16 Books Like Arthur

In PRECIPICE, it’s the summer of 1914, and the “guns of August” are only weeks away. In the middle of the unfolding crisis, the married Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, pursues a distracting love affair with Venetia Stanley, a woman half his age. He writes to her obsessively, often two and three times a day. Sometimes, he dashes off notes during cabinet meetings, sharing sensitive government intelligence about the looming war with Germany. Enter Scotland Yard, which stumbles on the correspondence and assigns a young detective sergeant to monitor the affair and read the letters before they’re delivered.
Two of the novel’s three narrative strands are true; only the Scotland Yard plot is fiction. Harris’ Detective Sergeant Paul Deemer is keen at first, diving into his surveillance assignment. Before long, he questions his superiors’ motives, sensing he’s a pawn in some larger political game. Readers know the outcome of the mounting… show more.

Essentially this book is a lesson on how to write. Character growth, plot pacing, world building... everything. It's just genius.

This book made me a better person

There have been too many novels featuring the story of King Arthur to count; this is my favorite. I found it (and the following two books in the series) really captured the idea of who Arthur was, why he was needed, and why he did what he did at the time for me.

It was the first Cornwell novel I read, and he has become my favourite novellist. I think he writes battle scenes better than anyone–he puts you in the middle of the action and makes you feel the visceral nature of combat (especially in his Arthurian and medieval books). If anyone is looking for a place to start with Arthurian fiction but doesn’t know where to begin, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book and series. 

This one isn’t fantasy at all. In fact, it’s probably the most accurate fictional retelling of the battle of Gettysburg out there. But I love it so much I had to list it here.

Furthermore, the characters involved—such as Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain—are deeply spiritual men, meaning that many pages meditate on the meaning of all this blood and loss. These meditations evoke a sense fantasy often can: that the visible world contains a mystery deeper than our limited minds can grasp. 

Yet the text remains deeply human. The Civil War pits brother against brother, friend against friend. In it, there is a great speech by Col. Chamberlain addressing his men which captures a theme of the book.

“This is a different kind of army,” he says. “If you look back through history you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot. They fight… show more.

This is a pretty dense scholarly work, but that very density makes it a cornucopia for anyone interested in how a specific historical culture regarded magic.

I appreciated that while academic, Price is never boring or needlessly obscure; he does a very good job of not only explaining the historical record but also the best guess at how it can be interpreted.

Not only did it teach me a great deal about the Vikings, but it also taught me other strategies and ways of thinking about other cultures’ magical practices, and for a fantasy writer, that’s pure gold.

I would have thought to list another book here, and for sure, there are truly many books to be read that could easily be listed here, and despite that, this is listing Tolkien’s works for a third time; the truth simply stands in my library that his works are simply that great. 

So far be it that the renowned book of The Lord of the Rings be not included. I had been introduced to Tolkien and fantasy’s more serious nature by my dad and grandfather with readings of The Hobbit, and by it, I was already enamored with the world of Middle-earth, as Bilbo was my hero.

I loved the classic animated cartoon adaptations back then by Rankin and Bass, and Bakshi, which at the time was my main exposure to The Lord of the Rings, along with commentaries from my dad, until I finally read it at the time… show more.

This book is about that intrepid city state in ancient Greece, the legendary Spartans, and of course the Gates of Fire are the passes at Thermopylae where King Leonidas and his 300 were joined by other Greek contingents to face down, and stop, the mighty Persian Armies invading Greece.
Following a group of key characters, Pressfield takes us deep into the Spartan culture to see what created such fierce and dependable warriors. Boys were trained from an early age to become men of steel, and on any field where a contingent of Spartan soldiers stood, their enemies quailed.
The book presents two battles in gritty detail to show how the Spartans fought, and most often won their wars. Their military prowess and incredible bravery foil Xeres until a traitor reveals a hidden mountain pass the immortals can use to bypass them. I have read no other account of Thermopylae that… show more.

This applies to the Saxon Chronicles series as a whole, not just the first book. I am someone who has an interest in Viking Age Britain on a scholastic and entertainment level.

I read the entire series back to back and found it quick, easy, enjoyable and sometimes hard-hitting. Uhtred isn't a perfect person, he often gets in his own way and has his bad qualities but deep down he is a good man, even if he can be viewed as more morally grey than perhaps the other major characters in the plot.

There's plenty of bloody action and drama but you also see characters evolve as they grow older and the world dramatically changes around them during this very pivotal time in British history.

I surprised myself by reading a book about the Third Crusade in the 11th Century. So much to learn that I didn't know! The main characters are Richard the Lionheart, who leads the crusade, and Saladin, the great leader who defends against the Crusaders. You come away with enormous respect for both men and the struggles they endured. Richard the Lionheart was the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is the subject of her many biographies and maybe I'll read those next.