Here are 39 books that Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn fans have personally recommended once you finish the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series.
Shepherd is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I’ve always loved dark, thought-provoking tear-jerkers, the way they challenge my mind and elicit powerful emotions. Maybe it’s because I grew up in an age when men couldn’t cry or show emotions. Maybe it’s because I lived such a happy-go-lucky childhood, hiking through woods and catching lizards and turtles, that I grew curious about the darker aspects of life. It could be how I cope with having fought for two years on the front lines of combat and why I found myself in a philosopher’s classroom, studying ethics. All I know is that my heart craves powerful, dark stories that make my eyes leak.
When I was twelve years old, I never understood why people cried over the death of a fantasy character. After all, the characters weren’t believable like in fiction.
Then I read the Dragonlance Legends Trilogy, and the ending devastated me for days. I cried, and I understood, and that moment has never left my heart.
The first installment in the New York Times–bestselling epic fantasy trilogy about twin rivals Raistlin and Caramon, set in the magical Dragonlance universe.
The War of the Lance has ended, and the darkness has passed. Or has it?
Sequestered in the blackness of the dreaded Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas, and surrounded by nameless creatures of evil, archmage Raistlin Majere weaves a plan to conquer the darkness—to bring it under his control.
Two people alone can stop him. One is Crysania, a beautiful and devoted cleric of Paladine, who tries to use her faith to lead Raistlin from the…
As someone fortunate enough to have people in my life that I consider my found family, I have a strong affinity for stories of friendship and found family, particularly in my preferred genre of epic fantasy. Watching the formation of those deep bonds between characters from various backgrounds and circumstances while they are confronting challenges that would often be insurmountable if faced alone is something I never grow tired of. While I am a fan of a well-written romantic subplot, I also appreciate that these books highlight different kinds of relationships, sometimes leaving out romance altogether.
In some ways, this is an odd choice for this list because the protagonist, Charlie, is really on a solitary journey for much of the story. I enjoyed the book because I liked how the character dealt with the strange and fantastic world that was revealed to him. He is a bit of a reluctant hero navigating a somewhat broken home life, but he doesn’t give up despite the daunting trials he faces.
I feel it fits this list because of the connections he makes with the people who help along the way, particularly the ones who join him in facing the final conflict, even though these connections won’t be lifelong ones. I also felt it belonged here because of the bond he builds with the dog, Radar because found family can be more than just the people around you.
A #1 New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice!
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for that world or ours.
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was seven, and grief drove his dad…
As someone fortunate enough to have people in my life that I consider my found family, I have a strong affinity for stories of friendship and found family, particularly in my preferred genre of epic fantasy. Watching the formation of those deep bonds between characters from various backgrounds and circumstances while they are confronting challenges that would often be insurmountable if faced alone is something I never grow tired of. While I am a fan of a well-written romantic subplot, I also appreciate that these books highlight different kinds of relationships, sometimes leaving out romance altogether.
Some people familiar with the series may think it doesn’t belong on this list. The main character, Jorg, is an extremely broken individual and not likable in so many ways. In fact, there are plenty of moments through the Broken Empire series in which you truly despise him, but he is also irritatingly clever at times.
I found myself compelled forward through the simple desire to see how he would accomplish his goals and get out of the many difficult situations he often found himself in. One of my favorite aspects of Jorg’s story is the complicated relationships he builds with his Brotherhood of often equally despicable misfits that are, despite their differences, something of a family.
I will advise readers that this series is grimdark and includes a lot of unpleasant content. It is a dark, gritty fantasy with an almost villainous protagonist that won’t appeal to everyone.
From the publisher that brought you Game of Thrones... Prince of Thorns is the first volume in a powerful new epic fantasy trilogy, original, absorbing and challenging.
Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of…
Children have vivid imaginations, and while mine was initially drawn to science fiction, I discovered my true passion for fantasy upon reading The Hobbit as a teenager. Since that day, escaping into fantasy worlds—whether it be through books, movies, TV, roleplaying, and video games—became my passion and hobby, leading me down many roads, including writing game reviews, a short story, a novel, and an extensive collection of fantasy-related replicas and statues. Ultimately, that endless feeling of wonder and exploration, adventure and danger is what convinced me to become an author; these five books sitting at the top of a long list that inspired me to reach that goal.
When a book in a beloved and lengthy series like the Shannara novels starts off with a tantalizing promise of finally exploring beyond the borders of the familiar map of the Four Lands, I simply couldn’t resist the lure of delving deeper and farther into Brooks’ world than ever before.
I absolutely love fantasy maps, finding them to be a critical component of any novel in that genre, and as fun as it is to methodically visit each location on them, I’m always wondering about what lies beyond the edges.
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy, which begins with Ilse Witch, accomplishes that in a way that left me begging for more, and not a little sad when it was over, and the heroes finally returned to the Four Lands.
Set a generation after THE TALISMANS OF SHANNARA, ILSE WITCH begins a new, five-book SHANNARA series. When the mutilated body of an elf is found floating in the sea, an old mystery resurfaces. Thirty years ago, an elven prince led an expedition in search of a legendary magic said to be more ancient, more powerful, than any in the world. None of the expedition's members ever returned... But the rescued elf carries a map which only one man has the skill to decipher: Walker Boh, last of the Druids. And one other understands the map's significance - the Ilse Witch,…
At five years old, I heard my great-grandmother, a God-fearing Pentecostal wife of an evangelist, give her personal testimony of seeing a UFO when she was a child. This event brought together two very different realities for me: the Christian worldview and the existence of ETs. Since that time, I had many supernatural encounters, some demonic, others divine, and others undefined. I am a retired Chief Master Sergeant with two associates, a Bachelor, and two Master’s degrees. To reconcile my faith with the paranormal, I put my academic proclivities to task by writing fourteen books of varying genres, which I define as a unique blend of Paranormal Sci-fi/Fantasy Christianity.
I love this book because Tolkien took the fantasy genre to a new, unprecedented level, resurrecting ancient legends of old, with countless mythical creatures.
His magnificent characters defined their races, occupations, and even their languages, later inspiring the game, Dungeons and Dragons, of which I was once a Dungeon Master. Many of The Fellowship serve messianic roles. Gandalf, for example, conquers death following his battle with a demon, and Stryder, an obscure ranger, turns out to be Aragorn, heir of the fallen kingdom.
Tolkien captures keen insight into the human condition regarding the struggle against sin. He also whispers a mystery; while an evil wizard created the One Ring to rule them all, a hidden, even more powerful force is clearly behind the ring’s eventual destruction.
This brand-new unabridged audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings, is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.
In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord Sauron's evil dominion.
Thus begins J. R. R. Tolkien's classic tale of adventure, which continues in…
I’ve always loved dark, thought-provoking tear-jerkers, the way they challenge my mind and elicit powerful emotions. Maybe it’s because I grew up in an age when men couldn’t cry or show emotions. Maybe it’s because I lived such a happy-go-lucky childhood, hiking through woods and catching lizards and turtles, that I grew curious about the darker aspects of life. It could be how I cope with having fought for two years on the front lines of combat and why I found myself in a philosopher’s classroom, studying ethics. All I know is that my heart craves powerful, dark stories that make my eyes leak.
I’ve always enjoyed dark stories, and the first book of The Coldfire Trilogy did not disappoint. I also read this series in high school.
It was the first fantasy series I read that felt more rooted in the dark reality of life, which gave it a familiar grittiness that I hadn’t experienced in the books I’d read.
Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold. The colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, a terrifying natural force with the power to prey upon the human mind itself, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life.
Twelve centuries after fate first stranded the colonists on Erna, mankind has achieved an uneasy stalemate, and human sorcerers manipulate the fae for their…
I love to read a good story, but I also get the greatest satisfaction from writing one, or several. I believe good fiction can say what factual books cannot, and done right, they can offer differing perspectives to any accepted norm. The trick is to let the characters speak, regardless of whether I agree with what they say, or not. The secret to good presentation is to offer the reader the choice to think about what has been said, consider and delve deeper, or not and pass by.
This guy writes great Westerns and detective novels, this book being an excellent place to begin. I’ve followed his works online and remain impressed with the characters he creates and the detail plus development of his works. But mostly, I can lose myself in his stories, grab a buzz of ‘feel-good,’ and forget about the outside world for a while.
Like most people I know, I have always been fascinated with serial killers, and more importantly why they do what they do. What makes one man murder multiple victims while another with a similar upbringing sells white goods and wouldn’t attract a traffic ticket. In my books, I am as interested in showing my readers why a killer kills, as I am in the hunt to catch him. My goal is to not so much get the reader to ‘like’ the antagonist but to understand, and dare I say even feel sorry for him. We are all products of our environment and upbringing, yet some of us murder others for fun.
Retired FBI profiler Terry McCaleb is recovering from a heart transplant he required after a heart attack he suffered while hunting a serial killer. When a woman urges him to help investigate the murder of her sister who was shot dead during a robbery, Terry discovers it is her heart he received. Possibly the killer wanted McCaleb to recover so he could resume his pursuit. This is one of the finest stories I have ever read; deeply moving, and a very exciting read.
Terry McCaleb, one of the most effective serial-killer investigators in the history of the FBI, hunts down his heart donor's killer. An unputdownable story from the award-winning No. 1 bestselling author.
'Blood Work' - that's what Terry McCaleb used to call his job at the FBI. Eight weeks ago he was a dead man, but now someone else's heart is keeping him alive. Then a newspaper report of his brush with death brings him an unwanted visitor. Graciela Rivers reveals to McCaleb that the anonymous donor of his heart was her murdered sister, and that the police investigation into the…
I love to read a good story, but I also get the greatest satisfaction from writing one, or several. I believe good fiction can say what factual books cannot, and done right, they can offer differing perspectives to any accepted norm. The trick is to let the characters speak, regardless of whether I agree with what they say, or not. The secret to good presentation is to offer the reader the choice to think about what has been said, consider and delve deeper, or not and pass by.
This historical fiction is one of three novels set in London, the one featured is contemporary, and set upon the streets walked by Jack the Ripper. What I found compelling was the detailed presentation of the lives of ordinary, working-class women, that was gritty and most believable in presentation. The characters came alive and the story flowed; some working girls vanished, who would be next? This is not a story about Jack. It is a story about those nearby and affected by the beast.
Journey into Whitechapel, London, during 'Jack the Ripper's,' brutal reign of terror. When innocent Catherine Bell stumbles into the seedy world of Madame Davenport's brothel lodging-house she meets lothario Edward Cross, who feels his ambitious diary of the Whitechapel area's prostitutes will benefit favourably with her entry.
I love to read a good story, but I also get the greatest satisfaction from writing one, or several. I believe good fiction can say what factual books cannot, and done right, they can offer differing perspectives to any accepted norm. The trick is to let the characters speak, regardless of whether I agree with what they say, or not. The secret to good presentation is to offer the reader the choice to think about what has been said, consider and delve deeper, or not and pass by.
Silent Fear is a stunning mystery novel, scary because it is set in an institute for the blind during a lockdown. There is a serial killer on the loose and no inmates have the ability to see their persecutor. Yes, this one gets right inside your mind and I felt privileged to read it.
Scotland Yard detective Valerie Crowther is assigned to investigate the murder of a student at a university for the Deaf in London, England. The murder investigation coincides with a deadly flu virus outbreak, resulting in the university being quarantined from the outside world.
When more Deaf students are murdered, it becomes clear there is a serial killer operating within the sealed-off university. A chilling cat-and-mouse game evolves as the unknown killer targets Valerie and the virus claims more lives.
A stunning, claustrophobic, "whodunit" murder mystery, Silent Fear (A novel inspired by true crimes) is…
