Books like 'Cain'
Readers who enjoyed Cain by José Saramago also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century alternate history religion historical-fiction classics humor literary-fiction satire myths
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11/22/63 by Stephen King
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsOn November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction magical-realism 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![Animal Farm / 1984 by George Orwell]()
Animal Farm / 1984 by George Orwell
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsThis edition features George Orwell’s best-known novels—1984 and Animal Farm—with an introduction by Christopher Hitchens.In 1984, London is a grim city where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith joins a secret revolutionary organisation called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century alternate-history -
![Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell]()
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:
drama historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings 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:
drama historical-fiction myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
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![Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa]()
Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA haunting tale of power, corruption, and the complex search for identity, Conversation in The Cathedral takes place in 1950s Peru during the dictatorship of Manuel Apolinario Odría Amoretti... -
![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... -
![Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig]()
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe great Austrian writer Stefan Zweig was a master anatomist of the deceitful heart, and Beware of Pity, the only novel he published during his lifetime, uncovers the seed of selfishness within even the finest of feelings...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history audiobook -
![The Secret Wife by Gill Paul]()
The Secret Wife by Gill Paul
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA Russian grand duchess and an English journalist. Linked by one of the world’s greatest mysteries . . . Love. Guilt. Heartbreak. 1914 Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future. Grand Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance – and their lives – in danger . . -
![The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham]()
The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsGermany, 1944. A prisoner in the camps, Anke Hoff is doing what she can to keep her pregnant campmates and their newborns alive.But when Anke's work is noticed, she is chosen for a task more dangerous than she could ever have imagined. Eva Braun is pregnant with the Führer's child, and Anke is assigned as her midwife.Before long, Anke is faced with an impossible choice...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul]()
The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIf you loved I AM ANASTASIA you won't want to miss this novel about her sister, Grand Duchess Maria. What really happened to this lost Romanov daughter? A new novel perfect for anyone curious about Anastasia, Maria, and the other lost Romanov daughters, by the author of THE SECRET WIFE...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history audiobook book -
![Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart]()
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsWhen the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox sought a wiseman to save them. He found master Li Kao, a scholar with a slight flaw in his character. Together, they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure -
![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:
drama historical-fiction myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history arthurian -
![The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King]()
The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn a case that will push their relationship to the breaking point, Mary Russell must help reverse the greatest failure of her legendary husband's storied past--a painful and personal defeat that still has the power to sting...this time fatally. For Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, returning to the Sussex coast after seven months abroad was especially sweet...Categorized as:
historical-fiction religion retellings spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
![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... -
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![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... -
![A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley]()
A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet in a mythical backwater Southern town, A Different Drummer is the extraordinary story of Tucker Caliban, a quiet, determined descendant of an African chief who for no apparent reason destroys his farm and heads for parts unknown--setting off a mass exodus of the state's entire Black population... -
![Women & Children First by Gill Paul]()
Women & Children First by Gill Paul
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe was the most magnificent ship ever built, yet on the eve of 14th April the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, leaving the lucky ones floating in wooden rowing boats, and the rest struggling for their lives in the icy water...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book family -
![The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman]()
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 89 ratingsLost in a new world, Lyra finds Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power... -
![The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill]()
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe pushcarts have declared war! New York City's streets are clogged with huge, rude trucks that park where they want, hold up traffic, and bulldoze into anything that is in their way, and the pushcart peddlers are determined to get rid of them. But the trucks are just as determined to get rid of the pushcarts, and chaos results in the city...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor satire 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook -
![To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis]()
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsConnie Willis' Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Doomsday Book uses time travel for a serious look at how people connect with each other. In this Hugo-winning companion to that novel, she offers a completely different kind of time travel adventure: a delightful romantic comedy that pays hilarious homage to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat... -
![Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsCrispin is a master mosaicist, creating beautiful art with colored stones and glass. Summoned to Sarantium by imperial request, he bears a Queen's secret mission, and a talisman from an alchemist... -
![A Prophet Without Honor: A Novel of Alternative History by Joseph Wurtenbaugh]()
A Prophet Without Honor: A Novel of Alternative History by Joseph Wurtenbaugh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘A Prophet Without Honor’ is that rare novel that provides a rich, entertaining and fully immersive reading experience, along with a resonant, thought-provoking subtext. Written in epistolary style and populated with interesting, fully-realized characters, the multi-general narrative is a seamless blend of authentic fact and sound speculation...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book epistolary fiction -
![The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart]()
The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIn the valley of Sorrows, a monk is brutally murdered for a worthless manuscript, and the abbot of the humble monastery calls upon Master Li and Number Ten Ox to investigate the seemingly senseless killing. The most likely suspect is the infamous Laughing Prince, founder of the valley, whose murderous frenzies have made him a legend...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker]()
The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsChava is a golem, a woman made of clay, able to hear the thoughts and longings of the people around her and compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a perpetually restless and free-spirited creature of fire, imprisoned in the shape of a man... -
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![Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken]()
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSimon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew's fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction humor 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history book -
![The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne]()
The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the author of The Absolutist, a propulsive novel of the Russian Revolution and the fate of the Romanovs. Part love story, part historical epic, part tragedy, The House of Special Purpose illuminates an empire at the end of its reign. Eighty-year-old Georgy Jachmenev is haunted by his past—a past of death, suffering, and scandal that will stay with him until the end of his days... -
![All Clear by Connie Willis]()
All Clear by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Blackout, award-winning author Connie Willis returned to the time-traveling future of 2060—the setting for several of her most celebrated works—and sent three Oxford historians to World War II England: Michael Davies, intent on observing heroism during the Miracle of Dunkirk; Merope Ward, studying children evacuated from London; and Polly Churchill, posing as a shopgirl in the middle of the... -
![The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel, Sandra Burr]()
The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel, Sandra Burr
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsLibrarian note: See an alternate cover edition here.This unforgettable odyssey into the distant past carries us back to the awesome mysteries of the exotic, primeval world of The Clan of the Cave Bear, and to Ayla, now grown into a beautiful and courageous young woman... -
![Maid of Baikal by Preston Fleming]()
Maid of Baikal by Preston Fleming
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat if a Siberian Joan of Arc had rescued the White Armies at a critical point of the Russian Civil War in 1919? MAID OF BAIKAL offers an alternative outcome to that war through the intervention of Zhanna Dorokhina, a young woman from the shores of Siberia’s Lake Baikal... -
![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...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor religion spirituality 20th-century adult alternate-history black-mc -
![Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken]()
Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHaving had enough of life on board the ship that saved her from a watery grave, Dido Twite wants nothing more than to sail home to England. Instead, Captain Casket's ship lands in Nantucket, where Dido and the captain's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, are left in the care of Dutiful's sinister Aunt Tribulation. In Tribulation's farmhouse, life is unbearable...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history book children -
![Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang]()
Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Selection Together with a crew of other miners and cart-pullers, Hillalum is recruited to climb the Tower of Babylon and unearth what lies beyond the vault of heaven...Categorized as:
christian historical-fiction humor literary-fiction myths religion retellings satire -
![Time and Time Again by Ben Elton]()
Time and Time Again by Ben Elton
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt’s the 1st of June 1914 and Hugh Stanton, ex-soldier and celebrated adventurer is quite literally the loneliest man on earth. No one he has ever known or loved has been born yet. Perhaps now they never will be.Stanton knows that a great and terrible war is coming. A collective suicidal madness that will destroy European civilization and bring misery to millions in the century to come... -
![The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin]()
The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsAlive and hiding in South America, the fiendish Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele gathers a group of former colleagues for a horrifying project—the creation of the Fourth Reich. Barry Kohler, a young investigative journalist, gets wind of the project and informs famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman, but before he can relay the evidence, Kohler is killed... -
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![Doomsday Book by Connie Willis]()
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFor Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received...Categorized as:
classics drama humor religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history -
![Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold]()
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsCharles Carter—a.k.a. Carter the Great—is a young master performer whose skill as an illusionist exceeds even that of the great Houdini. But nothing in his career has prepared Carter for the greatest stunt of all, which stars none other than President Warren G. Harding and which could end up costing Carter the reputation he has worked so hard to create... -
![Libra by Don DeLillo]()
Libra by Don DeLillo
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of White Noise (winner of the National Book Award) and Zero KIn this powerful, eerily convincing fictional speculation on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Don DeLillo chronicles Lee Harvey Oswald's odyssey from troubled teenager to a man of precarious stability who imagines himself an agent of history...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history assassins -
![Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank]()
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 46 ratings“An extraordinary real picture of human beings numbed by catastrophe but still driven by the unconquerable determination of living creatures to keep on being alive.” —The New Yorker“Alas, Babylon.” Those fateful words heralded the end... -
![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... -
![Black No More by George S. Schuyler]()
Black No More by George S. Schuyler
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA hillarious exploration of the bizarre events which occur when blacks literally 'disappear' from society...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century adult afrofuturism -
![Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley]()
Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the final days of the Second World War, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley scrawls his desperate account on the walls and ceilings of his ice-cold prison high in the Austrian Alps. Officers of the liberating army discover his frozen, disfigured corpse and his astonishing testament - the sordid truth that he alone possessed...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book fiction -
![Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart]()
Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsOnce again World Fantasy Award-winner Barry Hughart blends folklore and fantasy to create a work of enchantment set in an ancient China that never was…but should have been. Master Li and Number Ten Ox—heroes of Bridge of Birds and The Story of the Stone—return to solve the mystery of how and why respected mandarins are being mysteriously murdered...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![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...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism myths retellings 20th-century alternate-history audiobook book -
![A Wrath of Sparrows by Jacquelyn Benson]()
A Wrath of Sparrows by Jacquelyn Benson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen an old enemy resurfaces, Lily is forced to choose between friendship and fate in this special Charismatics novella.In the wake of a devastating loss, Lily gets an unwelcome visit from Jack Cannon, the uncrowned Lord of Limehouse.Sam's former boss is dangerously close to discovering the truth about The Charismatics, information he will ruthlessly exploit...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era magical-realism romance fantasy historical paranormal fiction -
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![Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake by Hugh Lofting]()
Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake by Hugh Lofting
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDoctor Dolittle is determined to continue the work he started on the Moon to find the secret of everlasting life. But to carry on, he must consult Mudface, the ancient turtle who lives in the Secret Lake in Africa...Categorized as:
classics humor 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history animals book children -
![Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska]()
Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLiz Ziemska has fashioned a beautiful story about one famous survivor and the magic and mathematics he's brought to the world...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism 20th-century adult alternate-history book female-author fiction -
![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... -
![A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King]()
A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe year is 1923 and Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell receive a visit from Dorothy Ruskin, an amateur archaeologist. She shows them a scrap of ancient writing that is supposedly Mary Magdalene's... -
![Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon]()
Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, this novel moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York, to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the Revolution, postwar Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places... -
![The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter]()
The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThere is a secret passage through time...and it leads all the way to the end of Eternity. But the journey has a terrible cost. It alters not only the future but the "present" in which we live.A century after the publication of H. G...
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