Books like Neon Gods — picked by fans

This entire series has my heart and soul. Paranormal world fused with Greek mythology? Hell, yes! I’d read this any day and every day. My top pick in this series is The Darkest Kiss because I love the female lead Anya. She’s just amazing. Anya is introduced as a fun loving, trouble maker but as the novel evolves we learn Anya has more layers to her character and with each layer coming off, you can’t help but fall deeply in love with her just like Death. I mean, I totally understand him. This book is such an entertaining read.

I fell for this book like a leprechaun for gold. The world and characters are colorful, and the magic is based on color. From a sensational sensory standpoint, Warbreaker lifted my spirits to a magnificent place. 

I am drawn to this book because of the wondrous world and storytelling that revolves around the true spirit of femininity. I love books that reach for the highest virtue of the noble spirit, and Warbreaker did not disappoint. We watch as the two heroines use the true power of femininity to draw out the best in masculinity forces, thus calling them to their destiny. Talk about a story that embraces the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

The first book in The Twilight Reign starts off an epic fantasy series of war, loyalty, sacrifice, prophecy, and Gods with their own agendas, to whom their chosen champions are game-pieces to be used in a conflict in which mortals have only a partial understanding. The hero, Isak, is a young man born to be a violent warrior, a tool of prophesy and the Gods, but he never stops struggling to be more than what he was made, and to make himself master of his own fate. This is a satisfyingly rich fantasy world to plunge yourself into.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Wilson’s debut work, is another wonder among wonders.

It feels like an epic fantasy, but instead of following more Viking-blonde heroes with their magical swords, we’re following hired mercenaries to escort a caravan through dangerous lands.

And instead of the usual fantasy worlds descended from the Western European Middle Ages, we’re in one influenced by re-colonial Africa.

There are magical jungles and magical tigers, and violence and death, and an LGBT love story between smart, dedicated men.

It’s a character study worthy of a literary novel, but the love of words, and the masterful inclusion of various dialects, particularly a kind of medieval hip-hop slang, makes this a truly fascinating read.

Not only is Essun a woman, which, unfortunately, is not common when it comes to the history of badass sci-fi protagonists (thankfully this is becoming less true because of writers like N.K. Jemisin), but she’s a middle-aged mother of two living, or I should say, hiding, out in the cut. When her daughter goes missing, Essun hits the road to find her and reveals her, literally, Earth-shaking abilities. If we threw the badasses on this list into a single universe and had them duel, ten-ringer Essun would clean the clocks of every other protagonist. Or more accurately, turn them to ice. I absolutely loved this series, and Essun is the main reason why. 

Two words. Bisexual representation. The queer community may tend to forget about us bisexuals out here, but Katee Robert certainly did not.

It’s not very often that you see books that focus on an MMF relationship in which the woman is the most recent addition. The loving relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is incredible to begin with. However, when you add the extra dimension of Helen of Troy, the relationship grows and changes into something much more.

Dealing with serious relationship dynamic conflicts, like jealousy, Wicked Beauty shows us that sometimes working through our learned emotional reactions can create something truly beautiful.

Book 14 of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series, Acheron is a heartbreaking masterpiece. Delving deeply into the heartbreaking past of Acheron, a demi-god and leader of the Dark-Hunters, we at long last discover his origins and true self. After years of solitude and betrayal, he is given his final redemption and love. My favorite in this stellar series.

Dianna and Liam, two immortals, struggle to free themselves from their past and the expectations of their future. But when they join forces, they realise their future might be the same.

This book was amazingly written with the perfect balance of a great story and complex, morally grey characters. I especially love how Dianna does bad things to protect the one she loves and has an excuse for everything.

I’m drawn to fantasy stories set in modern-day analogues because I’m fascinated to see the ways that having magic and monsters as a fact of life would shape a world from the ground up. I’m particularly interested in the impact on more mundane matters like legal contracts and labor disputes. Perhaps no one dives into this topic with as much gusto as Max Gladstone. In Three Parts Dead, we meet necromantic lawyers and witness the legal and practical repercussions of a god’s death. In lesser hands, this could easily slump into tedious details, or the intricacies might be forgotten in an attempt to ramp up the action. But Gladstone finds the perfect balance, keeping abstract concepts engaging while presenting action scenes that carry true consequences. The city of Alt Coulumb is one of my favorite fantasy settings, and the entire Craft Sequence is well-worth reading.

My mind was blown when I encountered the work of Philippe Druillet in the mid-1970s. This French cartoonist is considered one of the greatest of them all, creating alien worlds of startling originality and stupefying grandeur. Fifty years later, his work is as startling and original as it appeared back then.

No one has surpassed his ability to depict scenes of such mind-boggling scale and otherworldliness, as if he had a unique glimpse of some higher realm. As a young cartoonist, I was strongly influenced by Druillet, who inspired me with his demonstration of what it was possible to achieve in the comic book form. His work is not drug-oriented but depicts the sort of visions those who take hallucinogens would hope to experience.