65 books like The Sword and the Circle

By Rosemary Sutcliff,

Here are 65 books that The Sword and the Circle fans have personally recommended if you like The Sword and the Circle. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of I Capture the Castle

Stephanie Davies Author Of Other Girls Like Me

From my list on unlikely British female protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up rebelling against the roles I was expected to take on as a girl. I grew up not knowing that girls could fall in love with girls. I grew up with a strong sense of injustice and a desire to do something about it. The books on my list all feature strong female protagonists experiencing and/or taking on injustices of one kind or another. They are written by interesting women who write brilliantly. Some of the books are dear to me because nature provides comfort and strength beneath the chaos of human chatter, as it does for me.

Stephanie's book list on unlikely British female protagonists

Stephanie Davies Why did Stephanie love this book?

Who can resist a story that begins, “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. My feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog’s blanket and the tea-cozy”? Especially when you know the author also wrote 101 Dalmations

I loved this coming-of-age story for the teenage narrator’s quirky, elegant writing. She’s an aspiring novelist, “capturing” the characters around her in her diary. She’s largely left to her own devices, along with her two siblings, on the grounds of a remote castle, with a bohemian stepmother and a distant father suffering from writer’s block. It’s a light, farcical story, tinged with sadness, set in the English countryside and featuring another unlikely female protagonist breaking the mold. 

By Dodie Smith,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked I Capture the Castle 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?

One of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.

A wonderfully quirky coming-of-age story, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, author of The Hundred and One Dalmatians is an affectionately drawn portrait of one of the funniest families in literature.

Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated by Ruth Steed, and features an afterword by publisher Anna South.

The eccentric Mortmain family have been rattling around in a…


Book cover of Life in a Medieval Castle

Hope Carolle Author Of The Veil Between Worlds

From my list on surviving and thriving in Medieval England.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved books where the main character goes from his/her own ordinary existence into another world, with inspiration from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, who was a tutor in English Literature. Since I love history, there’s nothing more fun for me than historical time travel, and I wonder how difficult it might be for a modern woman or man, well-versed in the history and literature of the time, to navigate the customs, etiquette, language, clothing, and politics in 1344. 

Hope's book list on surviving and thriving in Medieval England

Hope Carolle Why did Hope love this book?

This book is essential to understanding the feudal system, and how life revolved around the myriad castles dotted throughout the countryside of England and Wales.

They focus on one castle in particular, but the structure of the society around the castle was somewhat universal, with the lord and lady of the castle, to the workers in the castle, the village that was nearby that would take refuge inside the castle walls if necessary during battles.

I found this an essential book when I was researching my book, which features a castle named Wodesley. What would meals be like there, entertainment, daily life?

By Joseph Gies, Frances Gies,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Life in a Medieval Castle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Some particular books I found useful for A Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention...Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City, both by Joseph and Frances Gies." -George R.R. Martin, author of the series A Song of Ice and Fire Medieval history comes alive in Joseph and Frances Gies's Life in a Medieval Castle, used as a research resource by George R. R. Martin in creating the world of A Game of Thrones. Newly reissued for the first time in decades, Life in a Medieval Castle is the bestselling classic that has introduced countless readers…


Book cover of Strongholds of the Picts: The Fortifications of Dark Age Scotland

Maggie Freeman Author Of Castles

From my list on the magic of castles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a writer of historical novels and primary literacy books, and a poet. I was born in Trinidad and live in London. So why am I writing about the magic of castles? I’ve loved visiting them since I was a child, when I’d run round them and imagine what had happened there. Back home, I’d immerse myself in reading legends and fairy stories—at bedtime, lying in my top bunk, I'd make up stories to entertain my sister in her bottom bunk. So it was natural to move on to writing fictionthe novel I’ve just completed is about King Canute. I’ve written primary literacy books for Collins, Oxford, and Ransom.

Maggie's book list on the magic of castles

Maggie Freeman Why did Maggie love this book?

I’ve spent some time in the north of Scotland and became intrigued by the remains of Pictish forts on hilltops and by the sea. This book doesn’t provide many answerswritten records before 900 AD are few and the archaeology is confusedKonstam’s conclusion is "the main benefit of any visit to one of these sites is to be able to stand on the same hilltop or promontory, and to imagine what it might have looked like in the days of the Picts." Which explains why legends and stories have grown up about castlesimagining has been key to making sense of such imposing features in the landscape, when often their real history has been forgotten over time.

Konstam’s book is one of a series, and if your curiosity is about a different sort of castle it’s worth checking it out.

By Angus Konstam, Peter Dennis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This concise guide actually covers not just Pictish fortifications, but all those in use in early medieval Scotland, including those of Strathclyde and Rheged and of the Dal Riata. Konstam introduces the reader to the principal types of fort, including the re-use of earlier defences, before offering more in-depth surveys of Dundurn and Dunadd. As well as architecture and construction he looks at the use of the forts in war and peace, to control the landscape and act as royal strong points.


Book cover of The Raven Heir

Maggie Freeman Author Of Castles

From my list on the magic of castles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a writer of historical novels and primary literacy books, and a poet. I was born in Trinidad and live in London. So why am I writing about the magic of castles? I’ve loved visiting them since I was a child, when I’d run round them and imagine what had happened there. Back home, I’d immerse myself in reading legends and fairy stories—at bedtime, lying in my top bunk, I'd make up stories to entertain my sister in her bottom bunk. So it was natural to move on to writing fictionthe novel I’ve just completed is about King Canute. I’ve written primary literacy books for Collins, Oxford, and Ransom.

Maggie's book list on the magic of castles

Maggie Freeman Why did Maggie love this book?

This is fantasy right up to date: for 8 to 12-year-olds, it was published in 2021. Its castle setting immediately defines it as fantasy: "Beyond the castle’s moat, the deep, dark forest was shot through with trails of sunlight, tracing golden paths of possibility…. The dark-haired girl… sat, bare feet dangling against stone, on the windowsill of her tower bedroom." It’s a vivid picture, instantly engaging us in a world where family is very important. The heroine, Cordelia, is one of three triplets. Their task is to use their magical powers to find and mend the Raven Crown so that the parched land beyond the forest can be healed of the fighting that rampages across it, and people and the natural world live in peacethemes I feel very much in sympathy with.

By Stephanie Burgis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Raven Heir as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Cordelia and her triplets Rosalind and Giles have lived safely in the castle at the centre of the forest all their lives, protected by the spells their mother has woven. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is when she turns into a dragonfly or a blackbird and can fly beyond the great stone walls. But then one day the outside world comes to them. Two rival dukes and their soldiers have come for the triplets - because whoever is the eldest is the heir to the throne.

But their mother knows that since the Raven Crown was broken, no…


Book cover of The Once and Future King

David L. Robbins Author Of War of the Rats

From my list on love and war and describing both battlefields.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve penned (so far) seventeen novels, most set during some historical conflict or other, all of them revolving around intense personal relationships (loyalty, love, betrayal, those sorts of profound truths). I tend to read the sorts of books I wish to write. I also teach creative writing at a university (VCU); I tell my students that if they want to really know what a character is made of, shoot at them or have them fall in love. In my own work, I do both.

David's book list on love and war and describing both battlefields

David L. Robbins Why did David love this book?

Maybe this is cheating, but it’s still a book set during a war, albeit a fantastical one.

But come on: Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, Nimue, Pellinore, Gawain, Mordred, the Round Table–I may never have read a more powerful scene (or seen such, in the play) as when Arthur cheers for Lancelot to ride and save Guinevere from a fire which Arthur himself set!

Moving, with great, classic prose typical of the time and White’s contemporaries C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. 

By T. H. White,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked The Once and Future King as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Voyager Classics - timeless masterworks of science fiction and fantasy.

A beautiful clothbound edition of The Once and Future King, White's masterful retelling of the Arthurian legend.

T.H. White's masterful retelling of the Arthurian legend is an abiding classic. Here all five volumes that make up the story are published together in a single volume, as White himself always wished.

Here is King Arthur and his shining Camelot, beasts who talk and men who fly; knights, wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad; the masterpiece of fantasy by which all others are…


Book cover of The Sword in the Stone

Tom Mitchell Author Of How to Stop the End of the World

From my list on classic kids’ adventure stories that may or may not feature a sword.

Why am I passionate about this?

Full disclosure: I don’t know much about swords. But as a children’s author and English teacher, I’ve learnt what makes kids want to pick up a book. In short, make it fun! My teenage membership in the Young Archaeologists Club sparked my love of history and archeology. It wasn’t quite as glamorous as Indiana Jones would have you believe, but the idea that hidden treasures might be lurking under our gardens has fascinated me ever since.

Tom's book list on classic kids’ adventure stories that may or may not feature a sword

Tom Mitchell Why did Tom love this book?

Who doesn’t love this book? Only those who haven’t read it.

I love the blend of humour and adventure but, in particular, the way that White transforms these characters from mythical figures to real people. And what a story! Which, you may have forgotten, also features an appearance from another legendary British figure: Robin Hood.

Lots of swords in this one.

By T. H. White,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Sword in the Stone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

The extraordinary story of a boy called Wart - ignored by everyone except his tutor, Merlyn - who goes on to become King Arthur.

Collins Modern Classics are re-launched with gorgeous new covers bringing these timeless story to a new generation.

"Come, sword," said the Wart. He took hold of the handles with both hands, and strained against the stone... but nothing moved...

When the wizard Merlyn comes to tutor Sir Ector's sons, Kay and the Wart, studying suddenly becomes much more exciting. After all, who wouldn't enjoy being turned into a fish, or a badger, or a snake?

But…


Book cover of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Cory O'Brien Author Of Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology

From my list on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Why am I passionate about this?

Cory O’Brien, author of such books as Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: a No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology, grew up reading myths and legends of all sorts, and turned that passion into a career with the advent of his extremely serious mythology website. He has always had a fondness for the Arthurian Legend in particular, ever since his father read him Howard Pyle’s King Arthur books as a child, and he realized he could use them as a moral justification for hitting other kids with big sticks.

Cory's book list on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Cory O'Brien Why did Cory love this book?

Sir Gawaine is one of the most interesting knights of the Round Table because of how imperfect he is. He’s not the strongest knight in the world -- that’s Lancelot -- and he’s definitely not the most virtuous -- that’s Galahad, who sucks -- he’s a working-class joe who routinely gets in over his head because he loves to swing swords more than he likes thinking about consequences. Sir Gawaine and the Green knight is a story of one of the knight’s most famous capers, and it does not disappoint. The original story was written in Old English, which is barely even English to be honest, so you’re going to need a translation to read it, and who better to translate such a story than J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Yes, that Tolkien. When he wasn’t making elves and humans kiss each other, he was a prolific philologist and translator, and The…

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This elegant deluxe slipcased edition of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour, features a beautifully decorated text and includes as a bonus the complete text of Tolkien's acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; but it is also much more than this, being at the same time a powerful moral tale which examines religious and social…


Book cover of Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation Based on the Winchester Manuscript

Murray Dahm Author Of Finis Britanniae: A Military History of Late Roman Britain and the Saxon Conquest

From my list on thinking about King Arthur.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved stories about King Arthur–what’s not to love–Arthurian stories are about the underdog triumphing, destiny, knights and quests, swords (and stones, or lakes), great heroes and villains, and magic. My university studies made me into a military historian (among other things–including an opera singer and a historian of film), and I loved revisiting my love of Arthur in various guises. I have sung him on stage, played him in roleplaying games and miniature wargames, and I have written articles and books about him in film and history. I hope my list of recommendations provokes you to think about King Arthur in new ways!

Murray's book list on thinking about King Arthur

Murray Dahm Why did Murray love this book?

This book is the go-to for nearly everything you need to know about Arthurian legend. I use it and return to it time and time again to explore different elements of the Arthurian story. Not to mention, the history of Malory and the book itself are just as fascinating to me.

Writing at the end of the fifteenth century, Malory’s work was really the starting point for anything Arthurian–and even though I find the earlier works on Arthur’s history are just as enthralling. Any translation is fine, and many editions (I have about eight) have notes on different elements of Arthurian history and legend and where they may have originated. I have followed many such notes down multiple captivating paths.

By Thomas Malory, Dorsey Armstrong (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Fiction. Folk Tales. Medieval Studies. Dorsey Armstrong provides a new, Modern English translation of the MORTE DARTHUR that portrays the holistic and comprehensive unity of the text as a whole, as suggested by the structure of Caxton's print, but that is based primarily on the Winchester Manuscript, which offers the most complete and accurate version of Malory's narrative. This translation makes one of the most compelling and important texts in the Arthurian tradition easily accessible to everyone--from high school students to Arthurian scholars. In addition to the complete text, Armstrong includes an introduction that discusses Malory's sources and the long-running…


Book cover of Raising Dragons

Christina Weigand Author Of Palace of the Twelve Pillars

From my list on dragons with a Christian message.

Why am I passionate about this?

My faith is a driving force in my life. Writing and dragons are my passions after my family. When not writing I mentor young people in their own writing. I’ve taken several writing courses and continue to study and work on honing my craft. Dragons serve as messengers of God in my books. I studied dragon lore and found the dragons an excellent vehicle for sharing God’s message. The dragons play a sentient, teaching, guiding role in the books they are featured in. That doesn’t mean there aren’t bad dragons to challenge the characters and the good dragons. 

Christina's book list on dragons with a Christian message

Christina Weigand Why did Christina love this book?

The first thing that drew me to Davis’s books was that teen/dragons were the main characters. Throughout the series these teenagers with dragon abilities face many crises in faith as they battle the forces of evil. Another interesting twist is Davis used the story and characters from the King Arthur story. These characters help and hinder the teen in their efforts to save their dragon world and fight evil. The reader watches with bated breath as Billy and Bonnie fight to preserve a secret legacy and discover their place in God’s world of dragons.

By Bryan Davis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Raising Dragons as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 11, 12, 13, and 14.

What is this book about?

“Bryan Davis writes with the scope of Tolkien, the focus of Lewis, the grandeur of Verne, and most of all the heart of Christ.” ―Jeremiah F., reader

A boy with fiery breath . . . a girl with dragon wings . . .

Outcasts Billy and Bonnie must come together to preserve a secret legacy more than a millennium in the making. They find their lives turned upside down when they are thrust into a war against evil, a war they didn’t even know was being waged. Their newly formed friendship is tested and shaped as they are forced to…


Book cover of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Nick Lomb Author Of Eclipse Chasers

From my list on spectacles in nature total eclipses of the Sun.

Why am I passionate about this?

Fascination by the night sky as a young child led to an ambition to become an astronomer. This ambition took me to an honors degree in physics from the University of Sydney in Australia and later to a PhD in astronomy. Afterward, I joined Sydney Observatory, initially as one of four astronomers, and later, after the Observatory became part of a large museum, as Curator of Astronomy. During my 30 years working full-time at Sydney Observatory, I became intrigued by the history of astronomy. A manifestation of that interest was the 2011 book Transit of Venus: 1631 to the Present and, more recently, my book, listed below.

Nick's book list on spectacles in nature total eclipses of the Sun

Nick Lomb Why did Nick love this book?

This satirical novel, with a total eclipse of the Sun at its heart, was one of the most loved books of my childhood. It tells the story of Hank Morgan, the foreman of an American factory in the late 1800s, who receives a blow on the head from one of the employees. He wakes up in Camelot at the time of King Arthur. As he does not fit in, he is brought before the king and sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Fortunately, just as the execution is about to begin, a total solar eclipse occurs, and Morgan persuades the king and the assembled crowd that he is responsible. This leads not only to his release but also to his appointment as the second most powerful person in the kingdom.

By Mark Twain,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this classic satiric novel, published in 1889, Hank Morgan, a supervisor in a Connecticut gun factory, falls unconscious after being whacked on the head. When he wakes up he finds himself in Britain in 528 — where he is immediately captured, hauled back to Camelot to be exhibited before the knights of King Arthur's Round Table, and sentenced to death. Things are not looking good.
But Hank is a quick-witted and enterprising fellow, and in the process of saving his life he turns himself into a celebrity of the highest magnitude. His Yankee ingenuity and knowledge of the world…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in knights, King Arthur, and Celtic Britons?

Knights 69 books
King Arthur 62 books
Celtic Britons 15 books