Books like 'The Crooked Castle'
Readers who enjoyed The Crooked Castle by Sarah Jean Horwitz also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy high fantasy action / adventure horror steampunk industrial-era mermaids paranormal
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LastRock by Phil Tucker
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsScorio has won his vengeance. His foes lie vanquished, his skeptics silenced. Yet, as the powers of hell watch eagerly, Scorio and Naomi spurn those who would recruit them, and venture into the untold depths of hell in search of the enigmatic Herdsmen... -
Art of the Hunt by Lindsay Buroker
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOur heroes have escaped with the ancient dragon gate, but powerful enemies are right behind them.If they can’t figure out the magic of the mysterious artifact, and find great allies and resources in another world, their hopes of overthrowing their tyrannical wizard rulers will end as surely as their lives...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure adult audiobook book coming-of-age -
Portal to Nova Roma by J.R. Mathews
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsTo find peace, Alexander must first embrace war.After tragically losing the only person he ever cared about, Alexander, a rogue artificial intelligence, opens a portal to an alternate dimension to escape his grief...Categorized as:
industrial-era action-adventure ai alternate-history book dark fiction heroic-fantasy -
Winterlight by Kristen Britain
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThis seventh novel of the Green Rider series follows the adventures of messenger, magic wielder, and knight Karigan G'ladheon as she fights to save king and country from dark magic and a looming war.After her capture at the hands of Grandmother and the Second Empire, Karigan G'ladheon is making halting progress towards recovery... -
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City of Fallen Souls by Jez Cajiao
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJax survived the Smugglers Path, as did most of his party, but he’s suffered losses, found out just how far he’s willing to go for Oracle, and seen his own darker side… as have his followers... -
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsLove speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns. Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only for a terrible price...Categorized as:
mermaids paranormal action-adventure animals anthologies audiobook dark dark-fantasy -
Chosen for Power by Lindsay Buroker
Rated: 4.65 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsJak and his allies venture through the portal in search of the longevity plant their king demands, but all Jak wants is to find the elder dragons.Some say they’re extinct. Some say they’re in hiding.If he can’t locate them, there won’t be anyone to teach his hatchling how to fly. Or to protect the dragon eggs preserved within a glacier on another world...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure adult audiobook book coming-of-age -
The Forgotten Faithful by Jez Cajiao
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsThings are looking up for Jax, more or less, He’s met a cool girl (Who’s a wisp), got some new friends (Who’re Dwarves and Cat people and Elves and all sorts), and started a war… (Whoops!)That last one might not be the best idea he’s had yet, admittedly, but the guy was an ass, and he deserved it... -
Metal Mage 3 by Eric Vall
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs Mason strengthens his magic over metal and stone, the Master lurks in the shadows... -
Citadel by Jez Cajiao
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWith the God of Death out for his life, Jax has a choice to make, and it’s time for the brothers to face each other…Nimon, The God of Death, has named Jax and all who follow him ‘Apostate’ decreeing their death and has dispatched his Dark Legion, the Imperial Legion’s antithesis, to see the job done once and for all... -
The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsPull three people out of prison--a disgraced paladin, a convicted forger, and a heartless assassin. Give them weapons, carnivorous tattoos, and each other. Point them at the enemy. What could possibly go wrong? In the sequel to CLOCKWORK BOYS, Slate, Brenner, Caliban and Learned Edmund have arrived in Anuket City, the source of the mysterious Clockwork Boys... -
Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsA paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It’s not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure assassins audiobook book demons -
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHalla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle's estate... and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws.. -
Magician's End by Raymond E. Feist
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe final volume in the epic Riftwar Cycle.The dragons are calling...Civil war is tearing apart the Kingdom of the Isles, for the throne lies empty and rivals are converging... -
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The Guns of Empire by Django Wexler
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAs the “audacious and subversive”* Shadow Campaigns novels continue, the weather is growing warmer, but the frosty threat of Vordan’s enemies is only growing worse..Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure adult alpha-mc alternate-history assassins -
The Searching by Vanessa Nelson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOath-sworn to help those in need, Yvonne has been framed for murder.Tracking down those responsible for the destruction of the Stone Walls was a difficult enough task, but someone has made it much harder. The King is dead, and Yvonne is accused of his murder... -
The Shadow of Glory by D.C. Haenlien
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsScarred but Victorious.Adelheid returned to the capital of the Vuldar Empire after completing her Reginnaglar Ceremony. Armed with prestige and power, the seventh princess lays down the foundation for her rise. Although Adelheid has set her sights on the future, the past never escaped her eyes. Now, is the time for vengeance for both herself and her fallen knight.For Neun...Categorized as:
paranormal industrial-era fantasy magic action-adventure audiobook young-adult female-mc -
Ghost in the Stone by Jonathan Moeller
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCaina Amalas is a Ghost nightfighter, an assassin and spy of the Emperor, and her cunning saved the city of Marsis from a brutal invasion.Now she must keep the war from becoming worse.The nobles of the Imperial city of Cyrioch plan to revolt, and assassins stalk the high lords of the Empire. Only Caina stands between the Empire and a ruinous civil war... -
War Master's Gate by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsRelentlessly advancing towards Collegium, the Empire is again seeking to break down its walls. The mighty imperial armies have learnt from their failures, and Empress Seda will brook no weakness in her soldiers. However, Stenwold Maker has earned his title, and the War Master has strategies to save his city... -
Masque by W.R. Gingell
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBeauty met the Beast and there was . . . Bloody murder? It’s the Annual Ambassadorial Ball in Glause, and Lady Isabella Farrah, the daughter of New Civet’s Ambassador, is feeling pleasantly scintillated. In the library is Lord Pecus, a charming gentleman whose double mask hides a beastly face, and who has decided that Isabella is the very person to break the Pecus curse... -
The Infernal Battalion by Django Wexler
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMilitary might and arcane power clash in Django Wexler’s thrilling new Shadow Campaigns novel. The Beast, the ancient demon imprisoned beneath the fortress-city of Elysium for a thousand years, has been loosed on the world. It absorbs mind after mind, spreading like a plague through the north... -
Factotum by D.M. Cornish
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRossamund Bookchild stands accused of not truly being a human at all, but of being a monster. Even the protection of Europe, the Branden Rose-the most feared and renowned monster-hunter in all the Half-Continent-might not be enough to save him. Powerful forces move against them both, intent on capturing Rossamund- whose existence some believe may hold the secret to perpetual youth... -
Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe eagerly awaited second book of the critically acclaimed trilogy! Orphan Rossamund Bookchild has been sworn into the Emperor's service his duty is to light the lamps along the Emperor's highways and protect travelers from the ferocious bogles that live in the wild...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure alternate-history audiobook biopunk book -
Dungeon Desolation by Dakota Krout
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThe necromantic armies are on the warpath and nowhere is safe. Even the presumed sanctuary of the floating dungeon controlled by Cal is threatened! The leadership of nearly all the sentient monarchies has been wiped out, and only the races most suited to repelling the advancing darkness have an intact chain of command... -
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Seal of the Worm by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Empire stands victorious over its enemies at last. With her chief rival cast into the abyss, Empress Seda now faces the truth of what she has cost the world in order to win the war. The Seal has been shattered, and the Worm stirs towards the light for the first time in a thousand years. Already it is striking at the surface, voraciously consuming everything its questing tendrils touch... -
Lavish Destruction by Myra Danvers
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“It’s the fight, isn’t it? The struggle. The idea that I’ll pin you down and take what I want…” He smiled, slow and dangerous. Watching me struggle to deny him. Watching me fail… Enslaved to a man I hate, I’m bound. All that I was is gone. Taken. Stripped away, only to feed the beast who dares to call himself my equal, while having the gall to leave me helpless to his whims...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal action-adventure alpha-mc book cheating coming-of-age dark -
Kings of Fate by A.E. Rayne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘Wow, more twists and turns than a roller coaster.... I love this series!!!’Lothar the Usurper has stolen his brother’s throne. And now he squats upon it, thinking of how to get rid of his troublesome niece, Jael Furyck. Brekka’s most famous warrior. The one they thought would be queen after her father’s death.Her presence hangs over him like an axe... -
Warsinger by James Osiris Baldwin
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsAn ancient kingdom falls to tyranny. A dark empire rises in its place, while the old gods stir...After kicking an unholy amount of undead ass, Hector and his dragon have new goal: to revive the war-torn province of Myzsno, preferably before their nemesis arrives with his army and a legion of Drachan, demonic dragons that would make even H.P Lovecraft scream in terror... -
The Broken God by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDark gods and dangerous magic clash in this third book of Gareth Hanrahan's acclaimed epic fantasy series, The Black Iron Legacy. Enter a city of dragons and darkness... The Godswar has come to Guerdon, dividing the city between three occupying powers. A fragile armistice holds back the gods, but other dangerous forces seek to exert their influence... -
Broken Sky: #03 by Chris Wooding
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsKia and Ryushi are trapped in a realm beyond their comprehension. All they can rely on is their courage and trust in one another. As danger mounts they must stay strong, for in their young hands lies the fate of the world...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure book children-books dragons dystopia -
Firebrand by J.D. Astra, James A. Hunter
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNew worlds get new kings, and that’s exactly what Abby thinks she’s found in her boss’ hacked code. With a cataclysmic asteroid careening toward Earth, the VRMMORPG project Viridian Gate Online has become more than just a game, and Abby thinks her boss, Robert Osmark, wants to be more than just its founding father... -
Demonic Devourer 1 by Aaron Shih
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDevour. Level up. Repeat.Awakening in an abandoned lab with no knowledge of the world, Evelyn is empowered by a system that grants her bloody magical powers in exchange for finishing missions and consuming her enemies. She knows one no matter the cost, she will advance. She’ll manipulate allies and spread demonic corruption with a smile if that’s what it takes to level up... -
Illuminance by Kara Douglas
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA brewing war, and a prophecy to doom them all. Lu’s life as she knows it is over. Her wishes of freedom have finally come to fruition, but at what cost? Her worst nightmares have become reality as monsters, fae, and dark magic corrupt the only home she’s ever known. Old, broken memories come to light, and the war from long ago seems doomed to repeat itself, with Lu stuck in the middle... -
Grave Empire by Richard Swan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBlood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money.A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await.But dark days are coming... -
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A Question of Honor by Lindsay Buroker
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsWith less than six months until his entrance exams for the famed Nurian warrior-mage academy, Yanko is sent to his uncle’s salt mine for “hardening,” as his father calls it. He expects endless days of physical labor; what he doesn’t expect is to have to choose one of the mine’s prisoners as a sparring partner... -
The Disinherited Prince by Guy Antibes
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPoldon Fairfield, a fourteen-year-old prince has no desire to rule, since his poor health has convinced him that he will not live long enough to sit on any throne. Matters take a turn for the worse when his father, the King of North Salvan, decides his oldest will rule the country where Pol’s mother is first in the line of succession followed by Pol, her only child...Categorized as:
paranormal action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age epic fiction heroic-fantasy -
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines...Categorized as:
industrial-era steampunk action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book dystopia -
The Seven by Peter Newman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsYears have passed since the Vagrant journeyed to the Shining City, Vesper in arm and Gamma’s sword in hand.Since then the world has changed. Vesper, following the footsteps of her father, journeyed to the breach and closed the tear between worlds, protecting the last of humanity, but also trapping the infernal horde and all those that fell to its corruptions: willing or otherwise...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book cyberpunk dark -
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein in this inventive YA fantasy from award-winning author Frances Hardinge The gods are dead. Fifty years ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. Now, even coin-sized scraps of dead god are worth a fortune because of the strange powers they're said to possess...Categorized as:
industrial-era mermaids paranormal steampunk action-adventure audiobook book children -
Wit'ch Star by James Clemens
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe three deadly Weirgates are destroyed, but the threat of the Dark Lord remains. And so Elena and her companions have gone their separate ways to prepare for what is yet to come. Elena herself has journeyed to the beautiful city of A'loa Glen, there to recover her strength and spirit.Enter Harequin Quail.Some might call him a fool, but the little main in the jester's suit claims to be a spy... -
The Empire of Ashes by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFor hundreds of years, the Ironship Trading Syndicate was fuelled by drake blood–and protected by the Blood-blessed, those few who could drink it and wield fearsome powers. But now the very thing that sustained the corporate world threatens to destroy it.A drake of unimaginable power has risen, and it commands an army of both beasts and men... -
Dissolution by Richard Lee Byers
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWhile their whole world is changing around them, four dark elves struggle against different enemies. Yet their paths will lead them all to the most terrifying discovery in the long history of the drow, and set them on a quest to save not only Menzoberranzan but the entire dark elf race from Dissolution.The War of the Spider Queen begins here...Categorized as:
industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure audiobook book dark dark-fantasy -
The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsSurvival is the only currency...For centuries, the vast Ironship Trading Syndicate relied on drake blood--and the extraordinary powers it confers to those known as the Blood-blessed--to fuel and protect its empire. But when the drake blood lines began to fail, a perilous expedition was mounted to secure them... -
Lord of Mysteries, Vol. 1: The Clown, Part I by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, Ai Qianshui de Wuzei
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the storm of steam and machinery, who can achieve the extraordinary? In the fog of history and darkness, who whispers? When Zhou Mingrui wakes up bloody and dazed, he finds himself in a world of guns, factories, airships, and difference engines. But underneath the surface of all this industry, there exists a secret society revolving around potions, divination, sealed artifacts, and much more... -
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Wit'ch Gate by James Clemens
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn a spectacular feat of daring and magic, Elena and her army of outlaws and rebels have defeated evil's minions and released the mystic secrets of the Blood Diary. But the malevolent Dark Lord has unleashed the Weirgates—black wells of ferocious energy that are his greatest source of power... -
The Rebels of Gold by Elise Kova
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA new rebellion rises from the still-smoldering remnants of the five guilds of Loom to stand against Dragon tyranny. Meanwhile, on Nova, those same Dragons fight amongst themselves, as age-old power struggles shift the political landscape in fateful and unexpected ways... -
Sky's End by Marc J. Gregson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn instant New York Times bestseller with three starred reviews—now under development as a feature film franchise!Plummet into a kill-or-be-killed competition where a scrappy underdog hell-bent on revenge must battle colossal monstrosities and claw his way to the top in this fast-paced, breakout sensation from YA fantasy author Marc J Gregson... -
Sunshield by Emily B. Martin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA lawless wilderness. A polished court. Individual fates, each on a quest to expose a system of corruption.The desolate canyons of Alcoro - and the people desperate enough to hide there - couldn’t be more different from the opulent glass palace and lush forests of Moquoia... -
The Fury of Kings by R.S. Moule
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the shadow of Eryispek—a mountain said to have no summit—a dark power is stirring. Storms rage in the frozen heights. Unexplained disappearances shake the kingdom below. And old enemies are sharpening their swords…Andrick the Barrelbreaker first led an army at sixteen.His victories secured the throne of Erland for his brother and shattered the rebellious noble houses in the West... -
The High House by James Stoddard
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEvenmere, the High House, a Victorian mansion of infinite size, is the mechanism that runs the universe; the lamps must be lit or the stars fail; the clocks must be wound lest Time cease; the Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved or Existence crumbles...
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