Scary Monsters and Superfreaks: Witcher Read-Alikes You Can’t Miss
Posted on August 28, 2024
by Amy H
The Witcher Series has been a huge streaming hit on Netflix with seasons 4 and 5 currently being filmed back-to-back, and the book series has a legion of fans. If you enjoy dark fantasy with infusions of non-traditional (aka non-western European) folklore, great characters and dialog, plus lots of adventure and monster fighting, here are more books for you to try as you wait for the “new” Geralt (Liam Hemsworth!) (I know, but let’s give him a chance!) to premiere.
yamada monogatari: demon hunter by Richard Parks
In an ancient Japan where the incursions of gods, ghosts, and demons into the living world is an everyday event, an impoverished nobleman named Yamada no Goji makes his living as a demon hunter for hire. With the occasional assistance of the reprobate exorcist Kenji, whatever the difficulty-ogres, demons, fox-spirits-for a price Yamada will do what needs to be done, even and especially if the solution to the problem isn't as simple as the edge of a sword. Yet, no matter how many monsters he has to face, or how powerful and terrible they may be, the demons Yamada fears the most are his own.
the blade itself by Joe Abercrombie
Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of leaving nothing behind but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies. Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and finding glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by bloodier rules. Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta is a busy man; cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for side quests. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it. Enter the wizard, Bayaz. An old man with a terrible temper, he could be the First of the Magi or a spectacular fraud, regardless, he’s about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult. Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.
king of scars by Leigh Bardugo
Face your demons...or feed them. The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war-and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried-and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.
the justice of kings by Richard Swan
The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne. Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his talented protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire. When the pair investigates the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of Imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: Will they abandon the laws they've sworn to uphold in order to protect the Empire?
blood heir by Amélie Wen Zhao
Spending her life within the palace walls to hide her forbidden blood Affinity, crown princess Ana flees for her life when she is accused of her emperor father’s murder and forges a tentative alliance with a cunning crime lord to outmaneuver a powerful conspiracy.
the red knight by Miles Cameron
Determined to make money, the Red Knight sends his company to protect an Abbess and her nunnery who are being preyed upon by a monster that turns out to be a small part of an attack on a much larger scale.
black leopard, red wolf by Marlon James
Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker soon finds himself part of a band of searchers, a hodgepodge group, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard. As the group follows the boy's scent from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers, the searchers are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that's come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.
the fifth season by N. K. Jemisin
In a post-apocalyptic world plagued by natural diasters, Essun lives in a small comunity barricaded against the outside world. When her husband relizes that she and her children are orogenes with the ability to manipulate seismic energy, he kills their son and kidnaps their daughter. Against the backdrop of the end of the world, Essun follows, beginning an odyssey which will not end until her daughter is safe. Winner of the 2016 Hugo Award.
uprooted by Naomi Novik
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood. The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows--everyone knows--that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn't, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her. But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
monstress by Marjorie M. Liu
Set in an alternate world of art deco beauty and steampunk horror, Monstress tells the epic story of Maika Halfwolf, a teenage survivor of a cataclysmic war between humans and their hated enemies, the Arcanics. In the face of oppression and terrible danger, Maika is both hunter and hunted, searching for answers about her mysterious past as those who seek to use her remain just one step behind. And all the while, the monster within begins to awaken.
the traitor god by Cameron Johnston
After ten years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magician Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend, Lynas, who had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the sorcerers who rule the city but failed. Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now nothing will stop Walker from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods - Walker will burn them all if he has to. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s killed a god.
the rage of dragons by Evan Winter
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable war for almost two hundred years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He'll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.
talyn by Holly Lisle
In a world where technology is magic, and war is the only way of life, Talyn is a soldier who embraced her fate long ago: to die in battle fought deep inside the View, a place where magic is inherent in everything, and soldiers bring this magic to the physical plane and use it to destroy. The Feegash came from across the globe and demand to be allowed to negotiate peace between the warring sides for the sake of the rest of the world. Their success meant Talyn was out of a job and at a loss for what to do with her life. Eventually learning a new dark magery, she discovers the mistreatment of prisoners of war, still in enemy hands, and commits her life to saving theirs. It's a matter of honor - and her honor will be challenged again and again as she slowly discovers that what the Feegash have brought with them was not peace but an overwhelming oppression, and an evil so insidious that no one noticed it until it was too late. But if Talyn can hone her use of magery, she can turn their own magic against them. With the help of one of the prisoners, she might be able to use it to save the former warring peoples, and defeat the Feegash once and for all ... if the magic doesn't destroy her from the inside out first.
city of lies by Sam Hawke
Outwardly, Jovan is the quiet, forgettable lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. In secret, he's a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state. But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising...and angry.
foul days by Genoveva Dimova
As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice treating lycanthrope bites, bargaining with kikimoras, and slaying bloodsucking upirs. There’s only one monster she can’t defeat: the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed by someone close to her, Kosara’s only choice is to trade her shadow-the source of her powers-for a quick escape. Unfortunately, Kosara soon develops the deadly sickness that plagues shadowless witches-and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To find it, she’s forced to team up with a suspiciously honorable detective. Even worse, all the clues point in a single direction: To get her shadow back, Kosara will have to face the Foul Days’ biggest threats without it. And she’s only got twelve days. But in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the biggest monster from her past?
trail of lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine. Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel the rez, unraveling clues from ancient legends, trading favors with tricksters, and battling dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology. As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive.
we hunt the flame by Hafsah Faizal
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya-but neither wants to be. War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds-and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.
the killing fog by Jeff Wheeler
Survivor of a combat school, the orphaned Bingmei belongs to a band of mercenaries tasked by their employer to brave the wilderness’s dangers and retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price. Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is Bingmei's inherited mission. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei’s fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion’s dark war for control unfolds.
cursed by Thomas Wheeler
Nimue grew up an outcast. Her connection to dark magic made her something to be feared in her Druid village, and that made her desperate to leave. That is, until her entire village is slaughtered by Red Paladins, and Nimue's fate is forever altered. Charged by her dying mother to reunite an ancient sword with a legendary sorcerer, Nimue is now her people's only hope. Her mission leaves little room for revenge, but the growing power within her can think of little else. Nimue teams up with a charming mercenary named Arthur and refugee Fey Folk from across England. She wields a sword meant for the one true king, battling paladins and the armies of a corrupt king. She struggles to unite her people, avenge her family, and discover the truth about her destiny. But perhaps the one thing that can change destiny itself is found at the edge of a blade.
beyond a darkened shore by Jessica Leake
The ancient land of Éirinn is mired in war. Ciara, princess of Mide, has never known a time when Éirinn's kingdoms were not battling for power, or Northmen were not plundering their shores. The people of Mide have always been safe because of Ciara's unearthly ability to control her enemies' minds and actions. But lately a mysterious crow has been appearing to Ciara, whispering warnings of an even darker threat. Although her clansmen dismiss her visions as pagan nonsense, Ciara fears this coming evil will destroy not just Éirinn but the entire world. Then the crow leads Ciara to Leif, a young Northman leader. Leif should be Ciara's enemy, but when Ciara discovers that he, too, shares her prophetic visions, she knows he's something more. Leif is mounting an impressive army, and with Ciara's strength in battle, the two might have a chance to save their world. With evil rising around them, they'll do what it takes to defend the land they love...even if it means making the greatest sacrifice of all.
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