100 books like The Pillars of the Earth

Before the appearance of ‘franchise’ novels set in an Arthurian world, and even before the genre of ‘fantasy writing’ had established itself, the American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley published one of the most remarkable novels about Arthurian Britain and its cast of characters.

Well researched and deeply imbued with the colours of a powerfully-imagined world, the novel refocuses the events of Arthur’s life from the point of view of the women who surround him, especially Morgaine (Morgan le Fay) and Igraine, Arthur’s mother.

This was the first feminist retelling of the Arthurian story, one in which Arthur was no longer the focus of the action, and when I first read the novel I found the audacity of this inversion captivating. 

If you, like me, were forced to read Homer’s Odyssey in high school, you may recall the famous story about the witch Circe, who turned Homer’s sailors into pigs. And you may have felt as I did: slay, queen. If so, then Circe, Madeline Miller’s sophomore novel, is the book for you. 

In Circe, Miller expounds on the scant details we have on the life of Circe—who, like so many women in mythology and literature only existed as side character in the main male character’s storyline—producing a sweeping, moving narrative of female empowerment.

I loved this book because I could see so much of myself in this story—from Circe as the unwanted child to Circe the rebellious young woman to Circe the sensualized siren to Circe the broken-hearted muse. In all the phases of her life, Circe learns to find her own way in a world that does… show more.

This fascinating and very detailed history of early Manhattan shows how the Dutch with their policy based on individual liberty and free trade impacted not only New York City but even the shaping of America. 

I sensed this when I was an inhabitant of New York, but now I understand why.

Reading Hamnet is like walking into an oil painting.

Maggie O’Farrell’s lyricism and attention to detail create a lush, fully imagined world as she tells the story of William Shakespeare’s wife, Anne, and the loss of their eleven-year-old son to the plague in 1596. It is a deep dive into grief, made beautiful by O’Farrell’s attention.

While technically not a book about books, it makes us consider the emotional undercurrent of writing, and it is one of the most radiant books I have ever read, so here it is.

I had to include this book because this is the book that opened up the whole world of time travel for me.

I read it as a young teenager and have loved everything about the concept of time travel ever since. I think the reason is that there is this implied desire to fix the mistakes of our past or something, and that whole idea bubbles under the surface of Wells’ classic.

Of course on the other side of that coin is that I would later come to learn that Wells was an atheist, and so that brings up the whole question of whether time travel is a human attempt to play God, and whether time travel is only possible in a universe where there is no God. 

We all know the story of Thermopylae: 300 Spartans fight heroically for three days against an overwhelming Persian force, with the Spartans all killed during the three-day fight as Greece used their lives to buy time to successfully defend itself. But historical fiction Gates of Fire adds a new twist: as the Persians are pulling the bodies off the battlefield, they find a sole wounded Spartan, and after nursing him back to health, have him recount the battle from the Spartan viewpoint.

Author Steven Pressfield, a former Marine, is a superb storyteller as he describes the battle – and Spartan training - in a gripping blend of courage, humor, ethics, and brilliant historical research. Xeones, the survivor, was a squire to the Spartans, and had trained with them. “War is work,” he explains, “with conditions contrived to make the exercise as close as possible to the actual campaign.” “Shared misery… show more.

I’ve read pretty much everything by Bernard Cornwell, but The Last Kingdom (the first in a series of 13 novels) is most definitely my favorite, not only because it takes place during a time of English history I am most familiar with (very early Middle Ages), but because Uthred!! If you’ve seen the Netflix series, you know what I mean. I have a thing for warrior heroes, in case you haven’t noticed, and Uthred is the ultimate. The story is loosely based on a 9th-century warlord named Uthred the Bold—I recently learned that Cornwell is his descendent. Pretty cool. No one writes better historical content than Cornwell, blending fact and fiction so seamlessly, you’d think you were reading a very exciting history book.

Shōgun is a historical novel set in 17th-century feudal Japan that is based on the life of an English sailor named Will  Adams who is shipwrecked there.

He became a samurai and a confidant of a warlord based on Ieyasu Tokugawa. It is a meticulously researched and richly detailed novel that combines historical events with fictional characters and storylines, dealing with themes of honor and loyalty in a world of samurai and daimyos.

It also explores relationships between Japanese and European traders, highlighting the clash of Western and Eastern values. At over 560,000 words long, it is a spellbinding narrative that offers an encyclopedic exploration of Japanese history, culture, customs, and traditions of Japan. It started a Japan craze in the United States when it was first published.

Uprooted has it all: the cultural Easter eggs, the adventure and fantasy, and of course, the touch of enemies-to-lovers romance that, to me, completes any story set in its own world. The main character was a gem, as was her counterpart, the Dragon. Both of them were spunky in their own way, grating against each other as they held their ground in a relationship neither of them expected to develop the way it did. 

I also tend to learn quite a bit from my fantasy books as much as my academic books when it comes to my own magic, and this here was a fantastic example of ceremonial magicians vs. witches. Whereas the Dragon spend a lot of time holed up over grimoires and texts by their predecessors, those who take a more personal and fluid approach to magic, like Agnieszka, are making magic with whatever’s available, to serve their… show more.

In this debut novel Odd Thomas, the title character is an engaging 20-year-old fry cook living in the small town of Pico Mundo, CA. 
Odd Thomas is an ordinary guy, except that he sees dead people. They seek him out. They do not speak, but they communicate with Odd telepathically, frequently leading him to their killers. He is a reluctant hero determined to do the right thing in a world full of wrongs. He’s a character that you wish good things for. Guided by love for his soul-mate girlfriend and dead souls, he fights evil, against all odds.

This book imbues the reader with hope that, no matter the evil or how seemingly insurmountable the odds (pun intended), a good heart can triumph. It’s a great series.