41 books like Kushiel's Legacy

I read this book over a decade ago, and it still has its claws in me.

The writing prose is lyrical and gorgeous. The world-building, centered around a blend of Christianity and Jewish cultures and religions, is beautiful and spellbinding. The characters are each so creatively written, and the sex – oh my god – is just both tastefully and devastatingly written.

This book is a cult classic. I have recommended it to others so many times over the years.

This book is so underrated, it’s painful. A truly engrossing read. Han Alister must rise up from the slums of the city to embrace his magic, and find revenge for his innocent sister’s death. She was his heart, and when her life is extinguished, so is that part of himself. Or so he thought, until Raisa. A princess by birth, she’ll have to overcome her so-called privilege to have a chance at real happiness with someone less than a commoner—a reformed thief and gang leader. Or is he? Will revenge prove a more powerful conviction than love? Magical twists and surprises abound, and the depth of this world will suck you right in. If you’re not cheering for Han by the end, do you even like morally gray heroes? 

The Warded Man is a fantasy adventure mystery about a hero who never wanted to be a hero and a man who has to fight both physical, literal demons as well as his own internal demons and a traumatized past. The Warded Man exposes humanity and the emotional and psychological struggles that even a hero can experience. 

This book captured me from the first moment with Amaranthe determined to be the best enforcer despite being looked down upon because she was a woman doing a man’s job and not doing what her family expected of her.

When she finds herself the target of an assassin which she must target, she gathers a collection of misfits who (spoiler sort of) become the family she needs to succeed and survive along with bumble, trip, fail, and regroup with.

I loved cheering her on and wincing at her (sometimes hilarious) struggles.

I fell in love with this book and series for several reasons. Initially, though the magic system was almost a little confusing, I enjoyed how unusual it was. I love discovering unique magic systems in fantasy that really make me think and capture my curiosity.

The complexity of the characters and how relatable they were also strongly appealed to me. They weren’t perfect, nor were they so completely flawed that I found it hard to connect to them. Nothing makes for a rich story like deep characters who feel like they could still be real outside of the fantasy world.

My favorite thing about this book (and the series), however, is the found family element. The primary protagonist, Kip, is uprooted from his less-than-perfect life in such a dramatic way. The journey we get to go on with him as he finds his place in his world and builds up… show more.

This book tore me out of a reading slump and reminded me what good writing looks and viscerally feels like in my body.

It is dark, dangerous, gory, and completely bingeable. I loved the depiction of religion and faith – and the way it was used as both a weapon, shield, and prison by different characters. The romance was spicy and devastating. The stakes, impossibly high. The characters…utterly unforgettable.

One of the few books I will make time to re-read over and over, both to study to improve my own writing, and simply to just ruin myself in – over and over again. 

This book utterly entranced me.

Such a creative concept for the magical lore and religion of the world – tarot magic being a tangible thing anyone with the card can use. The creature in the main female character's head lends both fear and comfort at surprising moments, and the dark gothic setting created an overall creepiness that forced me to keep reading late into the night, just to seek relief.

I loved this book, read it in about a day, and continue to gift and recommend to others. 

Complex worldbuilding and the alternate history genre often go hand in hand, and they’re the part I enjoy most when reading reimaginings of our world. This book intertwines history with spirituality and shows how a small set of characters can enact a large change to the universe, which is something that is shown to be both optimistic (if the characters are good) and pessimistic (if the characters are evil/selfish).

It echoes so much of what I believe—that karma is a real force and depends on how it’s released into the world—so I found it refreshing to see these themes echoed in the storyline. History can change life for the better—or the worse—because of what we believe in.

This one might seem an odd pick at first. I thought so too when a friend gave me a copy. I was surprised there was an Anne McCaffery book I hadn’t read!

This book belongs on the list for its beautiful depiction of what love and community can do for a group of mismatched outcasts, refugees on a dangerous planet—a collection of peoples all very different from one another working together to survive.

Their destiny was to become a cohesive extended family despite all their differences, and to become empowered individuals at the same time. There’s a steamy romance, too. So that’s always yummy. It goes to show that when destiny calls, the love that answers can be with a voice of multitudes.

I never miss an opportunity to recommend this book for its broad scope and human courage.

It’s such an immersive and very human story full of adventure, challenge, will, and passion. Auriane is brought to such exquisite life as a woman born to a destiny meant to free the people she loves.

This book lands on my list for a call to destiny answered by love because Auriane’s life is an example of how we can’t see ourselves, or how we often don’t know where to fit, whom to challenge, and where to connect—but we find our way by being relentlessly devoted to doing what feels right to us, guided by that internal flame until we unite with the force that gives us a purpose, place, meaning.

Often, if not always, that destiny is deeply anchored in love. 

For Auriane, that love is her tribe, and her community, family, friends,… show more.