Books like 'The Chess Garden'
Readers who enjoyed The Chess Garden by Brooks Hansen also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy action / adventure military, war & conflict historical-fiction magical-realism epistolary classics war literary-fiction
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Shōgun, Volume 1 by James Clavell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis is James Clavell's tour-de-force; an epic saga of one Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, and his integration into the struggles and strife of feudal Japan. Both entertaining and incisive, SHOGUN is a stunningly dramatic re-creation of a very different world... -
![The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón]()
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 91 ratingsBarcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written... -
![The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu]()
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsA publishing event: Bestselling author Ken Liu selects his award-winning science fiction and fantasy tales for a groundbreaking collection—including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume.With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu now shares his finest short fiction in The Paper Menagerie... -
![Shield-Maiden: Under the Blood Moon by Melanie Karsak]()
Shield-Maiden: Under the Blood Moon by Melanie Karsak
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs the blood moon rises, the shadow of Ragnarok falls on Uppsala.With the dark days in Dalr behind them, Hervor and Hofund journey to Grund. Hervor’s focus turns to tracking down the sea kings and taking vengeance, but she soon finds that life in Grund is convoluted. Family grudges, secret alliances, and shady friendships abound in the capital...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization audiobook book -
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![The Ransomed Crown by Wayne Grant]()
The Ransomed Crown by Wayne Grant
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsKing Richard has made peace with Saladin, but must run a gauntlet of enemies to get home from the Crusade. While England waits for her King, Prince John spares neither lives nor fortune to usurp his brother’s crown. Roland Inness, Declan O’Duinne and Millicent de Laval once more find themselves at the centre of a growing civil war... -
![Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman]()
Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThis is Simon de Montfort's story—and the story of King Henry III, as weak and changeable as Montfort was brash and unbending. It is a saga of two opposing wills that would later clash in a storm of violence and betrayal, a story straight from the pages of history that brings the world of the thirteenth century completely, provocatively, and magnificently alive... -
![The Grail Quest Trilogy (The Archers Tale, Vagabond, Heretic) by Bernard Cornwell]()
The Grail Quest Trilogy (The Archers Tale, Vagabond, Heretic) by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCornwell's Thomas of Hookton Three-Book For a limited time get three of Bernard Cornwell's works of historical fiction in one easy-to-order package, including Cornwell's latest, Heretic... -
![The Ring of Sky by Chris Bradford]()
The Ring of Sky by Chris Bradford
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsAS JACK EMBARKS ON HIS FINAL ADVENTURE, WILL HE MAKE IT BACK TO ENGLAND AND HOME?The Shogun has deemed that any Christian or foreigner now discovered outside the bounds of an official trading port will be instantly put to death. For Jack, Nagasaki is within reach, but the Shogun's samurai are closing in with the help of Jack's old school rival, Kazuki, who has a score to settle... -
![Tyrant: Funeral Games by Christian Cameron]()
Tyrant: Funeral Games by Christian Cameron
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsSatyrus and Melitta, twin heirs to a rich kingdom on the Black Sea, were hounded into exile in FUNERAL GAMES after their mother was brutally murdered by one of their father's former comrades, Heron. Heron now rules the land that is theirs by right, but the twins are older now and battle-hardened in the wars of Alexander's Successors...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization audiobook book -
![Rome's Lost Son by Robert Fabbri]()
Rome's Lost Son by Robert Fabbri
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe sixth installment in Robert Fabbri's epic Vespasian seriesRome, AD 51: Vespasian brings Rome's greatest enemy before the Emperor. After eight years of resistance, the British warrior Caratacus has been caught. But even Vespasian's victory cannot remove the newly-made consul from Roman politics: Agrippina, Emperor Claudius's wife, pardons Caratacus... -
![Aztec by Gary Jennings]()
Aztec by Gary Jennings
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAztec is the extraordinary story of the last and greatest native civilization of North America... -
![Defiant Unto Death by David Gilman, Martin Zhouf]()
Defiant Unto Death by David Gilman, Martin Zhouf
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFRANCE: 1356. Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crécy when Thomas Blackstone and his fellow archers stood their ground and rained death on the steel-clad might of French chivalry. Blackstone left that squalid field a knight. Now, Blackstone commands a war band and has carved out a small fiefdom in northern France...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization audiobook book -
![The Ring of Wind by Chris Bradford]()
The Ring of Wind by Chris Bradford
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJack Fletcher is battling the high seas. Ambushed by the Shogun's samurai, Jack and his friends have only one hope of escape—the Seto Sea. But with ferocious storms, man-eating sharks, and ninja pirates at every turn, their chosen route is fraught with danger. A treacherous crew only adds to their problems as they flee south from a ruthless samurai sea lord...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism war action-adventure book fiction friendship historical -
![Tom Swan and the Head of St. George Part Six: Chios by Christian Cameron]()
Tom Swan and the Head of St. George Part Six: Chios by Christian Cameron
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsA young Englishman, Tom Swan, finds himself in the midst of the Turkish siege of one of the riches islands in the Genoese Empire. Swan's biggest problem is that he hates the Genoese a good deal more than he hates the Turks. Despite which, he has to catch the spy, steal the ring, kill the traitor, and if possible rescue the princess. Or maybe just bed her.All duty, of course... -
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![Odin's Wolves by Giles Kristian, Джайлc Кристиан]()
Odin's Wolves by Giles Kristian, Джайлc Кристиан
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThey came from the North and fought their way through France and Spain. Now this fearless band of brothers sets sail for the greatest city in the world... -
![God of War: The Epic Story of Alexander the Great by Christian Cameron]()
God of War: The Epic Story of Alexander the Great by Christian Cameron
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe ultimate historical adventure novel: the life of Alexander the Great in a single, epic...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization audiobook book -
![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... -
![Warlord: A Novel of Robin Hood by Angus Donald]()
Warlord: A Novel of Robin Hood by Angus Donald
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMay 1194. Finally released from captivity, Richard the Lionheart is in Normandy engaged in a bloody war to drive the French out of his continental patrimony. Using the brutal tactics of medieval warfare – siege, savagery and scorched earth – the Lionheart is gradually pushing back the forces of King Philip of France... -
![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... -
![Red Branch by Morgan Llywelyn]()
Red Branch by Morgan Llywelyn
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn a land ruled by war and love and strange enchantments, Cuchulain -- torn between gentleness and violence, haunted by the croakings of a sinister raven -- fights for his honor and his homeland and discovers too late the trap that the gods have set for him in the fatal beauty of Deirdre and the brutal jealousy of King Conor...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization book epic -
![Romance of Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Lo Kuan-Chung (Luo Guanzhong)]()
Romance of Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Lo Kuan-Chung (Luo Guanzhong)
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCompiled during the Ming dynasty the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has for centuries been one of China's greatest classical novels. The story takes place after the collapse of the Han Dynasty and portrays a vast canvas of stories about peasants, soldiers, kings and scholars...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult book early-modern -
![The She-Wolf by Maurice Druon]()
The She-Wolf by Maurice Druon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘This was the original game of thrones’ George R.R. MartinCharles IV is now king of France and his sister is Edward II of England’s Queen. Having been imprisoned by Edward as leader of the rebellious English barons, Roger Mortimer escapes to France, where he joins the war against the English Aquitaine...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling]()
A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe eagerly awaited English translation of award-winning author Zhang Ling’s epic and intimate novel about the devastation of war, forgiveness, redemption, and the enduring power of love.On the day of the historic 1945 Jewel Voice Broadcast—in which Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces, bringing an end to World War II—three men, flush with jubilation, made a pact... -
![The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy]()
The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 24 ratings634AD. Anglo-Saxon Britain. A gripping, action-packed historical thriller and second instalment in the Bernicia Chronicles. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell.Warlords battle across Britain to become the first king of the English.After a stunning victory against the native Waelisc, Beobrand returns a hero. His valour is rewarded with wealth and land by the king of Northumbria... -
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![The Deer and the Cauldron: The First Book by Jin Yong]()
The Deer and the Cauldron: The First Book by Jin Yong
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the Dragon Throne of China sits the young Manchu Emperor Kang Xi. Back in 1644, his great-uncle Dorgon broke through the Great Wall from Manchuria in the north-east and took the Imperial capital, Peking. Now twenty years later, the Manchus are quelling the last sparks of Chinese resistance, hounding down members of the underground movement known as the Triad Secret Society...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult ancient-china -
![Battle For Empire by Sam Barone]()
Battle For Empire by Sam Barone
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBattle For Empire is the latest novel in Sam Barone’s six part series, a bronze age historical saga in the tradition of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell, and Jean Auel.In Dawn of Empire, Eskkar the warrior and Trella the slave girl come together in a mighty struggle to survive a barbarian invasion and build mankind’s first walled city...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization book epic fiction -
![Captain of the Guard by Ron C. Nieto]()
Captain of the Guard by Ron C. Nieto
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOren Trevaine has never shaken the feeling that he’s not good enough, but he’s determined to avoid the same fate for his men. Oren’s first task as Captain of the Guard is to transform his unruly, undisciplined soldiers into a formidable army—if only they would cooperate.But Oren will need to act fast because the snow is melting with the budding of spring... -
![The Three Kingdoms, Volume 2: The Sleeping Dragon by Luo Guanzhong]()
The Three Kingdoms, Volume 2: The Sleeping Dragon by Luo Guanzhong
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis exciting new translation will appeal to modern readers who find the twists and turns of Game of Thrones so compelling.The Three Kingdoms is an epic Chinese novel written over six centuries ago... -
![Daughters of Bronze: A Novel of Troy by A.D. Rhine]()
Daughters of Bronze: A Novel of Troy by A.D. Rhine
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSong of great sorrow. Even greater love. Lost between the timeless lines of Homer’s epic, the women of Troy finally stand to be counted. Their story is one you’ve never encountered, and it will change the fate of Troy forever... -
![One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez]()
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsProbably García Márquez finest and most famous work. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of a mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, alive with unforgettable men and women, and with a truth and understanding that strike the soul... -
![Time of the Dragons by Robert Shea]()
Time of the Dragons by Robert Shea
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShike is a novel about two characters: Jebu, a fighting monk of the Order of Zinja, and Taniko, the minor noblewoman with whom he falls in love on his first mission - escorting her to an arranged marriage with a far older and extremely influential nobleman... -
![Conflict of Empires by Sam Barone]()
Conflict of Empires by Sam Barone
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsConflict of Empires is a sweeping historical saga in the tradition of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell and Jean Auel.The beginning of civilization is fraught with war, invasion, plunder, and rapine... -
![Wolves of Winter: A Novel by Dan Jones]()
Wolves of Winter: A Novel by Dan Jones
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe epic sequel to Essex Dogs , continuing the New York Times bestselling historian's trilogy of novels following the fortunes of ten ordinary soldiers during the Hundred Years' War."[ Essex Dogs reconceives] medieval military history as a swashbuckling Hollywood movie."— The New York Times Book ReviewFor the Dogs, the war has only just begun...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war literary-fiction fiction historical medieval action-adventure military -
![Heretic by Bernard Cornwell]()
Heretic by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the sequel to The Archer’s Tale and Vagabond—the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family’s honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail... -
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![Castillon by Christian Cameron]()
Castillon by Christian Cameron
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratings1450s France. A young Englishman, Tom Swan, is kneeling in the dirt, waiting to be killed by the French who've taken him captive. He's not a professional soldier. He's really a merchant and a scholar looking for remnants of Ancient Greece and Rome - temples, graves, pottery, fabulous animals, unicorn horns... -
![The Prow Beast by Robert Low]()
The Prow Beast by Robert Low
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Oathsworn have become feared and respected throughout the Viking world. Their name goes before them and men cower in their presence, but they soon discover that fame comes at a price... -
![Grail Knight by Angus Donald]()
Grail Knight by Angus Donald
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1200 A.D., much in England has changed. Richard the Lionhearted has died and his duplicitous brother John has taken the throne. The Earl of Locksley has been outlawed by his old enemy, now the king, and Sir Alan Dale has had the estates granted to him by Richard I taken away again. But still Alan Dale lives comfortably with his beloved wife pregnant with their first child... -
![Rome's Executioner by Robert Fabbri]()
Rome's Executioner by Robert Fabbri
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThracia, AD30: Even after four years military service at the edge of the Roman world, Vespasian can't escape the tumultuous politics of an Empire on the brink of disintegration. His patrons in Rome have charged him with the clandestine extraction of an old enemy from a fortress on the banks of the Danube before it falls to the Roman legion besieging it...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization book fiction historical -
![The Adventures of Robin Hood by Joseph Walker McSpadden]()
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Joseph Walker McSpadden
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe classic story of the man who robbed from the rich to give to the poor comes alive with vibrant illustrations from celebrated artist Greg Hildebrandt. Escape to Sherwood Forest and join the jolly Fellowship of the Greenwood with these rollicking tales of the celebrated archer and gentleman thief...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure audiobook book children -
![The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden]()
The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsConn Iggulden, the New York Times bestselling author of the Emperor, Conqueror, and Wars of the Roses series, returns to the ancient world with a ferociously violent epic.401 BC. In the ancient world, one army was feared above all others. The Persian king Artaxerxes rules an empire stretching from the Aegean to northern India. As many as fifty million people are his subjects. His rule is absolute...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war action-adventure adult ancient-civilization audiobook book fiction -
![A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsInternational bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay's latest work is set in a world evoking early Renaissance Italy and offers an extraordinary cast of characters whose lives come together through destiny, love, and ambition. In a chamber overlooking the nighttime waterways of a maritime city, a man looks back on his youth and the people who shaped his life... -
![The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden]()
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsDuring the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the NightingaleJanuary 1918... -
![The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Suchitra Pillai]()
The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Suchitra Pillai
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe Ramayana, one of the world’s greatest epics, is also a tragic love story. In this brilliant retelling, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places Sita at the centre of the novel: this is Sita’s version. The Forest of Enchantments is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult audiobook book female-author -
![Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThe bestselling author of the groundbreaking novels Under Heaven and River of Stars, Guy Gavriel Kay is back with a new book, set in a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. Against this tumultuous backdrop the lives of men and women unfold on the borderlands—where empires and faiths collide...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
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![The Iliad/The Odyssey by Homer]()
The Iliad/The Odyssey by Homer
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsGripping listeners and readers for more than 2,700 years, 'The Iliad' is the story of the Trojan War and the rage of Achilles. Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. If 'The Iliad' is the world's greatest war story, then 'The Odyssey' is literature's greatest evocation of every man's journey through life... -
![A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes]()
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsFrom the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war... -
![King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales by Thomas Malory]()
King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales by Thomas Malory
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThomas Malory, knight, adventurer, and soldier, was born in the early years of the fifteenth century and died on March 14, 1471, having spent much of the last twenty years of his life in prison. It was there that he wrote most, if not all, of his works, completing the last in about 1470...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction war action-adventure anthologies arthurian children -
![The Titans by John Jakes]()
The Titans by John Jakes
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsRaging with the heartbreaks and tragedies of our nation's darkest hours, this passionate saga follows a dynamic generation of Kents through the hell of Civil War--from New York, where the Kent empire fears destruction...to Washington, where the family is drawn into the rank web of espionage...to the battlefields of the South, where the youngest Kents rally with pride and honor.. -
![Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'an, Luo Guanzhong]()
Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'an, Luo Guanzhong
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsChina's great classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh, written in the fourteenth century, is a fictional account of twelfth-century events during the Song Dynasty. One by one, over a hundred men and women are forced by the harsh feudal officialdom to take to the hills. They band together and defeat every attempt of the government troops to crush them... -
![Moment of Truth by Michael Pryor]()
Moment of Truth by Michael Pryor
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAubrey has a difficult choice to make to save his friends when Albion erupts into war—and it could cost him his life The war that has been looming for so long finally erupts, sending Albion and the continent into chaos. Aubrey, George, and Caroline are brought into a top-secret espionage unit and sent on a mission to investigate a mysterious magical facility on the Gallia–Holmland border...Categorized as:
historical-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism war action-adventure book children-books fiction
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