Fans pick 81 books like Witchblaze

This particular book/series by Sanderson is a quickly-paced fantasy heist with a very cool magic system involving different metals. The main character, Vin, is a lowly commoner who ends up navigating the complex social web of nobility. It’s a fascinating progression with a fascinating and satisfying result.

This book has loosely inspired some aspects of action, nobility, and the gem-based magic system found in my Heroes of Time series. One review of my book Murdoch’s Choice called it “Mistborn on a Boat.”

Every time I read this book, I want to strangle basically every character except for Cat—and that’s half the fun! Charmed Life taught me that sometimes we can be too close to a situation to recognize its dangers or the safest paths to get away.

Cat assumes his sister is good, and everyone else assumes that he’s wicked because he’s always with her. I find his innocence endearing and I love that, as his understanding of Gwendolyn unfolds, he continues to seek goodness in others around him.

Everyone should have a favorite “Cinderella” story, and this fantasy romp is mine. Gingell turns the classic fairy tale upside down, maintaining its stepfamily-gone-wrong trope, but from an opposite angle. Ellen got her prince and her crown while her stepsisters Jane and Charlie received a life sentence in a magical prison. Only, she lied and schemed to do it, and now the pair of girls must plot their escape to clear their names.

I admire Jane’s quiet resolve and Charlie’s feral energy. Plus, any story with knockout lipstick earns some extra points from me.

I first read this book when I was ill in bed, on strong painkillers, so the setting had a heightened quality in my mind that can never be replicated. But I’ve now read it several times (and watched the Netflix TV series), and it remains a wonderful book with great settings and characters, romance, and danger. 

Before I read this book, I knew very little about Chinese Malaysian society in the late nineteenth century, and it was fascinating to learn. I also loved the Plains of the Dead, where ghosts live in houses and eat food that corresponds to the paper funeral offerings burned by their families. Seventeen-year-old Li Lan must go there to seek the deceased young man whose “ghost bride” she is and stop him from haunting her.

I really enjoyed this siren, necromancer villain story. It's well written and well edited, and the plot drew me in right away, kept me intrigued, and the ending did not disappoint.

I loved the characters Arabella and Leo and how we got to see pieces of the story through each of their perspectives. It is a unique story concept that I haven't heard before. The ending is just the amount of completing the story and leaving you wanting more. This is solid first book for this, in my opinion, up and coming new author.

Actually, I could have chosen any of the Dick Francis mystery books for this list as they are wonderfully consistent in quality of writing and story. Plus, as a former steeple chase jockey, Francis knows horse racing. It’s surprising how many “horse books” out there get racing so wrong. I can’t count how many of his books I read while sitting in the barn waiting to race my own horses.

The first literary paranormal suspense I’d ever read, this story absolutely devastated me when I discovered it as a sophomore in college—which is a compliment! 

The uncanny child is Paul, a young son so desperate for maternal affection that he races toward madness to win his mother’s favor and quiet the “whisperings” only he can hear. While that premise alone would be sufficient for a moving piece of literature, what affected me so deeply was that the adults who are aware of Paul’s mysterious abilities choose to use them for their own gain, with only superficial attempts to rein in the child’s manic obsession.  

Like Lawrence’s other works, this story speaks volumes about class and social expectations, but it’s the idea that a child could be driven to manifest psychic abilities—at the expense of his own health and sanity—that really packs a punch.

Dick Francis will always be one of my favourite authors even though I’ve never been to a horse race in my life! I once missed my train station because I was so wrapped up in his book. Despite always having a link to the horse racing world, they are not solely about racing. Reflex is a story of a jockey’s search for his missing sister—a sister he didn’t know existed until he receives a request from his dying grandmother to find her. It also involves a mystery surrounding the death of a photographer who is reviled because of the compromising photographs he takes of celebrities to sell to newspapers. Written over 30 years ago (before digital photography) paparazzi intrusion is as relevant to today as ever. 

While I loved all of Marguerite’s horse books as a child this one was my favorite. This may be listed as a “children’s book” but the story is in no way “dumbed down” nor is the cruel treatment of Black Gold by his trainer glossed over. Featuring the charming illustrations of Wesley Dennis, Black Gold is a sweet but ultimately tragic underdog story.

Oddly there aren’t actually that many books dedicated solely to chariot racing, but this one makes up for that. Huge amount of detail about everything from wheels to horses, but also a real sense of the passion the Romans had for this sport and just how terrifyingly dangerous it was to be a charioteer… almost makes being a gladiator look like a nice safe desk job! I loved the feel of the race day and all the parts that made it a spectacular event – from the vast crowd to the pre-race parades and the many different roles taking part on the day. Gripping read.