Books like 'Piranesi'
Readers who enjoyed Piranesi by Susanna Clarke also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy mystery urban fantasy action / adventure horror supernatural magical-realism myths literary-fiction
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Brief Cases by Jim Butcher
26 ratingsBrief Cases is the sequel anthology of Side Jobs, and will be released before Peace TalksSet to include the following stories:An exclusive novellette from the perspective of Maggie and Mouse.“Curses” — from The Naked City, edited by Ellen DatlowTakes place between Small Favor and Turn Coat...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings suspense action-adventure -
Prison of Hope by Steve McHugh
18 ratingsLong ago, Olympian gods imprisoned the demon Pandora in a human—Hope—creating a creature whose only purpose was chaos and death. Remorseful, the gods locked Pandora away in Tartarus, ruled by Hades.Now, centuries later, Pandora escapes...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magic myths paranormal retellings suspense action-adventure adult -
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James
10 ratingsAn outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings 21st-century -
Neverwhere: BBC Dramatisation by Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs
19 ratingsBeneath the streets of London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere.An act of kindness sees Richard Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life into a subterranean world under the streets of London...Categorized as:
gothic low-fantasy magic magical-realism paranormal action-adventure adult audiobook -
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What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
18 ratingsGhost hunter, fox whisperer, troublemaker.It is the summer of 2013 and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake. While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks, chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery... -
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
49 ratingsThe fourth and final installment in the spellbinding series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love's death...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal action-adventure audiobook -
The Romeo Catchers by Alys Arden
12 ratingsIs blood thicker than magic in La Nouvelle-Orléans?Adele scours Storm-ravaged New Orleans for the truth about her family’s magical past, tormented by the fate she condemned her mother to, and by the lies she’s forced to tell to cover it up. But every turn leads her back to the one person she’s determined to forget: Niccolò Medici... -
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
35 ratingsTwin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.This is the story of what happened first…Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline...Categorized as:
gothic magic magical-realism paranormal portal-travel retellings action-adventure audiobook -
Lord of the Shadows by Darren Shan
26 ratingsBook 11 of The Saga Of Darren Shan. Darren's going home. Back to where everything started. The town's changed a lot in the years that he's been away -- but then, so has Darren... -
The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
26 ratingsThe Hanging Tree was the Tyburn gallows which stood where Marble Arch stands today. Oxford Street was the last trip of the condemned. Some things don't change. The place has a bloody and haunted legacy and now blood has returned to the empty Mayfair mansions of the world's super-rich. And blood mixed with magic is a job for Peter Grant.Peter Grant is back as are Nightingale et al... -
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch
26 ratingsThe seventh book of the bestselling Rivers of London urban fantasy series returns to the adventures of Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, as he solves magical crimes in the city of London.The Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run...Categorized as:
historical-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings suspense -
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
28 ratingsThis fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise... -
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
30 ratingsA mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil - an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common garden serial killer?Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case, a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.So far so London... -
Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint
18 ratingsFrom World Fantasy Award-winning author Charles de Lint, a tale of love, courage, and the transforming power of imagination Isabelle Copley's visionary art frees ancient spirits. As the young student of the cruel, brilliant artist Vincent Rushkin, she discovered she could paint images so vividly real they brought her wildest fantasies to life...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings action-adventure -
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Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
31 ratingsIn Tufnell Park, North London, a pair of railway tracks diver under a school, taking train to and from Kings Cross. Wet, filthy, dangerous. Lovely place. And one Sunday before Christmas a sweet (sort of) kid called Abigail took me and my long suffering colleague Lesley May down there to look for a ghost.We found one... -
Grave Intentions by Nazri Noor
8 ratingsSomething has stolen the darkling mage’s face. Reports of arcane theft and violence are pouring in from all over Valero. They all have one thing in common: a perpetrator who looks exactly like Dustin Graves. But Dust has been hanging in the hideout, barely out of sight of his bloodthirsty companions... -
Imajica by Clive Barker
26 ratingsImajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger, Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie 'oh' pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension... -
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
53 ratingsUnder the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London...Categorized as:
classics gothic low-fantasy magic magical-realism paranormal 20th-century action-adventure -
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
32 ratingsA missing God.A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings suspense -
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
28 ratingsClive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world --- and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results...Categorized as:
classics low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal portal-travel retellings -
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
41 ratingsYears ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command...Categorized as:
classics epistolary gothic literary-fiction magical-realism paranormal suspense unreliable-narrator -
Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near
12 ratingsA deliciously dark bubblegum-gothic fairytale from a stunning new Australian talent.‘He's gone the same way as those little birds that bothered me with their awful songs! And you will too, you and your horrible heart-music, because you won't stay out of my woods!'There's a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods. That's not unusual. Isola Wilde sees a lot of things other people don't... -
Long Lost by Jacqueline West
14 ratingsEleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn’t exist. When Fiona’s family moves to be closer to her older sister’s figure skating club—and far from Fiona’s close-knit group of friends—nobody seems to notice Fiona’s unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town’s library, a rambling mansion donated to the town by the long-dead heiress...Categorized as:
paranormal magical-realism suspense historical-fiction gothic low-fantasy middle-grade fantasy -
The Suffering by Rin Chupeco
16 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Tark knows what it is to be powerless. But Okiku changed that. A restless spirit who ended life as a victim and started death as an avenger, she’s groomed Tark to destroy the wicked...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magic myths paranormal retellings suspense 21st-century action-adventure -
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Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw
16 ratingsA charmingly witty fantasy adventure in the world of Strange Practice, starring Dr. Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, who must solve a dangerous medical mystery at a secret French spa for mummies.Oasis Natrun: a private, exclusive, highly secret luxury health spa for mummies, high in the hills above Marseille, equipped with the very latest in therapeutic innovations both magical and medical... -
Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
19 ratingsWelcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you've already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company.There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again. It isn't as friendly as Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. And it isn't as safe...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism paranormal portal-travel retellings suspense action-adventure -
The Hidden by Jessica Verday
20 ratingsA love that knows no bounds. Abbey knows that Caspian is her destiny. Theirs is a bond that transcends even death. But as Abbey finally learns the full truth about the dark fate that links her to Caspian and ties them both to the town of Sleepy Hollow, she suddenly has some very hard choices to make... -
The Haunted by Jessica Verday
24 ratingsAn impossible truth. An impossible love. After a summer spent reclaiming her sanity and trying to forget the boy she fell in love with--the boy who must not exist, cannot exist, because she knows that he is dead--Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow, ready to leave the ghosts of her past behind... -
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
29 ratingsNew York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in this standalone fantasy.Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.Meet Dodger, his twin...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism paranormal suspense action-adventure alchemy -
Tangled Web by Gail Z. Martin
6 ratingsCassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them and along with her business partners Teag, who has Weaver magic and Sorren, a 600-year-old vampire, they get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats... -
The Glass God by Kate Griffin
12 ratingsSharon Li: apprentice shaman and community support officer for the magically inclined. It wasn't the career Sharon had in mind, but she's getting used to running Magicals Anonymous and learning how to Be One With The City.When the Midnight Mayor goes missing, leaving only a suspiciously innocent-looking umbrella behind him, Sharon finds herself promoted. Her first task: find the Midnight Mayor...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings action-adventure adult -
Les aventures de Johnny Dixon: Le crâne du sorcier by John Bellairs
12 ratingsWhen Johnny Dixon and his friend Professor Childermass discover an old heirloom clock, the terror begins. The professor suddenly vanishes, and Johnny is left to solve the mystery--alone.Inside the clock Johnny discovers a miniature room, a room exactly like the one in which a murder took place long ago. And from the inside the little room Johnny pockets a tiny skull with magical powers...Categorized as:
classics gothic historical-fiction magic paranormal 20th-century action-adventure book -
The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand
12 ratingsOlivia wants a new life—and her wish might be granted by the unlikeliest allies. A heartfelt, gently Gothic novel from Claire Legrand that School Library Journal calls a “not-too-scary ghost story.”Olivia Stellatella is having a rough year... -
Peace by Gene Wolfe
14 ratingsMesmerizing sci-fi from the author the Denver Post calls "one of the literary giants of science fiction." The melancholy memoir of Alden Dennis Weer, an embittered old man living in a small midwestern town, reveals a miraculous dimension. For Weer's imagination has the power to obliterate time and reshape reality, transcending even death itself... -
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The Unholy Cause by Joe Schreiber
14 ratingsA "Supernatural" novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit CW series Way back in April 1862, Confederate Captain Jubal Beauchamp leads a charge across a Georgia battleground... Fast forward to 2009 and a civil war re-enactment becomes all too real. When Sam and Dean head down south to investigate they find that history has got somewhat out of hand. -
Oblivion by Kelly Creagh
16 ratingsThis electrifying conclusion to the Nevermore trilogy takes one last trip to the dream world of Edgar Allan Poe to reveal the intertwined fates of Isobel and Varen.The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? —Edgar Allan PoeThe fine line between life and death blurred long ago for Isobel Lanley...Categorized as:
gothic historical-fiction magic paranormal retellings action-adventure alpha-mc angst -
Last Call by Tim Powers
18 ratingsTwenty years ago Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player and went into hiding, after a weird high-stakes game played with Tarot cards. But now the cards - and the supernatural powers behind them - have found him again.Crane's father killed gangster Bugsy Siegel in 1948 to become the Fisher King, and to keep that power he is determined to kill his son...Categorized as:
historical-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings suspense -
Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection by Ben Aaronovitch
18 ratingsReturn to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time...Categorized as:
historical-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism paranormal suspense action-adventure adult -
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko
24 ratingsThe definitive English language translation of the internationally bestselling Ukrainian novel—a brilliant dark fantasy with "the potential to be a modern classic" (Lev Grossman), combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way.Our life is brief . .Categorized as:
classics dark-academia gothic literary-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal 21st-century -
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
25 ratingsThe Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers—even for graduations, weddings, or baptisms... -
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
20 ratingsWith the sweeping romance of Passenger and the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song, this standout YA contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, is the first in a planned trilogy.It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself...Categorized as:
dark-academia historical-fiction low-fantasy magic paranormal action-adventure asian-mc audiobook -
Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz
25 ratingsMatt thought his troubles were over when he closed Raven's Gate . . . but in fact they were just beginning. His fate -- and the fate of the world -- is tied to four other kids across the globe. The second is a street kid in Peru. He and Matt have never met; they don't even speak the same language. But destiny is going to throw them together as the evil threat of the Old Ones grows . . -
Everville by Clive Barker
24 ratingsOn the borderland between this world and the world of Quiddity, the sea of our dreams, sits Everville. For years, it has lived in ignorance of the gleaming shore on which it lies. But its ignorance is not bliss... -
The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
20 ratingsTrier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany’s oldest city. So when a man is found dead with his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth.Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything... -
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The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
20 ratingsKatie, who has supernatural powers, attempts to start a new life in another town with her mother. The attempt succeeds until Mr. Cooper asks Katie too many questions... -
Nightbooks by J.A. White
18 ratingsA boy is imprisoned by a witch and must tell her a new scary story each night to stay alive. This thrilling contemporary fantasy from J. A. White, the acclaimed author of the Thickety series, brings to life the magic and craft of storytelling.Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings suspense action-adventure -
Department Nineteen by Will Hill
18 ratingsJamie Carpenter's life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula... -
Tales From the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
18 ratingsA gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve fairy tales by the author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country!Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twice―and still lives...Categorized as:
historical-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings action-adventure -
Demon Road by Derek Landy
18 ratingsThe mind-blowing new supernatural thriller from bestselling author DEREK LANDY, creator of international sensation Skulduggery Pleasant.Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor-sharp dialogue, DEMON ROAD kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism myths paranormal retellings action-adventure audiobook -
The Light by D.J. MacHale
16 ratingsMarshall Seaver is being haunted. It begins with mysterious sounds, a fleeting face outside a window, a rogue breeze - all things that can be explained away. That is, until he comes face-to-face with a character who only exists on the pages of a sketchbook - a character Marshall himself created...
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