Books like 'Making Monsters: A Speculative and Classical Anthology'
Readers who enjoyed Making Monsters: A Speculative and Classical Anthology by Emma Bridges, Djibril al-Ayad, Megan Arkenberg, L. Chan, Margrét Helgadóttir, Neil James Hudson, Danie Ware, Valentine Wheeler, Maria Anastasiadou, Catherine Baker, Rachel Bender, Barbara Davies, H.A. Eilander, Liz Gloyn, Alexandra Grunberg, Barbara E. Hunt, Tom Johnstone, Hunter Liguore, George Lockett, Annegret Märten, Margaret McLeod, Hester J. Rook, Misha Penton, Hannah Silverblank, Hûw Steer, Valeria Vitale & Mathilde Skoie also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Woad Children by Nathan A.Thompson
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne tribulation down. To stop the next, he'll battle through blood and frost. Wes Malcolm has wrested Avalon back from men, monsters, and false gods. The next step is to bring the battle to his enemy's camp. The world of the Woadlands is under siege from two cataclysms at once... -
The King's Traitor by Jeff Wheeler
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsAgainst all odds, Owen Kiskaddon grew from frightened boy to confident youth to trusted officer in the court of Kingfountain—and watched its regent, Severn Argentine, grow ever more ruthless and power-mad. Robbed of his beloved protector, his noble mentor, and his true love, Owen has anticipated the day when the king he fears and reviles, yet loyally serves, will be toppled...Categorized as:
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Queen of Ash and Iron by Melanie Karsak
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFated to lead a rebellion against Rome.Destined to become a legend.Britain, A.D. 47All at once, everything changes.The rebellion of the Northern Iceni under King Caturix results in dire consequences for Boudica. Without Aulus Plautius’s protection, Boudica must face the new, more severe Roman Governor Scapula...Categorized as:
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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:
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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:
myths paranormal retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history arthurian -
Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsHe is a man of many names. Some call him the Golden One; others, the Lord of the Silver Bow. To the Dardanians, he is Prince Aeneas. But to his friends, he is Helikaon. Strong, fast, quick of mind, he is a bold warrior, hated by his enemies, feared even by his Trojan allies. For there is a darkness at the heart of the Golden One, a savagery that, once awakened, can be appeased only with blood...Categorized as:
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Outcasts in Time by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJoin David and his friends and family for the next installment in the After Cilmeri series!Last we heard from David, he'd allowed George to abduct him at the behest of the CIA, for the stated purpose of forcing him to time travel between Earth Two and Avalon. Meanwhile, Lili and the refugees from Paris were floating down the River Seine, making for the English Channel...Categorized as:
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Champions of Time by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsApril 1294. With David returned from Ireland and Anna from Avalon, the time has come to confront the traitors who sought to assassinate David and take his throne.But before that can happen, David is tested yet again by his inability to account for everything or everyone in his life--and especially the magic that surrounds him...Categorized as:
myths retellings action-adventure alternate-history book fiction high-fantasy historical -
Khon'Tor's Wrath by Leigh Roberts
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat If... A long time ago, in order to avoid extinction, the ancient Sasquatch interbred with the humans. What if... The community repopulated, and lived in peace and harmony with all creation for generation after generation — until the compassionate act of their Healer set it all on end... -
Unbroken in Time by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn 1282, David and his sister Anna crashed through time to save the life of their father, the last Prince of Wales. Thirteen years later, David is a grown man--husband, father, and High King of Britain. He is also the Duke of Aquitaine, a fact which King Philip of France appears to resent...Categorized as:
myths retellings action-adventure alternate-history book fiction high-fantasy historical -
Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsOver and again, the aged seeress Tamis scried all the possible tomorrows. In every one, dark forces threatened Greece; terrible evil was poised to reenter the world. The future held only one hope: a half-caste Spartan boy, Parmenion. So Tamis made it her mission to see that Parmenion would before the deadliest warrior in the world -- no matter what the cost...Categorized as:
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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:
ancient-civilization classics myths paranormal retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Red-Robed Priestess by Elizabeth Cunningham
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter a long, eventful life that has brought her through slavery to the Resurrection garden, through the controversies of the early Church to a hermit cave in southern Gaul, Maeve, the Celtic Magdalen, comes full circle. With her daughter Sarah, Maeve returns to the British Isles to seek her first-born daughter taken from her by the druids more than forty years ago...Categorized as:
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A Radical Act of Free Magic by H.G. Parry
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own, A Radical Act of Free Magic is the conclusion to this genre-defying series of magic, war, and the struggle for freedom in the early modern world.The Concord has been broken, and a war of magic engulfs the world... -
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The First Dragon by James A. Owen
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRestoring the Archipelago of Dreams comes with a precious price in this final volume of the critically acclaimed Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series.To save the world, Charles, the Grail Child Rose Dyson, and Edmund McGee must travel deep into the past to discover the identity of the mythical Architect of the Keep of Time...Categorized as:
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The Dragon's Apprentice by James A. Owen
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSeven years after the events of The Shadow Dragons, John, Jack and Charles are finally able to return to their beloved Archipelago of Dreams. But even as their return is celebrated by old friends, new concerns shadow the reunion: the threat of Ecthroi, primordial Shadow. And perhaps even worse, the apparent splintering of Time itself...Categorized as:
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Rise of Kali: Duryodhana's Mahabharata by Anand Neelakantan
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsTHE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. While Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra, Ajaya is the tale of the Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man. From the pen of the author who gave voice to Ravana in the national bestseller, ASURA, comes the riveting narrative which compels us to question the truth behind the Mahabharata... -
The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsRarely, if ever, does a new writer dazzle us with such a vivid imagination and storytelling, flawlessly capturing the essence of a land, a people, a legend. Conn Iggulden is just such a writer, bringing to vivid life one of the most fascinating eras in human history...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization classics myths 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
Dark Prince by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe chaos spirit had chosen the child Alexander to be its human host. But Parmenion, most powerful warrior of ancient Greece, had won a small victory over the darkness that sought to rule through Alexander. The boy's soul had not been destroyed by evil, but instead had merged with it -- and now Parmenion aided Alexander in the battle between light and dark that constantly raged within him...Categorized as:
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Darkness Beckons by Nicholas Woode-Smith
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThose who fight monsters risk becoming monsters themselves.Darkness beckons. Will I answer?I am imprisoned by my mortal enemy – the Necrolord. I don’t know if my friends are dead or alive. And there are more and more people and monsters wanting me dead.But not everything is at it seems.Through darkness, magic and madness, my world will change... -
The House of the Red Balconies by A.J. Demas
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHylas has come to Tykanos to build an aqueduct. He has not come to enjoy the island’s main attraction: the six houses where the companions of Tykanos, courtesans both female and male, offer tea and elegant conversation. Yet he cannot ignore them as he finds himself renting a room in one of the tea houses and meeting his neighbour, the beautiful, chronically ill companion Zo... -
Embers of Destruction by J. Scott Savage
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's time to take the battle to the dragons. In the third and final volume of the bestselling Mysteries of Cove series, Trenton and Kallista--along with their friends, Plucky, Simoni, Angus, and Clyde--fly their mechanical dragons south toward San Francisco, looking to rescue any survivors from the battle of Seattle...Categorized as:
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The Dragons of Winter by James A. Owen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Archipelago of Dreams is no more…but the battle to save it has just begun in the penultimate book in the acclaimed Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series.The Caretakers are at war. The Archipelago of Dreams has fallen to the Echthroi, and the link to the Summer Country has been lost...Categorized as:
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The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsR. S. Belcher’s debut novel, The Six-Gun Tarot, was enthusiastically greeted by critics and readers, who praised its wildly inventive mixture of dark fantasy, steampunk, and the Wild West. Now Belcher returns to Golgotha, Nevada, a bustling frontier town that hides more than its fair share of unnatural secrets.1870... -
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Jolene by Mercedes Lackey
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe beloved Elemental Masters series moves to America for the first time in a rich retelling of The Queen of the Copper Mountain, set against the backdrop of Tennessee coal country.Anna May Jones is the daughter of a coal miner. When her father succumbs to Black Lung, the coal company wastes no time in turning the family out of their home...Categorized as:
myths paranormal retellings action-adventure alternate-history anthologies fae fairy-tale -
The Shadow Dragons by James A. Owen
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica are at war. The Imperial Cartological Society, led by Richard Burton, have collected all of the doors from the Keep of Time, and are building a new tower in our world at the request of an old enemy: The Winter King’s Shadow...Categorized as:
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The First Step by Tao Wong
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLong Wu Ying never expected to join a Sect or become a real cultivator. His days were spent studying, planting rice on the family farm and spending time with his friends. Fate, however, has different plans for Wu Ying and when the army arrives at his village, he and many other members of the village are conscripted... -
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:
ancient-civilization classics myths paranormal retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 60 ratingsToday, He is a God. 4000 years ago, He was just a man. The hunt is on. The sinister Naga warrior has killed his friend Brahaspati and now stalks his wife Sati. Shiva, the Tibetan immigrant who is the prophesied destroyer of evil, will not rest till he finds his demonic adversary. His vengeance and the path to evil will lead him to the door of the Nagas, the serpent people. Of that he is certain... -
The Folded World by Catherynne M. Valente
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the mysterious daughter of Prester John appears on the doorstep of her father's palace, she brings with her news of war in the West--the Crusades have begun, and the bodies of the faithful are washing up on the shores of Pentexore... -
Sword of the Ronin by Travis Heermann
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn 13th-Century Japan, a land of ancient spirits, shapeshifting animals, and demons, Ken'ishi is a warrior without a master. Orphaned in infancy, he has only one link to his past - Silver Crane, his father's sword. When Silver Crane is stolen, Ken'ishi must go on a quest to recover his very identity. The crime lord known as Green Tiger holds the key to Ken'ishi's past... -
Hemmed in Silver by Forthright .
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFairies in the garden. Frost on the pumpkins. Farmhands at the dance. Wyn Outler doesn’t talk about where he came from (or how long ago). All part of the vows he took when he and his best friend turned their backs on the In-between...Categorized as:
myths paranormal action-adventure adult alternate-history book coming-of-age fiction -
Blood Cartel by Nicholas Woode-Smith
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeing a hero sucks…You can slay a hundred monsters and some people will still look down on you. And for every person that calls you a hero, there’s another that calls you a murderer.I’ve been punished for doing my job and tossed to the side to solve a sham of a case, when I’d rather be busting the heads of undead and necromancers.People go missing in Hope City every day...Categorized as:
myths paranormal retellings action-adventure alternate-history book coming-of-age crime -
Incendiary by Elisabeth
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“You will find your true love when it’s time. The one which carries the name that means ‘fiery love’ or ‘born of flames’ will be the one for you. She will be born with one purpose…to be yours.” –says Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. Paris I am Paris, born Alexander of Troy, the killer of the great Achilles, a man who killed my brother and a man that most thought couldn’t die... -
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Immortal Swordslinger 2 by Dante King
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSent to a foreign land torn apart by strife, Ethan learns more powerful techniques, discovers new combination elements, and meets a siren princess... -
The Queen of Swords by R.S. Belcher
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings1870. Maude Stapleton, late of Golgotha, Nevada, is a respectable widow raising a daughter on her own. Few know that Maude belongs to an ancient order of assassins, the Daughters of Lilith, and is as well the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Anne Bonney, the legendary female pirate... -
Interregnum by S.J.A. Turney
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Empire has fallen. The Empire must rise A historical fantasy tale of valour, honour, and determination against all odds For twenty years civil war has torn the Empire apart; the Imperial line extinguished after the mad Emperor Quintus was burned in his palace, betrayed by his greatest general and oldest friend, Kiva Caerdin...Categorized as:
myths retellings action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction heroic-fantasy -
Horseman by Kyle Robert Shultz
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsIn the year 1790, monster hunter Ichabod Crane searched for a mysterious creature called the Headless Horseman. His quest ended in an embarrassing failure that marked his family with disgrace for generations. Now, in 1891, his descendant (and part-time centaur) Todd Crane is determined to clear his family’s name. There's just one problem--Todd deals in illegal magic potions...Categorized as:
myths paranormal retellings action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book comedy -
Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon by Maria Grace
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsEngland is overrun by dragons of all shapes and sizes. Most people are blissfully unaware of them and the Pendragon Treaty that keeps the peace between human and dragon kind. Only those born with preternatural hearing, like Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are able to hear and converse with dragonkind...Categorized as:
myths paranormal retellings action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe audiobook -
Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsAfter losing everything he owns, forester Will Scarlet embarks on a search for none other than King Raven, whose exploits have already become legendary...Categorized as:
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The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 29 ratings"'The Crusade has begun'... "There's an old myth in the Archipelago," he went on softly, shaking his head. "A legend, really...I recall it mentioned a Crusade, but those events happened seven centuries ago. We always thought it was only a story... -
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... -
The Map of Chaos by Félix J. Palma
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Map of Time and The Map of the Sky, the final installment in the award-winning trilogy that The Washington Post called “a big, genre-bending delight.”When the person he loves most dies in tragic circumstances, the mysterious protagonist of The Map of Chaos does all he can to speak to her one last time...Categorized as:
paranormal retellings action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction historical -
The Broken Lands by Kate Milford
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA crossroads can be a place of great power.So begins this deliciously spine-tingling prequel to Kate Milford’s The Boneshaker, set in the colorful world of nineteenth-century Coney Island and New York City...Categorized as:
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On the Fox Roads by Nghi Vo
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA new novelette from Hugo Award-winning author, Nghi Vo!While learning the ropes from a crafty Jazz Age bank robber, a young stowaway discovers their authentic self, a hidden gift, and that there are no straight lines when you run the fox roads. .Categorized as:
myths paranormal retellings fantasy historical-fiction historical magical-realism lgbtq -
Scorn of Angels by John Patrick Kennedy
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNyx, Queen of Hell, lies broken and burning in a box at the bottom of the Lake of Fire, put there but her lover Tribunal, who is God’s Son. Nyx’s daughter Epiphenia, has been slaughtered by Tribunal and Lucifer. Her companions, Persephone and Ishtar, were captured and are now suffering unspeakable torture... -
Hell and Earth by Elizabeth Bear
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe reigns of two Queens in two different worlds may come to an end. In the iron world, conspiracy and subterfuge within England's royal courts threaten Elizabeth's power. In the Faerie realm, Mab, bound by magic to her sister sovereign, finds herself weakened as well. Now, the fate of two worlds lies in the hands of two clever wordsmiths.. -
The Hounds of God by Judith Tarr
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlfred has settled down at last amongst his own people, as Lord Chancellor of Rhiyana. But old enemies will not let Alfred savor his new life, and he must prepare for the ultimate battle of wills against an evil whose power is even greater than his own... -
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsThe Cruel Prince meets The Selection in this captivating duology opener brimming with heart-pounding romance, vicious competition, and beautiful, cruel fae, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven, Sasha Peyton Smith.Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen... -
The Mourning Emporium by Michelle Lovric
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsVenice is in peril. Bajamonte Tiepolo is back, and his baddened magic has spread across the globe, from the island of Hooroo in the South Pacific, all the way to London, where Queen Victoria lies dying.Now two cities need saving by Teo, the Undrowned Child, and Renzo, the Studious Son of a Venetian prophecy. Time is running out as they try to unravel the mysteries threatening London and Venice...Categorized as:
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