31 books like The Queen's Executioner

This is possibly one of the least well-known Stephen King books out there, and it is most definitely underrated. 

It’s the tale of Jack Sawyer, a twelve-year-old boy who must cross the country to find The Talisman; a magical artifact that has the power to save his mother’s life from the terminal cancer that is ravaging her body. 

But, Morgan Sloat is also chasing the Talisman, in the hopes that he can rule both our world, and the idyllic (and terrifying) Territories, where Jack is the born-again prince.

An all-encompassing portal, two-world fantasy adventure, this is a book that shaped my reading tastes from the age of 13, when I first read it.  And it’s one I go back to, time and time again.

A Tale of Stars and Shadow exceeded my expectations; mainly because it was one of the first fantasy stories that I’d read which wasn’t exclusively aimed at young adults. 

This is a book for grown-ups, dealing with adult themes (although not sex, perse) and political intrigue. It follows Tallyn, a grief-torn warrior who accepts a posting to protect the spoiled prince of the Winged folk in an exotic country; with beautiful and deadly scenery. I wanted to be in Mithranar – to swim in the clear waters of Feather Bay.  

I still remember the first time I came across Heart of Mist.

It completely overtook my senses and propelled me into the Upper Realm of her universe. Bleak, the female lead, is unlike any other female protagonist I’d ever come across – being angry, brave, and dealing with trauma by playing with a piece of rope. She felt real. 

And the Upper Realms? I wanted to be there; discovering the forests of Valia and traversing their immense tree houses.  

Kali, is an orphan, living with the Sister Warriors in their mountain temple. She wants nothing more than a simple life of prayer and seclusion with her best friend. 

That changes when the Rajah of the Tarachand Empire chooses her to become his 100th rani. She soon discovers her true ancestry and that her destiny is that of anything beyond what she could have imagined. 

I fell in love with the rich descriptions and beautiful imagery that Kali (through King) describes to us. And the danger which dogged her every step; whether in the court of the rajah and his rani’s or when she learns the truth behind her childhood fevers.  

Out of left field but one of the strongest novels I’ve read in the last few years. Meera’s story of Chetna, the first hangwoman in India in the modern-day, is underlain by hundreds, not to say thousands of years of Chetna’s family history as hangmen.

Chetna has an epic force of character, real but the stuff of legends too. Some of this weight and heft accrues to her from the tales she tells herself and us of the lives of public executioners past, a vast tapestry that feeds into her sense of self. How you feel about Chetna is up to you. As in the case of Achilles, she is extravagant, with the uncomfortable energies of the slightly-more-than-human epic hero. 

While not technically a fast-paced thriller, The Master Executioner is the compelling story of a young Civil War veteran who evolves into a methodical, professional hangman in the old West. After completing a carpentry apprenticeship, Oscar Stone goes west to seek his fortunes in the frontier. Finding construction work scarce, he accepts a commission to build the gallows for a hanging and his career plans find a new trajectory. Stone is as exacting as a hangman as he was a carpentry, from the quality of the rope to the length of the drop he strives to provide the condemned a quick and painless death. Estleman’s prose is exceptional, his dialog crisp, and his storytelling lean and well-paced. The pages of The Master Executioner fly.

I devoured this book and its main premise: that to be a therapist is a great art and a deep discipline. Yalom is the inspiration for many psychology and psychotherapy students and trainees, and for good reason. He is the kindly, wise father many of us wish we had.

I adored this book for its insights into psychotherapy and the therapy room and for the tenderness with which Yalom treats his patients. He was also one of the first professionals to openly and publicly share his own emotions and thoughts about his patients and being a therapist. He powerfully puts forward the ‘human first, therapist second’ philosophy, one that informed my work fundamentally. He takes chances, loves his patients sincerely, and, as a result, was a hugely respected clinician who taught as well as he practiced. It is a great read for patients and therapists alike.  

Brust has written a long series that is all connected to his cycle about Vlad Taltos.

My favorite is The Phoenix Guards, which evokes, for me, the swashbuckling style and fun of Dumas’ Three Musketeers. Brust took that tongue-in-cheek narrative voice, and the panache of the seventeenth-century Musketeers as envisioned by Dumas, and created this world full of magic and fascinating denizens.

This slim graphic novel populated with murderous anthropomorphic animals might not seem like an obvious choice for a live-action cinematic adaptation, but the high concept here is irresistible: In a vicious universe where murder for hire is common, a laconic assassin is hired to take out the ultimate target—Adolf Hitler. Time travel, romance, jealousy, and bloody violence ensue, with plenty of twists and turns en route. A surprisingly funny and unremittingly dark sci-fi story that combines effortless French New Wave cool with a Tarantino-esque sense of humor, I Killed Adolf Hitler could become a verifiable dark comedy hit on the big screen.

This was a sweet regency novella. I enjoyed the characters and plot, even though it was a bit rushed at times and the ending a bit abrupt, but it was a delightful read and kept me hooked enough that I wanted to know what would happen next. I will definitely be reading more from this author.