23 Books Like Mirrored Heavens

"When Women Were Dragons" by Kelly Barnhill is a genre-bending tale that mixes fantasy and social commentary, exploring themes of empowerment, rage, and transformation. Set in a 1950s America where women mysteriously transform into fierce, fire-breathing dragons, this novel is both a powerful feminist allegory and an enchanting story of personal liberation. Through the eyes of young Alex, who grapples with the mysterious "Mass Dragoning" that claimed her aunt, Barnhill delves into suppressed female anger, the cost of societal expectations, and the strength found in self-discovery. The prose is poetic yet sharp, rich with emotion and wonder, drawing readers into a world where the boundaries between humanity and mythology blur. This book takes the reader on a bold, imaginative journey that is not only entertaining, but moving and inspiring. A must-read for anyone who’s ever felt the call to unleash their inner power after life tells them they are powerless.

This historical fantasy absolutely charmed me from start to finish! Unapologetically queer and steeped in Jewish history and culture, the story follows Uriel the angel and Ashmedai (a.k.a. Little Ash), the demon, who've been meeting up for centuries to study the Talmud in a tiny shtetl in turn-of-the-century Poland.

When a young woman who recently left for New York fails to write back to her family as promised, the pair decide to journey to America to support their community—or, in Little Ash's case, explore new avenues of mischief. I adored Lamb's exploration of Uriel and Little Ash's inherent genderqueerness as non-human characters and the running theme of "What does it mean to be human, anyway?"

In this respect, as well as tone and setting, I was pleasantly reminded of Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni—so if you enjoyed that one, I'd highly recommend you check out this… show more.

I read this book after a long, dull period when I couldn’t seem to find anything to read that sparked my interest. Trail of Lightning picked me up, whirled me around, and made me fall head-over-heels in love with speculative fiction again.

Set in a bleak, post-apocalyptic world, it’s brutal and gripping, but where there should only be sadness and despair, there are unexpected moments of un-looked-for kindness. This isn’t a light read, and it isn’t exactly happy—but there’s a beautiful optimism underlying the bleakness, that after all, even in the worst of circumstances and at the worst of times, people can be kind. 

I was first introduced to the film adaptation of The Road in my early teens when I went through all five stages of grief in the span of 1 hour and 51 minutes.

I then made a beeline to the bookstore for a copy of McCarthy’s novel, which subsequently solidified my love of end-of-the-world stories in how they can examine what it means to survive.

The Road is a story that has stayed with me over the subsequent decade and a half and greatly influenced my post-apocalyptic novel.

While the sci-fi machinations can be a little bit handwavey, Martin more than makes up for it with the depth of her characters and political world building. Defining it as a space opera is accurate, but it doesn’t come with the complex overhead common in the genre; it’s a fast-paced read constantly pulling you in to find out what happens in just the next chapter.

A brilliant author at his best! Such strong exploration of character, plus humor, action, and more

Another ultimate post-apocalyptic quest novel is The Stand, one of King’s most read (and longest) books, but I was more heavily influenced by (and love more) The Waste Lands (book 3 of The Dark Tower series). This is because the latter focuses less on the how of the collapse than the aftermath. King’s casual prose and quick, realistic dialogue have always been an inspiration in my writing. The found family connection between Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake is at the heart of The Waste Lands. It is palpable and endearing, and something I strove to emulate with Delia, Gennero, Perth, and Mort in my own novel. There is an allusion to The Waste Lands in my book that big fans of The Dark Tower will catch.  

This novel takes place thirty years after a disease has reduced most of the human population to a primitive state. A thriller with exceptional action scenes and tension, the novel features two converging plotlines that are quests through South America and the southern United States when it is almost devoid of uninfected humans. As with a lot of post-apocalyptic novels the real villains of the story are other humans—their greed and need for control. While this book came out two years after mine, it resonated with me. The themes of trust run strong in both our novels, as well as lengthy stretches of landscape without any humans. 

I love this novel. I read it well after my own came out, but the strong, badass, stoic female main character reminded me a lot of Delia from What Branches Grow (despite Brittle being a robot). The often dark and gritty scenes interspersed with moments of emotion and laugh-out-loud absurd humour turned a story that could have been depressing into one that was a helluva lot of fun. The raiders in this novel also fit the trope in the same homage to Mad Max/Fallout that mine do in What Branches Grow, albeit in a way I didn’t expect. The novel is also a quest through the wasteland with a ragtag group that culminates in a final battle, which is a similar trajectory to my novel (and a plotfline in this genre I very much enjoy).

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.