58 books like The Gates of Troy

By Glyn Iliffe,

Here are 58 books that The Gates of Troy fans have personally recommended if you like The Gates of Troy. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Nevernight

Danny Beeson Author Of The Origin of the Wolf

From my list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Danny's book list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes

Danny Beeson Why did Danny love this book?

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.

By Jay Kristoff,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Nevernight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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…


Book cover of Half a King

Danny Beeson Author Of The Origin of the Wolf

From my list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Danny's book list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes

Danny Beeson Why did Danny love this book?

I loved this book because it is all about the main character, Yarvi, overcoming the obstacles that are thrown at him through no fault of his own. Yarvi is happy with his life; he does not seek problems or hunger for more; he is simply expected to do something, and everything begins to unravel from there.

I really liked Yarvi. He is likable and quick-witted, and his intelligence makes up for his disability, which means others often put him down. I loved his journey and his character growth with an ending that was just perfect.

By Joe Abercrombie,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Half a King as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND THE WASHINGTON POST • LOCUS AWARD WINNER

“The Shattered Seas trilogy has worked its way into a very exclusive group of my favorite fantasy novels of all time.”—James Dashner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner

“A fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go.”—George R. R. Martin

“I swore an oath to avenge the death of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath.”

Prince Yarvi has vowed to…


Book cover of The Fellowship of the Ring

Danny Beeson Author Of The Origin of the Wolf

From my list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Danny's book list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes

Danny Beeson Why did Danny love this book?

Where to start? Lord of the Rings contains countless unlikely heroes. From Frodo and Sam, simple hobbits who have to undergo an impossible task to save the entire world, to Theoden or Faramir, the books are full of tales of valor and strength as the good of the world strives to overcome an impossible evil.

The books are written with the key theme that even ordinary people can do great good, and that is reflected in the Hobbits. They are an ordinary race, unimportant for most of history, but they possess the courage and the heart to save their world. I love these books above all else, and the characters are all inspiring and loveable.

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked The Fellowship of the Ring as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

This brand-new unabridged audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings, is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord Sauron's evil dominion.

Thus begins J. R. R. Tolkien's classic tale of adventure, which continues in…


Book cover of Malice

Danny Beeson Author Of The Origin of the Wolf

From my list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

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.

Danny's book list on fantasy with unlikely but loveable heroes

Danny Beeson Why did Danny love this book?

I loved these books, and I loved Corban, especially because he is just a simple man who is thrust into something far bigger than he could ever have imagined. Corban is loyal and kind, a young boy who dreams of becoming a warrior but perhaps lacks the skill. When the world begins to fall apart around him, Corban is suddenly thrown into a fight he does not understand and is unsure if he can truly win.

Facing a powerful evil, I love how Corban always puts his friends and family first, doing everything he can to protect the ones he loves from the dangers they face.

By John Gwynne,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Malice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book in acclaimed epic fantasy author John Gwynne's Faithful and Fallen series, Malice is a tale of blind greed, ambition, and betrayal set in a world where ancient monsters are reawakening -- and a war to end all wars is about to begin.

The world is broken. . .and it can never be made whole again.

Corban wants nothing more than to be a warrior under King Brenin's rule -- to protect and serve. But that day will come all too soon. And the price he pays will be in blood.

Evnis has sacrificed -- too much it…


Book cover of The Odyssey

Greta Hawes Author Of Pausanias in the World of Greek Myth

From my list on proving that Greek myth (still) matters.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I tell people I think about Greek myths for a living, they tend not to believe me.  But I’ve never considered Greek myths to be at all odd or mysterious. After all, telling stories is a very normal human activity. Most recently I’ve been working to better understand how ancient communities attached stories to the places they lived in and this has resulted in MANTO, a huge mapping project, which anyone can look at here: https://www.manto-myth.org/manto

Greta's book list on proving that Greek myth (still) matters

Greta Hawes Why did Greta love this book?

Once Troy was conquered, the Greeks had to get back home. Few heroes managed this without drama, but even on this benchmark, Odysseus’ ten-year (a-hem) odyssey was an outlier.

You can read this as the first great traveller’s tale: the Odyssey will immerse you in a giant, detailed story world of gods, heroes, and monsters traversed by a protagonist famous for his clever schemes and his stretching of the truth.

Emily Wilson’s translation really can’t be beaten: she brings before our eyes and ears again a fantasy world given weight by very human stories of loss and longing.

By Emily Wilson (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Odyssey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Hades' Daughter

Luciana Cavallaro Author Of Search for the Golden Serpent

From my list on fantasy that blends the past and the imaginary.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my teens, I read a book by Charles Berlitz titled Atlantis: the lost continent. I was enthralled and fascinated about this lost race of people, who were technically and sophisticated advance society and on one fateful day, vanished. My appetite for Greek mythology and ancient history grew from there, and I wanted to learn more about various ancient cultures and their mythologies. I eventually studied ancient history and continue my education as new archaeological discoveries and advancements are made. It wasn’t until a trip to Europe and seeing the Roman Forum and Colosseum, that I was inspired to write and combine my love for mythology and ancient history into historical fiction fantasy.

Luciana's book list on fantasy that blends the past and the imaginary

Luciana Cavallaro Why did Luciana love this book?

Okay, I’m stretching the friendship here with another series but this quartet by Sarah Douglass was different to other books I had read at the time.

Book 1 introduces you to a myriad of characters and begins with the myth of Theseus and the minotaur including Ariadne. Very important to know the background as the story unfolds. I loved this series. It was so unexpected as the characters are reborn into different eras and the traits of each character change as you follow them from one time period to another.

The amount of historical detail in each book was a winner for me, as was the mythology included throughout the series, from ancient Greece to ancient Britain.

By Sara Douglass,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hades' Daughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ancient Greece is a place where mortals are the play things of the gods - but at the core of their city-state is a Labyrinth, where mortals can shape the heavens to their own design. When Theseus comes away from the Labyrinth with the prize and his beloved, the Mistress of the Labyrinth, his future seems assured. But she bears him only a daughter - and when he casts her aside for this, the world changes. From that day forward, the Labyrinths decay, and power fades from the city-states. A hundred years pass, Troy falls, the Trojans scatter. Then Brutus,…


Book cover of The World of Odysseus

Robert Garland Author Of The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World

From my list on making Ancient Greece come alive.

Why am I passionate about this?

I became enthralled by the ancient world when as a child I first saw those sand and sandals movies back in the sixties, Ben Hur and Spartacus especially. I began learning Latin aged nine and Greek aged twelve. I started a Ph.D., abandoned it, went to drama school, became a schoolteacher, worked as a professional gardener, became a schoolteacher again, eventually finished my Ph.D., and was lucky to get a job at Colgate University. Over time I realised that what really fascinated me about history was trying to insert myself imaginatively into the ancient world, so I began to ask questions about what it was like to be disabled, to be a refugee, to be a child, and so on.

Robert's book list on making Ancient Greece come alive

Robert Garland Why did Robert love this book?

This book made a deep impact on me when I first read it decades ago and it influenced me in the way I try to understand and write history to this day. I’d already read The Odyssey when I encountered Finley’s book, but Finley made me believe in a world that became real despite being imaginary. The World of Odysseus is an amalgam of the half-remembered world in which it is set – the twelfth century BC – and of the world in which Homer was composing – the eighth century BC – and of the big gap in between the two, known as the Dark Ages.

It’s a completely artificial world but it’s wholly convincing and coherent – a world, incidentally, dominated by a large cast of formidable women. Finley provides by far the best introduction to it, and he writes in an engaging, unpedantic, highly accessible, and informative…

By M.I. Finley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World of Odysseus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The World of Odysseus is a concise and penetrating account of the society that gave birth to the Iliad and the Odyssey--a book that provides a vivid picture of the Greek Dark Ages, its men and women, works and days, morals and values. Long celebrated as a pathbreaking achievement in the social history of the ancient world, M.I. Finley's brilliant study remains, as classicist Bernard Knox notes in his introduction to this new edition, "as indispensable to the professional as it is accessible to the general reader"--a fundamental companion for students of Homer and Homeric Greece.


Book cover of Schliemann of Troy: Treasure and Deceit

Felice Vinci Author Of The Baltic Origins of Homer's Epic Tales

From my list on ancient myths and European prehistory.

Why am I passionate about this?

 I've been fond of the Homeric poems since my youth. I followed classical studies in the high here in Rome, so I studied Latin and Greek before graduating in nuclear engineering. Then, in addition to my professional activity, I've devoted myself to the study of The Iliad and the Odyssey, with their huge contradictions between geography and their traditional Mediterranean setting. The book I published on this topic was translated and published into eight foreign languages (as The Baltic Origins of Homer's Epic Tales), and has given rise to many scientific discussions. I also published The Mysteries of the Megalithic Civilization, a Bestseller here in Italy.

Felice's book list on ancient myths and European prehistory

Felice Vinci Why did Felice love this book?

This book explores many important, controversial aspects of Heinrich Schliemann's Trojan searches in the second half of the 19th century. The reading is very interesting both to deepen the details of that archaeological discovery, considered one of the most important of the nineteenth century, and to better understand the controversial figure of Schliemann, who in addition to his great merits also presents some not small shadows.

By David A. Traill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Schliemann of Troy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Using correspondence and diary entries, the author recounts the personal and professional life of the archaeologist and exposes an unscrupulous individual who distorted facts and made false claims about some of his discoveries.


Book cover of Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined

Frank Shapiro Author Of The Conspiracy against Mary Magdalene

From my list on gripping fiction for history enthusiasts.

Why am I passionate about this?

History is my passion. I’m a graduate of medieval history from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and post-graduate of London University. Former high school history teacher, and previously held the post of assistant researcher at the Museum of the Diaspora, Tel Aviv. I was commissioned by the Council of Zambian Jewry to research and write the history of Northern Rhodesian/Zambian Jewry. I have lectured frequently on my subjects and have contributed diverse historical articles in newspapers and journals. I have published six books, fiction, and non-fiction.  

Frank's book list on gripping fiction for history enthusiasts

Frank Shapiro Why did Frank love this book?

As a historian I have often felt the need to get to grips with the basis of western mythical-historical writing, meaning—Homer. After reading Mythos, I couldn’t resist reading Fry’s second book of his Greek mythology trilogy, and I was rewarded! Despite the often-confusing flood of Greek names of gods, Titans, divine mortals, etc. you can’t help enjoying this exciting read of Paris’ abduction of Helen of Sparta. As usual, Fry’s erudition is combined with side-splitting humor and wit. He has the brilliance to bring alive the ancient classical Homer’s Iliad to a modern-day audience. 

By Stephen Fry,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Troy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AN EPIC BATTLE THAT LASTED TEN YEARS. A LEGENDARY STORY THAT HAS SURVIVED THOUSANDS.

'An inimitable retelling of the siege of Troy . . . Fry's narrative, artfully humorous and rich in detail, breathes life and contemporary relevance into these ancient tales' OBSERVER

'Stephen Fry has done it again. Well written and super storytelling' 5***** READER REVIEW
________

'Troy. The most marvellous kingdom in all the world. The Jewel of the Aegean. Glittering Ilion, the city that rose and fell not once but twice . . .'

When Helen, the beautiful Greek queen, is kidnapped by the Trojan prince Paris,…


Book cover of Helen of Troy

Judith Starkston Author Of Hand of Fire

From my list on set in the Trojan War.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write fiction set in the Bronze Age world of the Trojan War and the Hittite Empire. I love to combine history and archaeology with magic and fantasy arising from the ancient beliefs of this period. My novels bring women to the fore—whether the captive Briseis or a remarkable Hittite queen lost to human memory until recently. Armed with degrees in Classics, I have spent too much time exploring the remains of the ancient Greeks and Hittites through travel and research. From the beginning, the Trojan War tradition has left room for many variations. Here are five entirely different “takes” on this iconic war—all masterfully written.

Judith's book list on set in the Trojan War

Judith Starkston Why did Judith love this book?

Margaret George is a preeminent writer of historical fiction—big, authoritative novels focusing on remarkable, famous people, as her 2006 Helen of Troy demonstrates. She covers Helen’s life from girlhood through the Trojan War and back to Sparta. She builds a full depiction of ancient Greek life, which always makes me happy, but George is most compelling with her characters. George’s interpretations often break with tradition, and that is true for Helen and Paris. Helen disdains her extraordinary beauty and must grow into visionary insights and outsized passions with guidance from the gods. If you want a genuinely heroic Paris (not his usual wimpiness) and a couple who cleave to each other to the end, this is the Helen book for you. George’s skill holds your attention through it all.

By Margaret George,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Helen of Troy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Acclaimed author Margaret George tells the story of the legendary Greek woman whose face "launched a thousand ships" in this New York Times bestseller.

The Trojan War, fought nearly twelve hundred years before the birth of Christ, and recounted in Homer's Iliad, continues to haunt us because of its origins: one woman's beauty, a visiting prince's passion, and a love that ended in tragedy.

Laden with doom, yet surprising in its moments of innocence and beauty, Helen of Troy is an exquisite page-turner with a cast of irresistible, legendary characters-Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Menelaus, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, as well as Helen…


Book cover of Nevernight
Book cover of Half a King
Book cover of The Fellowship of the Ring

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Interested in Troy, Odysseus, and presidential biography?

Troy 13 books
Odysseus 32 books