83 books like The I Inside

This is the book that launched my Zelazny obsession as a teen. Carl Corey wakes up after a car crash with amnesia (sense a theme here?), which he hides from those close to him, some of whom insist on calling him Corwin. He gradually discovers he’s an immortal with a strong claim to the throne of Amber, the one true world at the center of infinite shadow worlds, including our Earth. As Corwin’s memories return, he realizes he was a cruel and arrogant man, and some of his numerous siblings have good reason to hate him. Here the amnesia trope truly allows a character to examine their past through a less biased lens. Top-rate fantasy set against a war for succession to the keys to the universe.

I loved Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. By this book; I had become a hopeless fan girl. Not of Bujold, though she is a Grandmaster of writing, but of her character, Miles Vorkosigan. I became a proud member of Miles Minions.

As someone with a genetic abnormality myself, I adored the way he let nothing stop him and careened from one adventure/disaster to the next. The characters and story are so well written that I forgot the author and was immersed in Miles’ life.

This gave me my almost impossible goal as an author. I want to create a character that is as much fun to write as Miles is to read. I was honored to sit near Bujold at a dinner and share my dream with her.

This one is a little more faded in memory. It's about a man and his companion giant spider as they travel a road of interdimensional gates. He starts off as a swordsman, barely able to get spells to function, and through luck and design becomes one of the most powerful existences in the multiverse. After six books, that is.

Aside from a rollicking good time following this hero and companion spider on their adventures I learned a bit of about pacing. How to bring a character from low power to high power and not get lost in the ‘fantasy’ of power tripping. Like many other of my favorites, it was one step along the path of infinite possibilities.

Master of the Five Magics delivers exactly what the title suggests. Hardy creates not only one, but five distinct and well-thought-out systems of magic. Each discipline is different from the next in practice, application, and style. The mechanics of how each of the systems functions is logical, precise, and adheres to a well-planned set of rules. The reader explores the world of magics through immersive storytelling and the reader can enjoy the journey without the perception of having attended a university course on the subject material.

The trilogy is seen as ahead of its time and is often credited as having influenced later authors as they explored the subject of magic in fantasy in their own writings.

I don’t like blood. That may surprise readers. My novels don’t dwell on gore, but I’ve written my share of grisly murders. (Maybe it’s just my blood that disturbs me?)

Anyway, a few years ago I found myself hospitalized overnight and in desperate need of a distraction. Barelli’s book caught my attention. (A writer who’s just killed her mentor/friend? Perfect!) The story transported me from that miserable ward to a murderous character’s fictional world. Who said crime doesn’t pay?

The book taught me the allure of a criminal protagonist and the healing power of thriller escapism. And it sparked an idea for another book. (Hm. Can you see a pattern developing here?)

Set in a time when New Orleans was still very French, Rene is a unique hero because he serves a foreign régime and has a different mindset when it comes to the governing of a territory that is now a quintessential part of America. Blake does such a good job of putting you in the setting, and the heroine is absolutely resolute, independent, and courageous. Their love affair is so unlikely, yet made believable and there is a tantalizing mystery and plenty of action due to the unsettled and volatile time of this story.

I’m a sucker for stories about two outcasts who find belonging together, and this book does that beautifully.

It’s about a ballerina who haunts her beloved home after being murdered in the 1920s. She’s bored and desperately lonely until a crazed vampire becomes imprisoned in her mansion.

Because he’s not human, the vampire can see the beautiful ghost, and sparks fly.

This book is a master class in writing sexual tension since the characters can’t touch initially. Once they could touch, I loved how the heroine was fully comfortable in her sexuality and assertive with her less experienced vampire partner.

The author also does a great job of showing how the two progress and change through their own character arcs, with love being the catalyst for their growth. 

This is an exceptional crime novel. The characters are rich and unforgettable—Duchess and Thomas Noble will stay with me for a very long time. It is also beautifully written—nothing is unnecessary and every word has a purpose. I cried, I laughed and above all I rooted for them. One of those books I wish I'd written myself. A must-read.

If you wish to travel far afield, have a taste for erotic in your romance (done tastefully), and unconventional heroes and heroines, this is a great story. Sinjin is wounded and wary, and Chelsea is an unconventional young woman with a great deal of determination and resilience. Their reckless passion for each other is ill-advised and they both know it, yet neither one can resist. The exotic settings and careful attention to historical detail make this a very memorable read. Don’t forget also some really hot sex scenes.

This is somewhat of an underground, little-known novel that I came across deep in the midst of a rural second-hand bookshop a few years back.

Set in 1958, the novel follows its deputy sheriff protagonist on a journey from the mid-west to Los Angeles via the famous Route 66. It has elements of noir, suspense, romance, adventure, and a good-guy vs mafia dynamic, all while tipping its hat to the American Road genre.

As a reader, you feel like you’re just another guy along for the ride, passing through state lines, watching the story unfold.