Here are 73 books that The Elvenbane fans have personally recommended if you like
The Elvenbane.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
An avid reader my whole life, I jumped into epic fantasy at age eleven. Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan were all high school favorites (and they are wonderful) but by the time I had reached the age that I was supposed to be reading their books, my palette was fairly jaded. The thrill of discovering new worlds and surprising magic was growing elusive, but wonder remains my favorite beat as a reader. I consider it the ultimate challenge in my own writing, and I greedily collect books that surprise me with their scope and imagination, leaving me awed and wonderstruck.
I encountered Grace Lin’s middle-grade fantasy series as an adult, and I can assure you that they are worth reading regardless of your age! When the Sea Turned Silver is littered with metaphors that will make you catch your breath and yet also become literal as her whimsical magic manifests. Chinese folklore that has been stretched and recreated by Lin’s imagination, the book begins with wild tales that are dismissed by the characters as impossible only to culminate with boundless magic that feels inevitable and is even more splendid than the stories they first heard. If you haven’t read these, you’re missing out!
Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most exciting tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller.
Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night. Determined to have her grandmother returned, Pinmei embarks on a journey to find the Luminous Stone alongside her friend Yishan, a mysterious boy who seems to have his own secrets to hide. Together, the two must face obstacles usually found only in legends to find the Luminous Stone and save Pinmei's…
History and legend: The actual past and all the myths and stories that ride along with it. I have an M.A. in history and have always been interested in old folklore and myth. So I write fantasy novels set in the 19th century. The flair is steampunk-ish, the setting strictly historical – except for the fact that magic and mythical creatures exist. Magic is taught in Arcane Lodges, mythical beings can be pretty much anything: vampire, body-snatcher, werewolf, dryad, nymph, etc. My first novel Obsidian Secrets (Das Obsidianherz) won the Deutscher Phantastik Preis. Wings of Stone of the same series won the SERAPH as the "Best Fantasy Novel" at Leipzig Book Fair.
I love Tanya Huff’s style of writing as much as I like her wonderful ideas.
The heroes and heroines in her novels are so well crafted you almost feel you know them personally, which to my mind is the key to a good read.
The Silvered has Steampunk elements. It is, however, set in an invented world that shows some resemblance to our 19th century. The book is a thrilling fantasy novel combining Steampunk with magic: I love the combination.
The Empire has declared war on the were-ruled kingdom of Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-Pack, including the wife of the Pack- leader.
With the Pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen-she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the Pack- leader-to save them. But with every step into enemy territory, the odds against their survival grow steeper...
At heart, I believe every one of us is creative. It doesn’t matter if you express your creativity through words, notes, metal, wood, food, fabric, or paint. Personally, I love to sketch, paint, write, and sculpt. There is something magical about bringing your imagination to life and sharing it with the world! Our art allows us to share our emotions, dreams, memories, and culture with the world. As a fantasy author, I wanted to create a place where art can transform the physical world too.
If you haven’t read anything by Brian Sanderson, this novella is a great place to start.
It is a fast read with a hopeful tone and satisfying ending. In this story, Shai is caught forging a priceless artifact. As punishment, she must forge a soul for the emperor who is in a coma. If her forgery doesn’t work, the empire will fall into chaos.
The magic of Shai’s forging is very cool; she creates stamps that can rewrite the nature of an object’s existence. The Emperor’s Soul spoke to me on a personal level. My stepmother is a Japanese artist, and I grew up watching her carefully seal her pieces with her custom, red stamp.
Highly recommended to anyone looking for that quick, feel-good punch that great fantasy can provide!
From the bestselling author of the Mistborn Trilogy and co-author of the final three books of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series comes the tale of a heretic thief who may be an Empire's only hope for survival.
Shai is a Forger: a foreigner who can flawlessly re-create any item by rewriting its history using skillful magic . . . although she's currently condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor's sceptre, she has one last opportunity to save herself. The emperor has barely survived an assassination attempt, he needs a new soul and, despite viewing her skill as…
An avid reader my whole life, I jumped into epic fantasy at age eleven. Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan were all high school favorites (and they are wonderful) but by the time I had reached the age that I was supposed to be reading their books, my palette was fairly jaded. The thrill of discovering new worlds and surprising magic was growing elusive, but wonder remains my favorite beat as a reader. I consider it the ultimate challenge in my own writing, and I greedily collect books that surprise me with their scope and imagination, leaving me awed and wonderstruck.
Starlessis a classic epic—a band of characters undertakes a dangerous quest to fulfill an ancient prophesy—but its creativity will keep you gasping. I dare not enumerate the many marvels Carey created lest I ruin the surprise for readers, but I can tell you that it features thousands of fallen stars who become deities in the world, and manifest their power and identities in varied and unpredictable ways. Besides the magic itself, Starlessalso features many different cultures and lands that make me think Carey’s mind must be a beautiful and dangerous place! This book might be telling the oldest story, but it does so in revolutionary ways.
I was nine years old the first time I tried to kill a man...
Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him.
In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity. But in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.
I am an author and avid reader of romance, especially those full of conflict in a world heavy with magic, shifters, vampires, and others. My dad was a great storyteller and sparked my interest in the paranormal. When I was a kid, he’d tell me stories about growing up in the mountains of Puerto Rico. The evil that lived there. My imagination took it from there. I wish I would’ve written down those stories. I can’t get him to talk about them anymore. It might be the reason why The Nine: Zane had started out as a contemporary romance story until Zane took over with all his paranormal drama.
Another one of Ariana Nash’s books. This one about a dragon shifter and an elf.
The elves are at war with the dragons. Their kind do not mix, which is the major conflict in the story. The elf hates the dragon while the dragon continues to prove that he’s not evil. It’s heartbreaking at times and satisfying in others.
A slow burn with an eventual HEA which is satisfying.
Duty demands they fight for their people but love has other plans.
Eroan, one of the last elven assassins, lives for one purpose: kill the queen.
He would have succeeded if not for her last line of defense: Prince Lysander. Now, captured and forced into the queen's harem, Eroan sees another opportunity. Why kill just the queen when he can kill them all? It would be simple, if not for the troubled and alluring dragon prince. A warrior, a killer, and something else... something Eroan finds himself inexplicably drawn to.
Like many people, The Lord of the Ringscaptivated me as a child. I read those books as well as The Hobbit half a dozen times before I was twelve, and a couple of times more since. What’s more, I was lucky enough to be nine when the first movie came out, which only furthered my childhood obsession. Though I’m less enthralled by the series now, the classic quest it represents still has a place in my heart. I’ve tried to reproduce the grandeur and adventure of that story in my writing, and I’ve found a good portion of it in the books I recommend below. May they take you on captivating new journeys!
About as classic as modern fantasy gets, Rise of the Rangernevertheless breathes fresh air into the genre. Both an epic and a quest story, it features characters spread out across the entirety of the world, yet their fates slowly become connected in the grand war that is only beginning. Witness the conflicts between elves, assassins, mages, and dragons all navigated by a host of likable and interesting protagonists, and enjoy a quest as it was meant to be.
Praise for Philip C. Quaintrell’s ‘The Echoes Saga’:
'For lovers of your classic Tolkien, this series has it all' - Alan Coleman - Amazon customer
'Best newcomer to the genre. Philip is up there with Feist and Sanderson' - Philip Spick - Amazon customer
300,000 COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
--
THE ECHOES OF FATE, A PROPHECY UTTERED UNTO THE WORLD A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, CANNOT BE DENIED…
Mankind has lorded over the land of Illian for a thousand years, building on the ruins left by the elves, as if it were their birthright. A thousand years is a long time for…
I especially love reading fantasy stories and stories based on actual historical events. I've been an avid reader since I was a little girl; while my siblings were playing outside or inside with toys I was the one sat curled up in the corner reading. I've also worked hard and gained qualifications in creative writing. I've also had a passion for writing and have written my own fantasy novels; being an author is simply amazing because you can create characters that are unique and special as well as true to life, plus you get to create worlds that are entirely different to our own.
This is a box set containing the complete Daughter of Shadow series. Four full-length books filled with spellbinding fantasy romance. The Daughter of Shadow series is a slow-burn and slow-build romantic fantasy that will have you on the edge of your seat sometimes. This is absolutely perfect for those who love reading about unique worlds combined with supernatural creatures such as elves and dragons. This series will draw you into a fantastic world of pure fantasy featuring strong, fiercely protective men who will do anything for the story's heroine, who just so happens to be the centre of their world. The story's heroine is a strong, mighty, magical woman who is a well-written and relatable character.
A sorceress with dark magic who’s a threat to the kingdom. Three powerful men from the royal courts sworn to protect her. And a pet dragon with a secret.
The dragons are dead, the Ebon Queen has destroyed the elven realms, and the courts are at war. The queen’s dark magic is growing in strength, and the kingdom is losing the battle against her. Three men are sent from the Silvercrest stronghold to seek others who can aid their cause.
Leander, a high-ranking and domineering High Lord. Rohan, a fierce and seductive knight of the realm. Galen, a deceptively gentle…
I hoovered up fairytales when I was small, and when I learned to read on my own, I moved on to myths: British, Norse, Greek, Celtic... the Mabinogion, Edda, Ragnarok, Gilgamesh, Beowulf, you name it, I devoured it. From there it was a short hop for a voracious reader to fantasy fiction based on myths and when I began to write, that became a theme in my fiction. My first couple of books were influenced by Susan Cooper’s writing, andThe Keepers’ Daughterdraws on the Atlantis legend. Myths last for a reason: they may not be real, but at some level, they’re true....
Catherine Fisher uses myths brilliantly in all her books, but best of all in the trilogy of which The Oracle is the first volume. It’s a wonderful mash-up of Egyptian and Greek legends with characters you will grow to care about more and more with every page. Junior priestess Mirany begins to doubt the existence of the God she serves. The land where she lives is dying of drought, but the God doesn’t seem to listen to his people anymore, and a struggle for power that could destroy them all is about to take place.
In the distant land of deserts and islands, the servants of the god rule the land, his wishes conveyed through the Oracle and interpreted by the High Priestess. Mirany is the new Bearer, afraid of her perilous duties for the god in the rituals of the Oracle, and fearful of her secret questioning ... Does the god truly exist?
The priestess is corrupt and in secret partnership with the General, ruler, since the God-on-Earth, the Archon, has no real power - chosen as a child, his face always masked, never seen by outsiders. Should any national tragedy occur, he is…
Since childhood, I’ve been creating stories about worlds just beyond the reach of our fingers but not beyond the reach of our minds. Now, all grown up, I have the pleasure of seeing those stories on bookstore shelves—some in locations and languages all over the world.
Fear No Evil is the first in Allen’sTowers of Light series of family reads. In similar fashion to the Wingfeather Saga, a group of siblings must navigate a new world to save their parents. Allen’s world enables us to see a world untouched by sin and then the damage done when sin begins to taint the landscape and its inhabitants. I love these stories so much because of Allen’s unique fireside storytelling style. The easy and almost rhythmic flow of his prose lends itself to read-alouds that adults, middle graders, and younger siblings can all enjoy.
Separated by tragedy on the river... ...Lauren, Aiden and Ethan are lost and alone in a valley of darkness.
Without each other or their Knight Protector, the three siblings must navigate the wilderness while fending off creatures tainted by evil. Meanwhile, the yellow acolyte has ascended the throne of the Iron Hills and holds Mother and Father captive in the heart of the mountain.
Will the children's faith give them the courage to save their parents?
"My kids are loving these books! They arrive and are devoured quickly and passed on to the next child to read. I like to…
I’ve always loved the darker side of fantasy. While heroes, knights, and handsome kings can occasionally be enjoyable, I want to know the other characters who have suffered, hurt, lost, grieved, and been hardened by grim circumstances and cruel fate. Those characters demonstrate the resilience of human nature and how goodness truly can exist even in the harshest environment. I love using this darkness in my own novels to show that even the tiniest spark can shine immensely bright—a true testament to the indefatigability of our spirits.
I love the cunning, wit, and charm of the one-and-only Vlad Taltos. Though he’s an assassin, he’s never cruel or wicked; he merely does what he needs to appease the “mafia-feeling” organization he works for. He’s almost more a swashbuckling rogue than a killer.
In his interactions with his familiar, Loiosh, you see his more nuanced side, the morality beneath the magic and swordplay. And few fantasy worlds I’ve ever visited have been as rich and colorful as those created in the Vlad Taltos series.
The first three fantastical adventures of assassin Vlad Taltos—now in one volume.
A welcome addition to any fantasy fan's library, The Book of Jhereg follows the antics of the wise-cracking Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion through their first three adventures—Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla.
There are many ways for a young man with quick wits and a quick sword to advance in the world. Vlad Taltos chose the route of assassin. From his rookie days to his selfless feats of heroism, the dauntless Vlad will hold readers spellbound—and The Book of Jhereg will take its place among the classic compilations…
