90 books like The Witches of Eileanan

Sabriel by Australian author Garth Nix is a YA dark fantasy that captivated me with its visceral descriptions of Charter magic and the brutal realism of life in the Old Kingdom—where the dead do walk.

The protagonist, Sabriel, is raised in a mundane, magic-less world beyond the Wall but is thrust into a realm teeming with dark magic as she searches for her missing father. This journey forces her to grapple with her identity as she navigates the expectations of others who see her only as her father's successor while she remains steadfast in her determination to find and rescue him.

This struggle for self-definition amidst external pressures is a theme that resonates deeply, making Sabriel a must-read for those who appreciate immersive worlds.

Gideon the Ninth lit up the sky of the science fiction/fantasy world when it was published, launching the Locked Tomb series (which is ongoing, and great; third volume Nona the Ninth is especially lovely).

It's been described as "lesbian necromancers in space" but it's more "lesbian necromancer and swordsperson on various weird planets in the far future with a god-emperor who uses death magic to fight planet-sized spectral monsters...." for a start.

The whole series is enigmatic, complex, and laced through with humor, action, and yearning, but the first book is notable for the power of Gideon's voice.

There are actually two undeniably kickass women in this book: one is the perfect hybrid of humanity and technology created to pilot gargantuan killing machines, while the other is a foul-mouthed outlaw who routinely climbs inside these machines and blows them the heck up. You can imagine the chaos that ensues when these women finally join forces and set their sights on destroying the oppressive supercity of Godolia—along with its vast army of terrifying mecha gods. I was delighted by this book for a number of reasons, not the least of which being its many bloody battle scenes and its cast of endearing characters. The tenuous relationship between Sona the Pilot and Eris the Gearbreaker kept me on edge until the very end. This is an impressive debut novel from a talented young writer, and I am looking forward to the next installment.  

This novel begins in the fiery aftermath of a gruesome airship battle—and it only gets better from there. Our heroine, Josette, is a scrappy, hardworking airship captain who must contend with the undermining efforts of the fleet’s dubious general and his spies, all while fighting *actual* battles against an enemy that wants to blow her crew out of the sky. What really captured my attention about this book was the incredible descriptive voice displayed by the author: from the gory battle scenes to the complex inner workings of an airship, this is a truly immersive adventure. Josette is a smart, relatable heroine who pulls no punches and doesn’t let herself get sucked into the political minutiae, which keeps the story moving at a good clip. 

In Dragaera, the fortunes of the seventeen Great Houses are determined by the Cycle, which elevates royalty, merchants, artisans, wizards, the mob, and even peasants as it turns.

The Cycle takes thousands of years to turn… but Dragaerans live thousands of years. Easterners, like Vlad Taltos, are lucky to see a hundred, and they can’t be members of the Great Houses. Except the House of the Jhereg, which sells titles.

They’re the mob; and Vlad, Baronet of Taltos, is an assassin. JHEREG and its many sequels are constantly exploring the social dynamics underlying this situation; as an Easterner with a bought title, Vlad doesn’t fit in with either Easterners or Dragaeran nobles, and choosing sides can mean destroying relationships or putting his life on the line.

I love stories that are based on legends, myths, and folklore. This one is the latter.

Took is the first book that opened my mind to folklore of witches and witchcraft. If finding a cabin in the woods with bones and artifacts inside didn’t bring chills down my spine, then the mysterious storyline that followed definitely did. The suspense of the book kept my mind captive till the very end!

The Unlikely Ones is a favorite fantasy novel from back in my teenage days (it is an adult fantasy, not children’s or YA).

An unsteady heroine, a cursed knight, and talking animals round out this unexpected cast who find themselves on a journey to become heroes none of them expected. The characters are the star of this book, though the story and world are also wonderful, as they grow from self-doubt and convinced of their unworthiness to beautifully realized saviors of the day.

Written over 30 years ago, this is still one of the most original fantasies I’ve read. 

I was captivated by these stories from the moment I read the title of the first chapter: “In which Cimorine refuses to be proper and has a conversation with a frog.”

Cimorene is a young woman with no intention of being rescued by a knight in armour. She prefers the company of the dragon for whom she is princess in residence.  

These books re-imagine traditional princess stories through a woman’s eyes. Cimorene and her adventures are light-hearted, but as children (and parents who read to them) encounter wicked wizards, wonderful witches, magical carpets, swords, and castles they will celebrate this princess as the tough-minded lady Patricia Wrede has made her.

She’s a witch! Let’s stake her out for the dragon to eat. This happens to Alys. But she’s not a witch. Her village just didn’t like her. She wants revenge and when the dragon arrives, he becomes her ally. Here’s another twisted plot where the female is undervalued but the story helps Alys find what she thinks she wants. Part of what she finds along the way is a strength and loyalty she didn’t know she had. But she also discovers what she thought she wanted, isn’t really worth it in the end. 

As a reader, I was on the slow side. I tended to analyze the text too much, I think.

By the time I came across the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, I still shied away from the giant fantasy tomes because I was intimidated that they were too long, and it would take me too long to get through them. I looked for smaller fantasy books and I came across Terry Brooks. I was intrigued by his Sword of Shanara series, but I settled on the Magic Kingdom of Landover instead.

These books are about a lawyer who buys a magic kingdom and is ported away to the kingdom to have an adventure. Talk about wishing you could go to another realm! In this series, the protagonist literary travels to another realm. After I completed this series, I was becoming more confident in my reading, and I was just about… show more.