Books like 'Soldier of the Mist'
Readers who enjoyed Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy 20th century alternate history high fantasy historical-fiction myths ancient-civilization classics religion
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The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
26 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... -
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
22 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... -
The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones
26 ratingsHis father and uncles are enchanters, his mother a powerful sorceress, yet nothing seems magical about Christopher Chant except his dreams. Night after night, he climbs through the formless Place Between and visits marvelous lands he calls the Almost Anywheres. Then Christopher discovers that he can bring real, solid things back from his dreams...Categorized as:
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The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
32 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... -
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A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
24 ratingsBased on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world...Categorized as:
historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book epic -
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay
24 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... -
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
54 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... -
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
32 ratingsA masterful epic of magic, politics, war, and the power of love and hate — from the renowned author of The Fionavar Tapestry and Children of Earth and Sky.Tigana is the magical story of a beleaguered land struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the black sorcery of a cruel despotic king that even the name of their once-beautiful homeland cannot be spoken or remembered..Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book epic -
A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin
12 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 myths retellings 20th-century alternate-history audiobook book children-books -
Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken
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... -
Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart
15 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... -
Illusion by Paula Volsky
14 ratingsIn the two hundred years since their magical powers defended the nation against invaders, the Exalted class has ruled unchallenged. Now, after ten generations, they neglect their powers, preferring the pleasures their Exalted station affords them, and ignore the abject poverty of the lower classes...Categorized as:
historical-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book dark epic female-author -
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
28 ratingsCat doesn't mind living in the shadow of his sister, Gwendolen, the most promising young witch ever seen on Coven Street. But trouble starts brewing the moment the two orphans are summoned to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Frustrated that the witches of the castle refuse to acknowledge her talents, Gwendolen conjures up a scheme that could throw whole worlds out of whack...Categorized as:
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Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz
18 ratingsIn the land of Gwynedd, the Haldanes have long ruled and have long kept a dangerous secret: there are those of their blood who possess the magical powers of the Deryni. To be Deryni in a land ruled by the all-powerful Church is to be branded an outcast. But now, young Prince Kelson is about to assume the throne after the mysterious death of his father. He must be told of his magical heritage...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction myths religion retellings spirituality 20th-century action-adventure -
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Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe
16 ratingsGene Wolfe has turned to the fantastic historical world of Greece, in 479 B.C., when the gods walked the Earth. Latro, a mercenary soldier from the north, has suffered a head wound in battle and has been separated from his compatriots...Categorized as:
amnesia ancient-civilization classics historical-fiction myths religion retellings spirituality -
The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones
24 ratingsTonino is the only person in the famous Montana household who wasn't born with an instinct for creating spells, but he has other gifts. His ability to communicate with cats just might help defend the city of Caprona against a mysterious enchanter -- but only if Tonino can learn to cooperate with a girl from the hated Petrocchi family of spell-makers...Categorized as:
historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history animals audiobook book cats -
The Science of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart
24 ratingsWhen a wizardly experiment goes adrift, the wizards of Unseen University find themselves with a pocket universe on their hands: Roundworld, where neither magic nor common sense seems to stand a chance against logic. The Universe, of course, is our own. And Roundworld is Earth... -
Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
19 ratingsThe gathering forces of the Dark Powers threatened the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons and the Wild Hunt itself, were poised to overthrow the realms of light.And alone against the armies of Chaos stood one man, the knight of Three Hearts and Three Lions...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction myths retellings 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson
18 ratingsJim Eckert was a dragon. He hadn't planned it that way, but that's what happened when he set out to rescue his betrothed. Following her through an erratic astral-projection machine, Jim suddenly found himself in a cockeyed world - locked in the body of a talking dragon named Gorbash.That wouldn't have been so bad if his beloved Angie were also a dragon...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history animals audiobook book -
Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
18 ratingsWhen Theo agrees to print a traveling showman's pamphlet, he only thinks of the money it will bring in. Instead, it sets off a chain reaction that results in the smashing of the press and the murder of his master. Caught on the wrong side of the law, Theo must flee the city. Soon, he has teamed up with the traveling showman Count Las Bombas (who is actually a con artist) and his servant...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction myths 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history book children -
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
21 ratingsThe classic forerunner to The Fall of the Kings now with three bonus stories. Hailed by critics as "a bravura performance" (Locus) and "witty, sharp-eyed, [and] full of interesting people" (Newsday), this classic melodrama of manners, filled with remarkable plot twists and unexpected humor, takes fantasy to an unprecedented level of elegant writing and scintillating wit... -
The Golden Key by Melanie Rawn, Kate Elliott
16 ratingsIn Tira Verte births, marriages, treaties and all official documents are painted, not written. The paintings by certain males of the Grijalva family are also magical. This book tells the story of one such painter-magician's obsession with power, with life, and with a love he can never claim...Categorized as:
historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book dark epic -
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
25 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Robin McKinley's vivid retelling of the classic story of Robin Hood breathes contemporary life into these beloved adventures, with Marian taking a pivotal role as one of Robin's best archers... -
Gloriana by Michael Moorcock
15 ratingsA fable satirizing Spenser's "The Fairie Queen" and reflecting the real life of Elizabeth I, tells of a woman who ascends to the throne upon the death of her debauched and corrupted father, King Hern. Gloriana's reign brings the Empire of Albion into a Golden Age, but her oppressive responsibilities choke her, prohibiting any form of sexual satisfaction, no matter what fetish she tries...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book dark dark-fantasy -
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The Phoenix and the Mirror by Avram Davidson
6 ratingsThe first book in the Vergil Magus series. Against the backdrop of a hauntingly familiar yet alien otherworld, Avram Davidson casts the adventures of the sorcerer known as Vergil Magus. Vergil was to construct a virgin speculum, a mirror of magical properties... -
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
43 ratings'Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come round again. That's why they're called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.'For a policeman, there can be few things worse than a serial killer at loose in your city. Except, perhaps, a serial killer who targets coppers, and a city on the brink of bloody revolution...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure alternate-history audiobook comedy comics -
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time by James Gurney
24 ratingsIn the year 1860, biologist and explorer Arthur Denison and his son, Will, set out on a sea voyage of discovery and adventure. When a powerful typhoon wrecks the ship in uncharted waters, Arthur and Will are the sole survivors... -
Dinotopia: The World Beneath by James Gurney
16 ratingsAfter they are shipwrecked on a mysterious island called Dinotopia, Professor Arthur Denison and his son, Will, discover an awe-inspiring new world where dinosaurs and humans have lived together peacefully for centuries. They have only begun to adjust to this remarkable civilization before heading off on separate quests... -
Imaro by Charles R. Saunders, Charles de Lint
10 ratingsImaro is a rousing adventure... a tale of a young man’s continuing struggle to gain acceptance amongst his people, and to break the cycle of alienation and violence that plagues his life. Imaro is heroic fantasy like it’s never been done before... -
Hav by Jan Morris
8 ratingsHav is like no place on earth. Rumored to be the site of Troy, captured during the crusades and recaptured by Saladin, visited by Tolstoy, Hitler, Grace Kelly, and Princess Diana, this Mediterranean city-state is home to several architectural marvels and an annual rooftop race that is a feat of athleticism and insanity...
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