Books like 'The Pastel City'
Readers who enjoyed The Pastel City by M. John Harrison also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy action / adventure 20th century urban fantasy apocalyptic post-apocalyptic dying-earth heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery
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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... -
![A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon]()
A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsAvailable for the first time as an exclusive eBook in this original Outlander novella, Diana Gabaldon reveals what really happened to Roger MacKenzie Wakefield’s parents. Orphaned during World War II, Roger believed that his mother died during the London Blitz, and that his father, an RAF pilot, was killed in combat. But in An Echo in the Bone, Roger discovers that this may not be the whole story...Categorized as:
industrial-era 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book british-isles drama -
![The Long Chain by Dan Willis]()
The Long Chain by Dan Willis
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWhen New York is blanketed in an unnatural fog, Private Detective Alex Lockerby finds himself on the trail of a missing scientist, a stolen military secret, and a merciless killer leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.In a city the size of New York, things go missing all the time. When a Nobel-Prize winning Chemist vanishes without a trace, his granddaughter taps Alex to find him...Categorized as:
industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book dieselpunk -
![Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler]()
Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsDoro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex--or design. He fears no one--until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu has also died many times. She can absorb bullets and make medicine with a kiss, give birth to tribes, nurture and heal, and savage anyone who threatens those she loves. She fears no one--until she meets Doro...Categorized as:
classics dystopia 20th-century action-adventure adult afrofuturism alternate-history audiobook -
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![The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón]()
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBarcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife Bea have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julian, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past... -
![Carbonel: The King of the Cats by Barbara Sleigh]()
Carbonel: The King of the Cats by Barbara Sleigh
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBack in print in the U.S. for the first time in over 30 years.Rosemary's plan to clean houses during her summer break and surprise her mother with the money hits a snag when an old lady at the market talks her into buying a second-rate broom and a cat she can't even afford to keep. But appearances can be deceiving... -
![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...Categorized as:
dark dystopia 20th-century action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-history assassins audiobook -
![Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood]()
Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves...Categorized as:
dystopia 20th-century action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-history boarding-school book family -
![Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón]()
Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsFifteen-year-old Oscar Drai meets the strange Marina while he's exploring an old quarter of Barcelona. She leads Oscar to a cemetery, where they watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the last Sunday of each month. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, a woman shrouded in a black velvet cloak descends from her carriage to place a single rose on an unmarked grave... -
![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... -
![A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle]()
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsIn this companion volume to A Wrinkle In Time (Newbery Award winner) and A Wind In The Door fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior undertake a perilous journey through time in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo. They are not alone in their quest...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books christian -
![The Time Garden by Edward Eager]()
The Time Garden by Edward Eager
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 29 ratings"Anything can happen when you have all the time in the world" says the frog-like Natterjack in old relative Mrs Whiton's thyme garden. Cousins Roger, Ann, Eliza and girl-crazy Jack ride for American rebels, bow to Queen Elizabeth I, and even rescue their own parents when they were children... -
![Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager]()
Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsA seven-day book of magic proves to be fractious for five children, who must learn the book's rules and tame its magic... -
![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...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dark dystopia industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![Mary Poppins in the Park by P.L. Travers]()
Mary Poppins in the Park by P.L. Travers
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBy P.L. Travers, the author featured in the major motion picture, Saving Mr. Banks. From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. This classic series tells the story of the world's most beloved nanny, who brings enchantment and excitement with her everywhere she goes...Categorized as:
classics sword-sorcery 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Borrowers by Mary Norton]()
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsBeneath the kitchen floor is the world of the Borrowers -- Pod and Homily Clock and their daughter, Arrietty. In their tiny home, matchboxes double as roomy dressers and postage stamps hang on the walls like paintings. Whatever the Clocks need they simply "borrow" from the "human beans" who live above them. It's a comfortable life, but boring if you're a kid...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books comedy -
![Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager]()
Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen wishing for magic, it's hard not to wish for too much.If Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha had stopped to think -- oh, if they had only stopped to think! -- they would have ordered magic by the pound, or by the day, or even by the halves as they had in Half Magic... -
![Hollow City by Ransom Riggs]()
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThis second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises...Categorized as:
dark 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children coming-of-age dark-fantasy -
![The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon]()
The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsD-Day is threatened, but one man could rip the heart of the Nazis -- with his bare claws....He is Michael Gallatin, master spy, lover -- and werewolf. Able to change shape with lightning speed, to kill silently or with savage, snarling fury, he proved his talents against Rommel in Africa. Now he faces his most delicate, dangerous mission: to unravel the secret Nazi plan known as Iron Fist...Categorized as:
dark 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book dark-fantasy -
![The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg]()
The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg returns to the enchanting world of The Paper Magician.Alvie Brechenmacher has arrived in London to begin her training in Polymaking—the magical discipline of bespelling plastic. Polymaking is the newest form of magic, and in a field where there is so much left to learn, every Polymaker dreams of making the next big discovery... -
![Duncton Wood by William Horwood]()
Duncton Wood by William Horwood
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBracken was born on an April night in a warm dark burrow deep in the historic system of Duncton Wood, six moleyears after Rebecca. This is the story of their love, and their epic struggle to find it.The moles of Duncton Wood are a varied lot. There are the aggressive Westsiders, the secretive and sickly Marchenders and the independent Eastsiders...Categorized as:
classics dystopia epic 20th-century action-adventure animals anthologies anthropomorphism -
![The Witch’s Lens by Luanne G. Smith]()
The Witch’s Lens by Luanne G. Smith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsAs World War I rages, there are evils—both living and dead—that only a witch can see in a spellbinding novel by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Raven Spell.With her husband off fighting at World War I’s eastern front, Petra Kurková embraces her fleeting freedom, roaming the city at night with her camera... -
![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:
apocalyptic dark dystopia industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs]()
The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJohnny Dixon doesn't believe that the ghost of mad Father Baart haunts the town church. But then he takes an old scroll and a seemingly harmless figurine from the church basement, accepts a magic ring from a mysterious stranger--and is plunged into a terrifying adventure that may cost him his life... -
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![The Book of Pearl by Timothée de Fombelle]()
The Book of Pearl by Timothée de Fombelle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn prose as magical and intricate as the tale it tells, Timothée de Fombelle delivers an unforgettable story of a first love that defines a lifetime.Joshua Pearl comes from a world that we no longer believe in — a world of fairy tale... -
![Ghosts I Have Been by Richard Peck]()
Ghosts I Have Been by Richard Peck
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsUpon discovering that she has the gift of Second Sight, Blossom also learns that whether glimpsing the future or traveling into the past, one is powerless to alter history... -
![Sword and Sorceress IX by Marion Zimmer Bradley, David A. Cherry]()
Sword and Sorceress IX by Marion Zimmer Bradley, David A. Cherry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWITH BLADE HONED AND SPELLS BREWED - The defenders of the innocent and the makers of great enchantments prepare to face the many challenges of evil's forces. In all of fantasy's far-flung realms, women of power - whether trained in the ways of the warrior or in the deepest secrets of sorcery - rally against those who seek to conquer and enslave...Categorized as:
epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies female-author -
![Dagger Magic by Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris]()
Dagger Magic by Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAdam Sinclair, the Adept, faces mankind's most dire threat--a cult older than Christianity, with the power to resurrect a new, demonic Third Reich... -
![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:
epic industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
![The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells]()
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsNicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien..Categorized as:
dark epic industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook -
![Knight's Castle by Edward Eager]()
Knight's Castle by Edward Eager
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen the ancient toy soldier comes alive, the Old One grants Roger's wish to adventure in "yeomanly" Sherwood Forest. Will Roger earn his second wish, to save his father? Need for an operation brings Roger 11 and younger Ann to stay with bossy cousin Eliza and Jack... -
![The Cursed by Dave Duncan]()
The Cursed by Dave Duncan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWar had killed Gwin's husband, and a plague of star sickness carried off her babies. Desolate, she nursed her stricken neighbors. But the few who would survive the sickness were doomed anyway. Every survivor would be cursed, and each would become outcast, for the curses were more deadly than the plague itself... -
![The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting, Peter Glassman]()
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting, Peter Glassman
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsDoctor John Dolittle loves animals. He loves them so much that his home and office overflow with animals of every description. When Polynesia the parrot teaches him the language of the animals, Doctor Dolittle becomes a world-famous doctor, traveling even as far away as Africa to help his friends...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism audiobook book children -
![The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey]()
The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsMercedes Lackey returns to form in The Serpent's Shadow, the fourth in her sequence of reimagined fairy tales. This story takes place in the London of 1909, and is based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...Categorized as:
epic industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history animals audiobook -
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![The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea]()
The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn Ancient Manuscript...When ten-year-old Pidge finds the crumbling pages of an old manuscript in a second-hand bookshop in Galway, he unwittingly releases the serpent Olc-Glas--and the forces of good and evil gather to do battle. The Morrigan, Goddess of Death and Destruction, has set her evil heart on gaining Olc-Glas and adding its poison to her own, thereby casting her shadow over the world... -
![The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy]()
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMiss Cackle's Academy for Witches has never seen a worse pupil than Mildred Hubble. Her spells always backfire and her broomstick flights end in a crash. Now one of Mildred's spells has ruined things for Ethel Hallow . . . and that Perfect Witch is out for revenge! Black-and-white illustrations... -
![Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella]()
Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratings“If you build it, he will come.” These mysterious words inspire Ray Kinsella to create a cornfield baseball diamond in honor of his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson. What follows is a rich, nostalgic look at one of our most cherished national pastimes and a remarkable story about fathers and sons, love and family, and the inimitable joy of finding your way home... -
![The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey]()
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBeauty Meets Beast in San FranciscoAccepting employment as a governess after hard times hit her family, medieval scholar Rosalind Hawkins is surprised when she learns that her mysterious employer has no children, no wife, and she is not to meet with him face to face. Instead, her duties are to read to him, through a speaking tube, from ancient manuscripts in obscure, nearly-forgotten dialects...Categorized as:
epic industrial-era steampunk 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
![Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle]()
Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsArriving in the English countryside to live with her mother and new stepfather, Jenny has no interest in her surroundings, until she meets Tamsin. Since her death over 300 years ago, Tamsin has haunted the lonely estate without rest, trapped by a hidden trauma she can't remember, and a powerful evil even the spirits of night cannot name... -
![The Apprentices by Maile Meloy]()
The Apprentices by Maile Meloy
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsTwo years have passed since Janie Scott last saw Benjamin Burrows, the mysterious apothecary’s defiant son who stole her heart. On the other side of the world, Benjamin and his father are treating the sick and wounded in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam. But Benjamin has also been experimenting with a magical new formula that allows him to communicate with Janie across the globe... -
![Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers]()
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsBy P.L. Travers, the author featured in the major motion picture, Saving Mr. Banks. From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book british-isles children -
![Arcadia by Iain Pears]()
Arcadia by Iain Pears
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn Cold War England, Professor Henry Lytten, having renounced a career in espionage, is writing a fantasy novel that dares to imagine a world less fraught than his own...Categorized as:
dystopia epic post-apocalyptic 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James]()
Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1919, Kitty Weekes, pretty, resourceful, and on the run, falsifies her background to obtain a nursing position at Portis House, a remote hospital for soldiers left shell-shocked by the horrors of the Great War. Hiding the shame of their mental instability in what was once a magnificent private estate, the patients suffer from nervous attacks and tormenting dreams... -
![Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede]()
Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsKim doesn't hesitate when a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into the travelling magician's wagon in search of a silver bowl. Kim isn't above a bit of breaking-and-entering. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London-disguised as a boy!-has schooled her in one hard lesson: steal from them before they steal from you. But there is something odd about this magician... -
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![Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane by P.L. Travers]()
Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane by P.L. Travers
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe's back! Mary Poppins, everyone's favorite nanny, has returned to take the Banks children on another unforgettable adventure. On the most magical of nights, Midsummer's Eve, all kinds of strange things can happen--mythical visitors come down from the heavens and animals speak...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books feminism -
![The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd]()
The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThere are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill hospital. In the mirrors that line its grand hallways, which once belonged to a princess. In those that reflect the elegant rooms, now filled with sick children. It is her secret...Categorized as:
classics sword-sorcery 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book children -
![Half Magic by Edward Eager]()
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsFour children wish on a Half Magic coin that gets their mother Alison half-way home, rescued by Mr Smith. Mark's wish zaps them to a desert without island, where half-talking cat Carrie gabbles to a camel. Romantic Katherine battles Launcelot. Eldest Jane rejects siblings for another family. Stubborn youngest, Martha, causes a riot downtown...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books fairy-tale -
![The Satanic Mill: Evil Lurks Within by Otfried Preußler]()
The Satanic Mill: Evil Lurks Within by Otfried Preußler
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIn seventeenth-century Germany, a boy desperately wants to escape from a school for Black Magic where he is held captive by demonic forces... -
![Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams]()
Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsMeet Fritti Tailchaser, a ginger tom cat of rare courage and curiosity, a born survivor in a world of heroes and villains, of powerful feline gods and whiskery legends about those strange furless, erect creatures called M’an.“The hour of Unfolding Dark had begun, and the rooftop where Tailchaser lay was smothered in shadow...Categorized as:
classics epic 20th-century action-adventure animals anthologies anthropomorphism cats -
![Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd Jones]()
Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd Jones
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"Chilling . . . A neo-gothic treat; original, richly imagined, and powerfully told." --The Guardian (UK) for The String Diaries See the girl. Leah Wilde is twenty-four, a runaway on a black motorbike, hunting for answers while changing her identity with each new Central European town...
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