100 Books Like The Stardust Grail

If you experience bouts of nostalgia for classic pulp sci-fi, you should read this.

While not all aspects of this 1950s book aged well, I love its style and its protagonist, “Slippery Jim” diGriz, for his ideological stance, which involves zero grand motives. He intentionally chooses the life of crime because he believes it’s public entertainment in an otherwise pristine system, but is ultimately out-conned and forced to catch other criminals for an organisation called Special Corps.

This makes for a fun journey.

Artemis feels underrated compared to Weir’s other books, but has his signature style—hard sci-fi delivered as amusing and accessible first-person banter.

It speculates on what life might look like in the Moon’s first city through the perspective of a brilliant yet somewhat selfish and immature female protagonist, Jaz, which only makes her more interesting to follow. She pulls off a dangerous, scientifically plausible heist and uncovers a hidden secret.

I listened to the audiobook, and Rosario Dawson’s narration was incredible.

If you enjoy Star Wars but wish it had more Han and more heists—this is for you.

Destroying the Death Star doesn’t rid Han Solo of his debt to Jabba the Hutt, so, in this book, he signs up to a dubious con job and finds himself deep over his head. I loved that in addition to fan favourites like Han and Lando, the heist crew features several new and interesting female characters.

The plot is full of twists and betrayals. And the tone balances Han’s trademark charm, cynicism, and optimism. The audiobook narration was great.

​​A con man with a quantum intellect assembles a team of other bizarre post-humans—including AI and genetically engineered characters—to pull off a heist that could start a galactic-scale war or help these new species find meaning.

I love that the book incorporates pretty complex elements, like quantum mechanics, genetic engineering, and unique societies with plausible far-future world-building, yet the heist story at the heart of it is fun, accessible, and occasionally humorous.

This novel tells the story of Maise, a devoted wife and mother of four children.

It takes place over the course of a single day in October that begins with Maise nursing her infant and leads to a family outing to an orchard the following afternoon. It beautifully captures the daily emotions that a mother feels, ranging from anxiety to grief to deep love, and explores the feelings around the unpaid labor of motherhood and the financial anxiety that being a parent brings to us all. 

Another book that focuses on story structure, and explains the difference between literary and commercial fiction without talking down to those of us who aspire to the latter. I found it full of illuminating visuals, excellent examples, and exercises to help me immediately apply his advice. And above all, remember that advice weeks later as I write more and more pages.

It works because he does more than expound. He *engages* the reader–mentally and physically. Reading the book is like taking a master class.

I loved Maame not only because it is the perfect concoction of tender and funny, but because the Google searches formatted within the story were like the perfect cherry on top of the perfectly assembled turtle sundae.

I found myself looking forward to every time the main character Google-searched her next new-adulthood obstacle—like friendship, grief, dating, and caregiving.

It was visually stimulating, and hilarious, and a fun edition to the story.

Janowitz’s romp of a story centers on twelve-year-old Tristan, who loves reading cookbooks and making desserts. Life is sweet—until Tristan’s parents announce they’re leaving New York City and moving to the middle of nowhere. When he learns there are zero bakeries in his new town, Tristan pledges to bring back the famous Petersville chocolate cream doughnut, which sets him on an unexpected and entertaining adventure. He learns how to craft a business plan, buy ingredients in bulk, and manage demanding customers.

Spoiler alert number one: l like that even though Tristan nails the renowned doughnut, he puts his own delicious spin on things. Spoiler alert number two: this book will make you very hungry. Prepare accordingly.

Rouge is at its heart an exploration of a daughter’s grief for her troubled mother and the bizarre turns that grief can take.

Rouge tells the story of a young woman obsessed with cult-like beauty culture. When her mother mysteriously dies, she is forced to return home and confront the complicated relationship she had with her also beauty-obsessed mother. Fairy tale surreal and viscerally disturbing, Rouge delves into obsession, grief, and the dangers of beauty culture taken to the extreme.

Like all of Awad’s books, this is a story that will stick with me a very long time.

This is my favorite book by my favorite author. Beware, this is seriously more addictive fiction than I’ve ever read before—I don’t know anyone who reads this one who hasn’t plowed through the rest of Goddard’s list and then reread them all.

I loved the characters in this book and loved the premise—that the world (like ours, but different) has gone through a cataclysmic event, and now the work is to make it better than it ever was before. Fundamentally, it is a book about friendship and goodness. This and the rest of Goddard’s books will have you believe that we can create a better world together. (The first pages are slow, but stay with them, and you will have dozens of hours of delight as you move through the whole set of her books.)