as being as normal as breathing.
I just love the normalization of human differences. Add to that the fun urban fantasy elements of magic and werewolves, and it’s a perfect mix.
"Mooncakes is spellbinding. It had everything I love in a story-magic that felt inventive, characters that became my friends, and a romance that felt truly authentic. It was one of those books that I was sad to see end. Luckily, I can always reread." -Tillie Walden, creator of Spinning and On a Sunbeam
"Mooncakes transported me to a gorgeous magical realm that I never want to leave, and introduced me to lovable characters who stuck with me long after I finished reading. This graphic novel is the joyful fantasy romance we all need right now, and it might just restore…
