Books like 'Lavinia'
Readers who enjoyed Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy alternate history 20th century military, war & conflict historical-fiction myths retellings classics roman-empire
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Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIn The Winter King and Enemy of God Bernard Cornwell demonstrated his astonishing ability to make the oft-told legend of King Arthur fresh and new for our time. Now, in this riveting final volume of The Warlord Chronicles, Cornwell tells the unforgettable tale of Arthur's final struggles against the Saxons and his last attempts to triumph over a ruined marriage and ravaged dreams...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell]()
Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe balance of King Arthur's unified kingdom is threatened by Merlin's quest for the last of Britain's 13 Treasures; by the conflict between the ancient religion and the new Christianity; and by Britain's war with the Saxons. A master storyteller continues his retelling of the Arthurian legend...Categorized as:
historical-fiction myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![Warbound by Larry Correia]()
Warbound by Larry Correia
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsNew York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author's gritty urban fantasy set in an alternate noir 1930s. A tough P.I. battles an interdimensional monster that wants to suck magic power out of the world. Sequel to Hard Magic and Spellbound. Book Three in the Grimnoir Chronicles... -
![The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings... -
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![A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBased on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
![Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin]()
Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThere would be blood. Blood for blood. Blood to pay. An entire world of it.For the resistance in the Third Reich, the war may be over, but the fight has just begun. Death camp survivor Yael, who has the power to skinshift, is on the run: the world has just seen her shoot and kill Hitler. But the truth of what happened is far more complicated, and its consequences are deadly... -
![The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell]()
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsUther, the High King, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos - threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade...Categorized as:
historical-fiction myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history arthurian -
![The Philosopher's War by Tom Miller]()
The Philosopher's War by Tom Miller
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe second book in the thrilling series that began with The Philosopher’s Flight finds Robert Canderelli Weekes as a rookie Rescue and Evacuation flier on the front lines of World War I in France. He came to save lives, but has no idea how far he’ll have to go to win the war... -
![Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin]()
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsHer story begins on a train.The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s Ball in Tokyo... -
![Hard Magic by Larry Correia]()
Hard Magic by Larry Correia
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsJake Sullivan is a licensed Private Eye—with a seriously hardboiled attitude. He also possesses raw magical talent and the ability to make objects in his vicinity light as a feather or as heavy as depleted uranium, all with a magical thought. It's no wonder the G-men turn to Jake when they need someone to go after a suspected killer who's been knocking off banks in a magic-enhanced crime spree... -
![Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsA masterful epic of magic, politics, war, and the power of love and hate — from the renowned author of The Fionavar Tapestry and Children of Earth and Sky.Tigana is the magical story of a beleaguered land struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the black sorcery of a cruel despotic king that even the name of their once-beautiful homeland cannot be spoken or remembered.. -
![Darkness on his Bones by Barbara Hambly]()
Darkness on his Bones by Barbara Hambly
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSimon. Something frightful has happened to Jamie. Please come...When James Asher is found unconscious in the cemetery of the Church of St. Clare Pieds-Nus with multiple puncture-wounds in his throat and arms, his wife, Lydia, knows of only one person to call: the vampire Don Simon Ysidro... -
![Pale Guardian by Barbara Hambly]()
Pale Guardian by Barbara Hambly
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDuring the carnage of World War One, James Asher joins forces with the vampires of Europe to counter an even deadlier threat.The vampires call them The Others... -
![The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood]()
The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA royal palace. A closed book. A betrayal that will echo through generations…Windsor, 1940: War rages, and as bombs rain down across Britain, nowhere is safe: not even a royal palace.Secretly tasked with foiling a suspected plot, Sophie Klein is placed in the Royal Library at Windsor castle, where the princesses reside... -
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![Midnight on the Marne by Sarah Adlakha]()
Midnight on the Marne by Sarah Adlakha
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet during the heroism and heartbreak of World War I, and in an occupied France in an alternative timeline, Sarah Adlakha’s Midnight on the Marne explores the responsibilities love lays on us and the rippling impact of our choices.France, 1918. Nurse Marcelle Marchand has important secrets to keep... -
![The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis]()
The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSomeone is killing Britain's warlocks.Twenty-two years after the Second World War, a precarious balance of power maintains the peace between Great Britain and the USSR. For decades, the warlocks have been all that stand between the British Empire and the Soviet Union-- a vast domain stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the English Channel... -
![Declare by Tim Powers]()
Declare by Tim Powers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAs a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale finds himself caught up in a secret, even more ruthless war. Two decades later, in 1963, he will be forced to confront again the nightmare that has haunted his adult life: a lethal unfinished operation code-named Declare...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello]()
The Haunting of H. G. Wells by Robert Masello
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA plot against England that even the genius of H. G. Wells could not have imagined. It’s 1914. The Great War grips the world—and from the Western Front a strange story emerges…a story of St. George and a brigade of angels descending from heaven to fight beside the beleaguered British troops. But can there be any truth to it?H. G... -
![Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis]()
Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings12 May 1940. Westminster, London, England: the early days of World War II.Again.Raybould Marsh, one of "our" Britain's best spies, has travelled to another Earth in a desperate attempt to save at least one timeline from the Cthulhu-like monsters who have been observing our species from space and have already destroyed Marsh's timeline...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook -
![Dark Passage by M.J. Putney]()
Dark Passage by M.J. Putney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Irregulars return home to 1803 England safely, but their worldview has changed. Not only have their heroic efforts at Dunkirk given them pride and confidence but their dangerous mission has increased their magical powers... -
![Polostan by Neal Stephenson]()
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe first installment in Neal Stephenson’s three-part Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction fiction sci-fi historical audiobook fantasy espionage -
![Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey]()
Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsMercedes Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series recasts familiar fairy tales in a richly-imagined alternate Victorian worldEleanor Robinson’s life had shattered when Father volunteered for the Great War, leaving her alone with a woman he had just married...Categorized as:
historical-fiction retellings war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
![A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin]()
A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA gorgeous fantasy in the spirit of Pan’s Labyrinth and John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things.Set in a world similar to our own, during a war that parallels World War II, A Green and Ancient Light is the stunning story of a boy who is sent to stay with his grandmother for the summer in a serene fishing village... -
![Sir Nigel by Arthur Conan Doyle]()
Sir Nigel by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSir Nigel is a historical novel set during the Hundred Years' War, by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Written in 1906, it is a fore-runner to Doyle's earlier novel The White Company, and describes the early life of that book's hero Sir Nigel Loring in the service of King Edward III at the start of the Hundred Years' War...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
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![Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz]()
Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat Magic Can Stop Adolf Hitler -- History's Most Evil Black Magician?Modern WarThe year is 1940. Hitler's Germany is about to employ the secret arts of evil witchcraft to destroy England...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings war 20th-century adult alternate-history -
![The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke]()
The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSiblings Ilse and Wolf hide a deep secret in their blood: with it, they can work magic. And the government just found out. Blackmailed into service during World War II, Ilse lends her magic to America's newest weapon, the atom bomb, while Wolf goes behind enemy lines to sabotage Germany’s nuclear program... -
![Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Erickson]()
Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Erickson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCutting a terrifying path from a Pennsylvania farm to the Europe of the 1930s, Banning Jainlight becomes the private pornographer of the world's most evil man. In a Vienna window, he glimpses the face of a lost erotic dream, and from there travels to the Twentieth Century's darkest corner to confront its shocked and secret conscience...Categorized as:
literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book crime -
![Panzer Soldier by Barry Sadler]()
Panzer Soldier by Barry Sadler
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Panzer soldier for the brutal Third Reich, Casca becomes entrenched in Hitler's Nazi war machine and is forced to pit his credit as a soldier against his moral judgment of humanity. Sporting the honorable Knight's Cross and a silver tanker's badge, Casca leads the 1st SS Panzer Regiment against the hammering forces of Ivan, the throttlehold of Russia's military...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
![Westmark by Lloyd Alexander]()
Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Theo agrees to print a traveling showman's pamphlet, he only thinks of the money it will bring in. Instead, it sets off a chain reaction that results in the smashing of the press and the murder of his master. Caught on the wrong side of the law, Theo must flee the city. Soon, he has teamed up with the traveling showman Count Las Bombas (who is actually a con artist) and his servant...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age historical-fiction myths war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history -
![The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones]()
The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsTonino is the only person in the famous Montana household who wasn't born with an instinct for creating spells, but he has other gifts. His ability to communicate with cats just might help defend the city of Caprona against a mysterious enchanter -- but only if Tonino can learn to cooperate with a girl from the hated Petrocchi family of spell-makers... -
![The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers]()
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 30 ratings'The Drawing of the Dark is not only one of my favourite Tim Powers novels, it's simply one of my favourite novels. The seamless and seemingly effortless blend of action and humour, the wonderful characters, the rich settings, the brilliant plot - all of it is perfect' James P...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Siege Perilous by E.D. deBirmingham]()
Siege Perilous by E.D. deBirmingham
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOcyrhoe, a young, cunning fugitive from Rome, safeguards a chalice of subtle but great power. Finding herself in France, she allies with the persecuted, pacifist Cathar sect in their legendary mountaintop stronghold, Montségur... -
![Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson]()
Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe gathering forces of the Dark Powers threatened the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons and the Wild Hunt itself, were poised to overthrow the realms of light.And alone against the armies of Chaos stood one man, the knight of Three Hearts and Three Lions...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller]()
The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA thrilling debut from ER doctor turned novelist Tom Miller, The Philosopher’s Flight is an epic historical fantasy set in a World-War-I-era America where magic and science have blended into a single extraordinary art... -
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![The Cannibal by John Hawkes]()
The Cannibal by John Hawkes
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"No synopsis conveys the quality of this now famous novel about an hallucinated Germany in collapse after World War II... -
![A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones]()
A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTime City — built far in the future on a patch of space outside time — holds the formidable task of overseeing history, yet it's starting to decay, crumble .... What does that say for the future of the world ... for the past ..Categorized as:
classics female-mc historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook -
![Skandal by Lindsay Smith]()
Skandal by Lindsay Smith
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy mind is mine alone. Life in Washington, D.C., is not the safe haven Yulia hoped for when she risked everything to flee Communist Russia. Her father is reckless and aloof, and Valentin is distant and haunted by his past. Her mother is being targeted by the CIA and the US government is suspicious of Yulia's allegiance...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history book cold-war dystopia -
![Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal]()
Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsGhost Talkers: a new novel from beloved fantasy author Mary Robinette Kowal featuring the mysterious spirit corps and their heroic work in World War I.Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Hartshorne, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force... -
![Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey]()
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe new novel in Mercedes Lackey’s bestselling series of an alternative Edwardian Britain, where magic is real—and Elemental Masters are in control.Lionel Hawkins is a magician whose act is only partially sleight of hand. The rest is real magic. He’s an Elemental Magician with the power to persuade the Elementals of Air to help him create amazing illusions...Categorized as:
historical-fiction retellings war 20th-century abuse action-adventure alternate-history audiobook -
![Katabasis by Joseph Brassey, Cooper Moo]()
Katabasis by Joseph Brassey, Cooper Moo
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe death of the fearsome Ögedei Khan has brought the Mongol invasion of the West to an abrupt halt. Exhausted, plagued by uncertainty and self-doubt, and reeling from betrayal by one of their own, the surviving Shield-Brethren struggle across a frozen, shattered wasteland to return home after their desperate battle in Mongolia... -
![Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett]()
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsTwelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This has never been more true than when he finds himself in his hometown on May 21, 1941, over forty years before his birth!An accidental time traveler, Johnny knows his history. He knows England is at war, and he knows that on this day German bombs will fall on the town. It happened. It's history...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
![The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K. Chesterton]()
The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K. Chesterton
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn a London of the future, the drudgery of capitalism and bureaucracy have worn the human spirit down to the point where it can barely stand. When a pint-sized clerk named Auberon Quinn is randomly selected as head of state, he decides to turn London into a medieval carnival for his own amusement... -
![The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke]()
The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
Rated: 3.78 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery... -
![Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey]()
Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA brand-new Elemental Masters novel from the national bestselling author Mercedes Lackey. Richard Whitestone is an Elemental Earth Master. Blaming himself for the death of his beloved wife in childbirth, he has sworn never to set eyes on his daughter, Suzanne...Categorized as:
historical-fiction retellings war 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
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![Breach by W.L. Goodwater]()
Breach by W.L. Goodwater
Rated: 3.73 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe first novel in a new Cold War fantasy series, where the Berlin Wall is made entirely of magic. When a breach unexpectedly appears in the wall, spies from both sides swarm to the city as World War III threatens to spark.AFTER THE WAR, THE WALL BROUGHT AN UNEASY PEACE... -
![The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley]()
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Robin McKinley's vivid retelling of the classic story of Robin Hood breathes contemporary life into these beloved adventures, with Marian taking a pivotal role as one of Robin's best archers...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction myths retellings war 20th-century action-adventure adaptations -
![A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan]()
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAn ancient and dangerous power is being handed down from mother to daughter through some of the most consequential historic events of the last two centuries.After Grandmére Ursule gives her life to save her tribe, her magic seems to die with her. Even so, her family keeps the Old Faith, practicing the spells and rites that have been handed from mother to daughter for generations...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism myths war 20th-century adult -
![The Midnight Front by David Mack]()
The Midnight Front by David Mack
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsOn the eve of World War Two, Nazi sorcerers come gunning for Cade but kill his family instead. His one path of vengeance is to become an apprentice of The Midnight Front—the Allies’ top-secret magickal warfare program—and become a sorcerer himself...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history angels audiobook -
![Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card]()
Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsCome here to the magical America that might have beenand marvel as the tale of Alvin Maker unfolds. The seventh son of a seventh son is a boy of mysterious powers, and he is waking to the mysteries of the land and its own chosen people...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings war 20th-century -
![Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis]()
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
Rated: 3.72 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt's 1939. The Nazis have supermen, the British have demons, and one perfectly normal man gets caught in betweenRaybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book
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