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Recommendations based on The King Must Dieby Mary Renault
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Tombs of Atuan
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A young girl embarks on a spiritual journey of self-discovery, uncovering the secrets of a mysterious tomb.
The story follows a girl named Tenar, born on the Kargish island of Atuan. Born on the day that the high priestess of the Tombs of Atuan died, she is believed to be her reincarnation. Tenar is taken ... (Wikipedia)
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
by Neal Stephenson
A young girl's journey of learning and self-discovery, aided by advanced technology.
The protagonist in the story is Nell, a thete (or person without a tribe; equivalent to the lowest working class) living in the Leased Territories, a lowland slum built on the artificial, diamondoid ... (Wikipedia)
Geography Club
by Brent Hartinger
A group of high school students form a secret club to explore their sexuality and identity.
Russel Middlebrook is keeping a secret from his two best friends, Min, a bright Chinese American girl, and Gunnar, a bright and socially awkward boy. Neither of them knows he is gay and that he has ... (Wikipedia)
Animal Dreams
by Barbara Kingsolver
A woman's journey of self-discovery, grappling with family ties and environmental issues.
Animal Dreams opens with a chapter narrated in the third person from the point of view of Doc Homer. This establishes a double narrative voice, which switches between dreams and memories of the past ... (Wikipedia)
The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
Set in an alternate 1962, a man must confront a dark and oppressive new world order.
It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty ... (Goodreads)
Autobiography of Red
by Anne Carson
A modern retelling of Greek myth, exploring the intersections of love, art, and identity.
The award-winning poet Anne Carson reinvents a genre in Autobiography of Red , a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional re-creation of an ancient Greek myth and a ... (Goodreads)
Shadow & Claw
by Gene Wolfe
Epic fantasy saga of a young man's quest in a world of darkness and danger.
Severian , an apprentice in the torturers' guild, barely survives a swim in the River Gyoll. On his way back to the Citadel (whose towers appear to be disused rockets), Severian and several other ... (Wikipedia)
Metamorphoses
by Ovid
A collection of tales of transformation, featuring gods and mortals.
Prized through the ages for its splendor and its savage, sophisticated wit, The Metamorphoses is a masterpiece of Western culture–the first attempt to link all the Greek myths, before and after ... (Goodreads)
Fleshmarket Close
by Ian Rankin
Detective Rebus investigates a series of murders in Edinburgh's Fleshmarket Close, uncovering a web of corruption and exploitation.
Detective Inspector John Rebus has no desk to work from, as a hint from his superiors that he should consider retirement, but he and his protegee Siobhan Clarke are still investigating some seemingly ... (Wikipedia)
Tropic of Cancer
by Henry Miller
A young writer's journey of self-exploration in Paris, confronting life, love and lust.
Now hailed as an American classic Tropic of Cancer , Henry Miller’s masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a ... (Goodreads)
I, Claudius
by Robert Graves
An epic tale of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, told through the eyes of a dynasty's forgotten leader.
Into the 'autobiography' of Clau-Clau-Claudius, the pitiful stammerer who was destined to become Emperor in spite of himself, Graves packs the everlasting intrigues, the depravity, the bloody purges ... (Goodreads)
The Prisoner of Zenda
by Anthony Hope
A thrilling adventure of mistaken identity, political intrigue, and romance.
On the eve of the coronation of King Rudolf V of Ruritania, his younger half-brother Michael, Duke of Strelsau, has him drugged. The unconscious king is abducted and imprisoned in a castle in the ... (Wikipedia)
Three Parts Dead
by Max Gladstone
A fantasy novel of magic, gods and legal wrangling in a world of gods and mortals.
A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is ... (Goodreads)
Children of Dune
by Frank Herbert
Epic saga of a royal family's struggle for power and the fate of their desert planet.
Nine years after Emperor Paul Muad'Dib walked into the desert, blind, the ecological transformation of Dune has reached the point where some Fremen are living without stillsuits in the less arid ... (Wikipedia)
When Christ and His Saints Slept
by Sharon Kay Penman
Epic tale of medieval England, exploring the power struggles of the Plantagenet dynasty.
A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But ... (Goodreads)
The Hollow Hills
by Mary Stewart
A young man's quest to restore peace to a magical kingdom and become its rightful leader.
Keeping watch over the young Arthur Pendragon, the prince and prophet Merlin Ambrosius is haunted by dreams of the magical sword Caliburn, which has been hidden for centuries. When Uther Pendragon is ... (Goodreads)
The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton
A romantic drama set in the high society of 19th century New York, exploring the limits of love and longing.
Newland Archer, gentleman lawyer and heir to one of New York City's most illustrious families, happily anticipates his highly desirable marriage to the sheltered and beautiful May Welland. Yet he ... (Wikipedia)
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
A soldier's harrowing experience of the horrors of war.
The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who belongs to a group of German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I . The patriotic speeches of his teacher Kantorek had led the whole class to ... (Wikipedia)
Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller
Tragic story of a man's attempt to find success and happiness in a world of false promises.
'For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a ... (Goodreads)
Middlemarch
by George Eliot
A grand narrative of life in a small English town, exploring the lives of its inhabitants.
Middlemarch centres on the lives of residents of Middlemarch, a fictitious Midlands town, from 1829 onwards – the years up to the 1832 Reform Act . The narrative is variably considered to consist of ... (Wikipedia)
The Falls
by Ian Rankin
An Edinburgh detective's investigation of a serial killer, with a personal connection.
A student vanishes in Edinburgh and her wealthy family of bankers ensure Detective Inspector John Rebus is under pressure to find her. A carved wooden doll in a coffin found near her East Lothian ... (Wikipedia)
The First Man in Rome
by Colleen McCullough
The rise of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the Roman Republic, leading to the downfall of the aristocracy.
The main plot of the novel is generally concerned with the rise of Marius, his marriage to Julia, his success in replacing Metellus as general in charge of the Numidian theatre of war, his defeat of ... (Wikipedia)
London
by Edward Rutherfurd
Historical novel tracing the 2000-year history of the English capital.
Here is Edward Rutherfurd's classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning 2,000 years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and ... (Goodreads)
Castle of Wizardry
by David Eddings
Epic quest to find a magical artifact and save a kingdom from danger.
A magnificent epic set against a history of seven thousand years of the struggles of Gods and Kings and men - of strange lands and events - of fate and a prophecy that must be fulfilled! THE ... (Goodreads)
Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
Epic science-fiction story of a journey to the distant planet Hyperion.
In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore , a civilisation of AIs . Modified ... (Wikipedia)
At Swim-Two-Birds
by Flann O'Brien
A novel within a novel, where characters rebel against their author and create their own stories. A surreal and humorous exploration of Irish literature.
At Swim-Two-Birds presents itself as a first-person story by an unnamed Irish student of literature. The student believes that "one beginning and one ending for a book was a thing I did not agree ... (Wikipedia)
The Last of the Mohicans
by James Fenimore Cooper
Historical fiction set during the French and Indian War, featuring a native American family and their allies.
Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of Lieutenant Colonel Munro, are traveling with Major Duncan Heyward from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry, where Munro is in command, and acquire another companion ... (Wikipedia)
Tigana
by Guy Gavriel Kay
A tale of a conquered land, where a small group of rebels seek to restore their lost culture and history.
The plot focuses on a group of rebels attempting to overthrow both tyrants and win back their homeland. Many of the rebels are natives of the province of Tigana, which was the province that most ably ... (Wikipedia)
Wolf in White Van
by John Darnielle
A mysterious, psychological journey of a reclusive man, linked to a game he created.
Sean Phillips lives with a caretaker after shooting himself in the head at age 17, causing facial disfigurement. The circumstances of the shooting are initially left ambiguous. Sean's relationship ... (Wikipedia)
Spring Snow
by Yukio Mishima
A tale of forbidden love set in Japan's Meiji era, where societal norms and traditions clash with personal desires.
The novel is set in the early years of the Taishō period with the reign of the Emperor Taishō , and is about the relationship between Kiyoaki Matsugae, the son of a rising nouveau-riche family, and ... (Wikipedia)
