Books like 'The Famished Road'
Readers who enjoyed The Famished Road by Ben Okri also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy 20th century supernatural action / adventure magical-realism literary-fiction classics poc-mc historical-fiction
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 88 ratingsHarry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...Categorized as:
classics magic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook boarding-school book british-isles -
The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book by Neil Gaiman
Rated: 4.65 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsTHE QUITE NICE AND FAIRLY ACCURATE GOOD OMENS SCRIPT BOOK contains much that is new and revelatory and even several scenes that are not actually in the final television series... -
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 86 ratingsThe Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.And strike it does...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism poverty 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsMatilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived...Categorized as:
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This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 40 ratings"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12Ashton is just a typical small town... -
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 62 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times... -
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 95 ratings‘Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.’People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day...Categorized as:
classics magic magical-realism myths 20th-century action-adventure angels apocalyptic -
The Waste Lands by Stephen King
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsSeveral months have passed, and Roland’s two new tet-mates have become proficient gunslingers. Eddie Dean has given up heroin, and Odetta’s two selves have joined, becoming the stronger and more balanced personality of Susannah Dean. But while battling The Pusher in 1977 New York, Roland altered ka by saving the life of Jake Chambers, a boy who—in Roland’s where and when—has already died...Categorized as:
classics magic 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book contemporary -
Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsRoland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Jake’s pet bumbler survive Blaine the Mono’s final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, one that has been ravaged by the superflu virus. While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, they hear the atonal squalling of a thinny, a place where the fabric of existence has almost entirely worn away...Categorized as:
classics magic 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book contemporary -
Swan Song by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsThe trade paper reissue of Robert McCammon's New York Times bestselling Swan Song.An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war.He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan -- and destroy her... -
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsWhile pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland, the last gunslinger, encounters three mysterious doorways on the beach. Each one enters into the life of a different person living in contemporary New York...Categorized as:
classics magic 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book contemporary -
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 64 ratingsSusan had never hung up a stocking . She'd never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn't that her parents didn't believe in such things. They didn't need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn't.There are those who believe and those who don't. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses... -
Echo Moon by Laura Spinella
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA past life, a past war, and a past love. Peter St John can’t foresee a future until he confronts his past sins.When photojournalist Peter St John returns home after a two-year absence, the life he’s been running from catches up. For years his mother’s presence, coupled with Pete’s own psychic gift, has triggered visits to 1917...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult alpha-mc audiobook book -
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsThis epic work of the imagination has captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide since it was first published. Its special story within a story is an irresistible invitation for readers to become part of the book itself. The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica...Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction magic 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book -
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The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe complete volume of Robertson Davies's acclaimed trilogy, featuring Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders, with a new foreword by Kelly Link Fifth Business Ramsay is a man twice born, a man who has returned from the hell of the battle-grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and... -
The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHans Thomas and his father set out on a car trip through Europe, from Norway to Greece—the birthplace of philosophy—in search of Hans Thomas's mother, who left them many years earlier. On the way, Hans Thomas receives a mysterious miniature book—the fantastic memoir of a sailor shipwrecked in 1842 on a strange island where a deck of cards come to life... -
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsA Discworld Novel. It's a hot Midsummer Night. The crop circles are turning up everywhere-even on the mustard-and-cress of Pewseyy Ogg, aged four. And Magrat Garlick, witch, is going to be married in the morning...Everything ought to be going like a dream... -
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIn the cloud-washed airspace between the cornfields of Illinois and blue infinity, a man puts his faith in the propeller of his biplane. For disillusioned writer and itinerant barnstormer Richard Bach, belief is as real as a full tank of gas and sparks firing in the cylinders..Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction magic magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsThis is not a fairy-tale. This is about real witches. Real witches don't ride around on broomsticks. They don't even wear black cloaks and hats. They are vile, cunning, detestable creatures who disguise themselves as nice, ordinary ladies...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook -
Better Witch Next Time by Stephanie Damore
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWould you travel to the past to right a wrong?Solve a cold case?Catch a killer? Meet one of the five witches who will. Vee Harper is the job. She lives for jumping back in time and solving cold cases for the Agency of Paranormal Peculiarities. It's the present day that trips her up. So when a missing persons case comes in, throwing her back to 1958 New York City, Vee sets off to solve it... -
The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAcross the worlds of Shadow, Corwin, prince of blood royal, heir to the throne of Amber, gathers his forces for an assault that will yield up to him the crown that is rightfully his. But, a growing darkness of his own doing threatens his plans, an evil that stretches to the heart of the perfect kingdom itself where the demonic forces of Chaos mass to annihilate Amber and all who would rule there... -
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 86 ratingsUnder the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure angels audiobook -
The Grey King by Susan Cooper
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 42 ratings"Fire on the Mountain Shall Find the Harp of Gold Played to Wake the Sleepers, Oldest of the Old..." With the final battle between the Light and the Dark soon approaching, Will sets out on a quest to call for aid. Hidden within the Welsh hills is a magical harp that he must use to wake the Sleepers - six noble riders who have slept for centuries...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction magic myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure animals -
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsRay Bradbury's second short story collection is back in print, its chilling encounters with funhouse mirrors, parasitic accident-watchers, and strange poker chips intact. Both sides of Bradbury's vaunted childhood nostalgia are also on display, in the celebratory "Uncle Einar," and haunting "The Lake," the latter a fine elegy to childhood loss...Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction magic magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
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The Stranger by Max Frei
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe millions-selling fantasy epic of the new Russian literary icon-a freeloading freebooter who finds a new home in a magical world Max Frei's novels have been a literary sensation in Russia since their debut in 1996, and have swept the fantasy world over. Presented here in English for the first time, The Stranger will strike a chord with readers of all stripes... -
Imajica by Clive Barker
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsImajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger, Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie 'oh' pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension... -
The Talisman by Stephen King, Peter Straub
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsOn a brisk autumn day, a twelve-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change...Categorized as:
classics magic magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure alternate-universe audiobook book -
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAfter a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys...Categorized as:
classics magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book children -
The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHarry Mulisch's magnum opus, is a rich mosaic of twentieth-century trauma in which many themes—friendship, loyalty, family, art, technology, religion, fate, good, and evil—suffuse a suspenseful and resplendent narrative.The Discovery of Heaven begins with the meeting of Onno and Max, two complicated individuals whom fate has mysteriously and magically brought together... -
The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, Jefferson Mays
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe definitive edition of Calvino’s cosmicomics, bringing together all of these enchanting stories—including some never before translated—in one volume for the first timeIn Italo Calvino’s cosmicomics, primordial beings cavort on the nearby surface of the moon, play marbles with atoms, and bear ecstatic witness to Earth’s first dawn...Categorized as:
classics journey literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn epic tale of freedom and slavery, love and war, and the potential futures of humankind tells of a twenty-first century California clan caught between two clashing worlds, one based on tolerance, the other on repression... -
Vamphyri! by Brian Lumley
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNot the end of life, Harry Keogh discovered--and not the end of his battle against he terrible evil of vampires. — In a secluded English village, Yulian Bodescu plots his takeover of the world. Imbued with a vampire's powers before his birth, Bodescu rules men's minds and bodies with supernatural ease...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book cold-war -
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsClive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world --- and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe Dark is rising in its last and greatest bid to control the world. And Will Stanton -- last-born of the immortal Old Ones, dedicated to keeping the world free -- must join forces with this ageless master Merriman and Bran, the Welsh boy whose destiny ties him to the Light. Drawn in with them are the three Drew children, who are mortal, but have their own vital part in the story...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction low-fantasy magic myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
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Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBeware of Helen... Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her ... our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire. But now something terrible has happened...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books contemporary -
Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsWelcome to Newford…Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, Tim White
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsAmber, the one real world, wherein all others, including our own Earth, are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne...Categorized as:
classics magic politics 20th-century action-adventure alternate-universe audiobook book -
Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsEveryone - wizards, soldiers, farmers, elves, dragons, kings and queens alike - is fed up with Mr Chesney's Pilgrim Parties: groups of tourists from the world next door who descend en masse every year to take the Grand Tour. What they expect are all the trappings of a grand fantasy adventure, including the Evil Enchantress, Wizard Guides, the Dark Lord, Winged Minions, and all... -
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsWhen a passenger check-in desk at London's Heathrow Airport disappears in a ball of orange flame, the explosion is deemed an act of God...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
Les aventures de Johnny Dixon: Le crâne du sorcier by John Bellairs
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Johnny Dixon and his friend Professor Childermass discover an old heirloom clock, the terror begins. The professor suddenly vanishes, and Johnny is left to solve the mystery--alone.Inside the clock Johnny discovers a miniature room, a room exactly like the one in which a murder took place long ago. And from the inside the little room Johnny pockets a tiny skull with magical powers...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction magic 20th-century action-adventure book children children-books -
Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRupert Venables is a Magid.It's a Magid's job to oversee what goes on in the vast Multiverse. Actually, Rupert is really only a junior Magid. But he's got a king-sized problem. Rupert's territory includes Earth and the Empire of Korfyros. When his mentor dies Rupert must find a replacement. But there are hundreds of candidates...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic myths 20th-century action-adventure alternate-universe audiobook book -
Lanark by Alasdair Gray
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis work, originally published in 1981, has been hailed as the most influential Scottish novel of the second half of the 20th century. Its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, personal and political, about humankind's inability to love and yet our compulsion to go on trying... -
The Little Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTony is a nine-year-old horror story addict, so he can hardly believe his luck when a little vampire called Rudolph lands on his windowsill one evening... -
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsThis night will be bad and tomorrow will be beyond imagining.It's Midwinter's Eve, the day before Will's eleventh birthday. But there is an atmosphere of fear in the familiar countryside around him. This will be a birthday like no other. Will discovers that he has the power of the Old Ones, and that he must embark on a quest to vanquish the terrifyingly evil magic of the Dark...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century -
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Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe second in a blockbuster series of novels from Russia's most popular science fiction author, Day Watch brings us back into the hyperimaginative world of Sergei Lukyanenko and continues the dramatic battle between good and evil, light and dark, day and night...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book contemporary -
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsA boy. A dragon. A quest.Firedrake, Ben; and their furry friend, Sorrel, are in search of the mythical place where dragons can live in peace forever. Together they embark on a journey that takes them to magical lands where they meet marvelous creatures - and one ruthless villain... -
Into the Land of the Unicorns by Bruce Coville
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsOne unicorn dwells on Earth.Hundreds fight in Luster.Their legends are recorded inTHE UNICORN CHRONICLESInto the Land of the UnicornsAs each chime sounds, Cara climbs faster up the steep bell tower. Eleven! She must be on the roof when the next bell tolls. Twelve! With a deep breath, and only half believing she will survive, Cara jumps off the church roof and into Luster, land of the unicorns...Categorized as:
magic myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism audiobook -
Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA powerful being fights for his life within the body of a humble, earthbound puppy.Sirius, immortal Lord of the Dog Star and infamous for his quick temper, cannot believe it when he is falsely accused of murder and banished to Earth. There he is reborn into the body of a puppy and learns that he has the life-span of that creature to recover the missing murder weapon. If he fails, he will die...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
High Wizardry by Diane Duane, Christina Moore
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNita's bratty little sister Dairine, 10, is too smart and powerful for a new wizard. Her computerized wizard manual glibly sends her off on her novice Ordeal. Kit and Nita chase her across the galaxy, trying to catch up before she gets into trouble so deep that not even her brains can rescue her... -
A Wizard Abroad by Diane Duane
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTo give Nita a vacation from magic--and to separate her from Kit, her partner in wizardry--Nita's parents pack her off for a monthlong stay with her eccentric aunt in Ireland...
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