If you liked THIS you’ll love THAT

If you’re eagerly waiting for the conclusion to The Library trilogy and you enjoy the modern style of grimdark Mark Lawrence has so effectively been refining ever since his 2011 debut, then you have definitely got to check out The Blade Itself. The first book in The First Law series, written by Lord Grimdark himself, Joe Abercrombie.

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. He could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he’s about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Was your favourite part of Rin her insatiable need for revenge? Were you captivated, watching her push herself and the people around her to greater and more questionable extremes to satisfy that anger? The Rage of Dragons would like to have a word, because you’re going to get along spectacularly.

The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been built around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine.

Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He’s going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn’t get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He’ll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.

Comic book legend, Gail Simone, adapts the legendary barbarian into a book for the first time. Did you enjoy the viciously well written fights of John Gwynne and the mighty scale of Shadow of the Gods? Welcome home.

It’s time to rage, drink and fight like a barbarian! Red Sonja, the iconic She-Devil with a Sword, will meet a new generation of readers in this action-packed epic fantasy by legendary comic book writer Gail Simone, making her novel-writing debut. Hot-headed, charismatic and always unapologetically herself, Red Sonja, the ferocious She-Devil and barbarian of Hyrkania has never concerned herself with the consequences of her actions. She’s pursued all her desires, from treasure, to drink, to the companionship of bedfellows.

She’s fought those who deserve it (and sometimes those who didn’t). And she’s never looked back. But when rumours start bubbling up from her homeland – rumours of unknown horrors emerging from the ground and pulling their unsuspecting victims to their deaths – she realises she may have to return to the country that abandoned her. Sonja must finally do the only thing that ever scared her: confront her past.

C.S. Lewis’ series has been beloved by children and adults for years, but if you’ve found yourself reading them nonstop and in need of another fix – may we suggest one of the most well written, thought-provoking, and accolated authors of all time? Ursula K. LeGuinn’s A Wizard of Earthsea will take you on an adventure that will have you thinking about growing up and about yourself honestly and beautifully.

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.

Onyx Storm has taken the world by, well, storm! But now you have to wait for the next book. The way we see it, you have two options: You could read The Empyrean series again for the – tell us if we’re calling you out – fifth time! Or you could feed your dragon need with The Night Ends with Fire, in this story inspired by the legend of Mulan.

The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. Trapped by his opium addiction, he plans to sell Meilin for her dowry. But when Meilin discovers her husband-to-be is another violent, ill-tempered man, she realizes that nothing will change for her unless she takes matters into her own hands.

The very next day, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father’s place.

In the army, Meilin’s relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship—and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. But has she simply exchanged one prison for another? As her kingdom barrels toward destruction, Meilin begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price.

With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust—Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who has his own murky agenda; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew—about her kingdom and about her own heart.

If you liked Babel then first of all, same. Secondly; Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell deserves to become your co-obsession. Historical fiction flared with magic? Check. Well researched? Check! Deeply thematic?? Check! The author even includes footnotes? Check!

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation’s past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one the reclusive Mr Norrell, whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

If you’re anything like us, you’re also dreading the proposed 7 year wait between Wind and Truth and The Stormlight Archive Book 6. If only there was another epic fantasy series with pristine, deeply thought out worldbuilding, lore depicting an entire dynasty, and a truly colossal scale that even had “of kings” in the title of its first book. OH WAIT!

Wily, charming Kuni Garu, a bandit, and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke, seem like polar opposites. Yet, in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, and shapeshifting gods. Once the emperor has been overthrown, however, they each find themselves the leader of separate factions—two sides with very different ideas about how the world should be run and the meaning of justice.

We at Must Read Books would like to issue a formal challenge of pistols at dawn to anyone who argues that One Piece is not epic fantasy. If you’ve spent your life with the exquisitely absurd Discworld series and need another fantasy adventure exploring a vast array of different lands, with a goofy sense of humour, incisive social commentary, and the most bizarre characters you’ve ever seen then Eiichiro Oda’s masterwork, One Piece is your port of call.

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he ate the gum-gum fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

You’ve never encountered death and the dead written like this, that’s a MRB promise. If you liked Celaena you’ll love reading along as Sabriel grows into herself and becomes the warrior who must conquer death itself and take her rightful place in a great and noble lineage.

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.

However, the Old Kingdom is dangerous and unfamiliar; Sabriel must rely on her wits, determination, and her strange allies: The once magically imprisoned warrior, Touchstone, and her father’s talking cat, Mogget.