100 Books Like Skin Game

This particular book/series by Sanderson is a quickly-paced fantasy heist with a very cool magic system involving different metals. The main character, Vin, is a lowly commoner who ends up navigating the complex social web of nobility. It’s a fascinating progression with a fascinating and satisfying result.

This book has loosely inspired some aspects of action, nobility, and the gem-based magic system found in my Heroes of Time series. One review of my book Murdoch’s Choice called it “Mistborn on a Boat.”

Imagine a contemporary fantasy, driven by sword-wielding, swashbuckling, mystically empowered, ghostbusting teenagers. Yup. That is the cool twist in Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. Series.

He’s best known for the Bartimaeus Trilogy, and takes all of his fantasy worldbuilding craft to design a modern world where ghosts are not only real but common and quite deadly to us living folk. You will fall in love with Lockwood and Lucy, sense the tension between them, and yet be relieved to discover that their connection isn’t the predictable stuff of typical teen romance.

The remarkable ghosts are similar to fantasy races. Rather than elves, gnomes, warlocks, etc., you have screamers, wailers, howling maids, and a whole host of specific ghost types that I dare not spoil. If you like fantasy with a touch of creepy, you’ll love Lockwood & Co.

What? Something inhuman is stalking through the New York Museum of Natural History? Yes, please! This book started a phenomenal run for Preston and Child, and they continue to hatch more gems to this day. You really can’t go wrong with anything these guys write, whether as a pair or individually.

Its gripping narrative made me quickly rip through it and want much more. Fortunately, there’s a treasure trove of subsequent novels from these guys. This is just the kind of story I love—an intellectual mystery mixed with some good old archaeology/anthropology and a pinch of supernatural monster horror. It has strong characters, it’s fast-paced, and often spooky. And isn’t there something about museums that makes the creative mind wander?

I loved that about the novel’s main setting. The movie was not as good, so I recommend just reading the book.

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.

I am currently reading this book and enjoying it. I have been a big fan of the Dresden Files series for a long time and admire the strength it takes to be a wizard in the modern world. Jim comes up with the wildest and imaginative stories featuring battles with the supernatural. The author is also a fencer and martial artist just like me!  

I haven’t found many fantasy books with a talking cat as a lead character, much less as a private investigator, so I was excited to read this one.

Gobbelino and his human Callum run a detective agency; they’re hired to find an evil tome of power that is making a mess of reality.

The descriptions of chaos from Gobbelino’s perspective are especially imaginative; I saw scenes in my mind like a mashup of live action and animation, which was really fun.

Callum and Gobbs have a strong dynamic as partners, aloof yet deeply loyal to each other, which is a strong emotional theme that resonates throughout their capers. 

It was 1887 when the world was introduced to Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson. Since then, Sherlock Holmes has been synonymous with solving the unsolvable crime. Uniquely presented, Sherlock Holmes’ adventures take the reader on a mind-bending journey as clues are revealed and entertaining characters are introduced. I recommend this entire collection because they will be stories you read more than once.

From the first sentence, “There’s a bullet in my chest…,” you know this story is going to be exciting. Set in the U.P. on the banks of Lake Superior, Paradise is a town with plenty of work for a newly-licensed private investigator. Hamilton’s protagonist is an ex-cop who barely escaped death, is dealing with PTSD, and just wants to live a quiet life chopping wood, having a beer at the pub, and on occasion getting a non-violent case to work. 

This author knows how to ramp up the action and keep the reader turning pages. He makes a well-worn mystery twist (a convicted murderer serving a life sentence appears to be killing people on the outside), seem brand-new and completely original.

John Connolly is simply a terrific writer. In this Detective Charlie Parker novel, the Maine woods are a character in themselves—sinister, overbearing, and almost certainly harbouring—you guessed it—real evil. Connolly’s Charlie Parker is haunted—literally—and dangerous. He’s a complex and darkly charismatic figure that I find compelling. The Wrath of Angels has at its core the battle between Good and Evil, but it is played out by imperfect characters in a very spooky atmosphere. It has all the ingredients of a horror novel, doesn’t it? But John Connolly manages darker themes believably and again, for me, it mixes genres beautifully—and believe me, that’s not easy.

Ok, fine…you caught me. I admit it: I’ve got a ginormous sweet tooth and gooey caramel is my downfall…so, you can see why I’d naturally gravitate to a cozy mystery that features a small-town cookie shop owner and amateur sleuth like Hannah Swenson. In this book, Hannah gets asked for her help in baking pastries at the local inn for a flashy fishing competition with big prizes and even bigger names. While at the fishing tournament, Hannah spots a runaway boat on the local lake and, on board, the lifeless body of the event’s renowned celebrity spokesperson. Hannah joins forces with her younger sister and sidekick, Andrea, to catch a clever culprit before another unsuspecting victim goes belly up. The two sisters are like night and day. I love how their differences not only help solve the murder, but are the spice that adds zing to the plot.