Books like E-Day — picked by fans

What I found unique about Deal with the Devil was that it was written by two authors who specialize in writing steamy romance books, who, together, go by the pen name Kit Rocha. Genetically and cybernetically enhanced humans has always been one of my favorite sci-fi concepts. This book has two teams of enhanced humans. There is Nina and her all-female crew, who are the book’s main characters, and there is Knox and his all-male crew. I enjoyed learning about the different abilities and troubled pasts of these characters. And with the setting being in a dystopian environment, another concept I enjoy, coupled with the book having all the spiciness and sensuality you'd usually find in an urban fantasy novel, this sci-fi story was intriguing. I believe it will be a winner for adult male and female readers.

I love this book because it marries the brutality of military sci-fi with epic fantasy in a colossally satisfying fashion. It has dark gods, blood magic, and the grueling rigors of military training. And Ikenna, the main character, takes no crap from anyone, no matter how powerful. You can’t help but to root for her!

Sometimes I just want to be immersed in a purely fun action and adventure science fiction book, with no weighty themes or complex plots/subplots to contemplate. Gun Runner is one such book, and being an anime fan, I was drawn to the anime-like concepts within Gun Runner: giant robots battling Kaiju and battling each other, a young cyborg woman who makes small killer robots, etc. The main hero also kept me glued to the story, a young man who was once under mind control and forced to harm people but now finds himself in a similar predicament, which he must struggle against to prevent an encore of his horrible past. This is a story that will appeal to readers of all ages, from young to old.

I love giant robots, being a fan of the Battle Tech and Gundam franchises, and Hard Reboot is a book involving giant-robot arena fights, so that alone inspired me to check it out. Good worldbuilding is important for any fiction book. And with this book being a novella, I was impressed with how much worldbuilding was done within 150 pages or so. The world within Hard Reboot has its own unique terms, technology, and environments, which made me want to learn more about this world as I read through each page. I also found the two main characters intriguing, two young women from different backgrounds. The evolution of their relationship from frenemies to significant others was totally fun to read. If you like giant-robot battles, pick this book up.

The world in this book feels of a time both ancient and unfathomably far into the future.

This, along with the marriage of supernatural elements and science fiction—not to mention oddball characters, hypersexuality, and intense swordfights—make Howl a definitive title of “anime literature.”

Lady Agova, the glass-jawed mystic giantess who guides our protagonists through the dangerous cybergoth landscape, is as iconic as Goku or Naruto and belongs on just as many bedroom wall posters.

Through a masterfully balanced blend of straightforward and poetic prose, the late counter-cultural figure Izumi Suzuki depicts raw humanity against proto-cyberpunk landscapes.

People are transplanted into others’ dreams, interstellar border politics are navigated by junkies, and aliens roleplay as human in a world left to ruin. The mix of high emotion and high weirdness that makes the best anime is present in every story of this book.

The medieval fantasy in this book was juxtaposed with band culture for the bard MC early in the book, which gave me a few laughs. I love all of the characters, but even more, I love that I didn’t like them all at first. One character came across too cheery while another was too stuck up, but I ended up loving them all by the end. The world is one I would adore stepping into for a week to live in, so it’s a very good escapist read. The MC’s directive is so simple, since he’s just trying to get into a bard group and prove his family wrong. The fact the scenario twists into so much more but remains so wholesome reminded me of the anime Spice and Wolf.

Evermore has an anime-level mystical other world with copious drama and shenanigans afoot. There are strained friendships, romance, death-defying endeavors, and more. Who doesn’t love a good immortal chasing after his love through different lifetimes? I appreciate that the MC isn’t a damsel in distress even with the romance-heavy lean of the book. There’s plenty of mystery and action with the MC’s ability to see spirits and auras as she tries to discern the strange things happening around her. I have so much love for themes of life and death. I can see parallels between this book and the anime The Ancient Magus Bride. Both involve not-so-distant other worlds and a protagonist who has shut herself away for her gifts falling in love with an immortal.

There’s a point in countless anime fight scenes where characters engaged in combat are moving so fast, the background becomes nothing but harsh pencil strokes drawn from one corner of the frame to the other.
Black Gypsies contains many scenes with this level of frenetic energy. A fast, pulpy thrill ride that is equal parts colorful, gritty, and sexy.

This is a book that wears its anime influence on its sleeve quite literally, as the back cover states “for fans of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Akira, and Cyberpunk 2077.”

For storytellers, this could be used as a bible for grand worldbuilding and epic fight scenes condensed into minimalist, cinematic prose. An insanely fun read that keeps the pedal smashed to the floor beginning to end.