Books like The Witcher — picked by fans

This book is prophecy, power, and paranoia wrapped in a sandstorm.

It was the first book that showed me how deeply philosophy and politics could be embedded in a fantastical world. It taught me that “epic” doesn’t mean loud—it means legacy. I still marvel at Herbert’s precision—his control of tone, symbolism, and tension.

It’s the rare kind of book that makes you feel like you’re trespassing into something sacred and dangerous. Every time I return to it, I leave with something new—and a little unsettled.

For me, the Dark Tower series is an easy first pick as it so thoroughly encompasses everything I love about speculative fiction: big ideas, compelling, at times mysterious but ultimately fully realized characters, and a healthy, rich, and potent dose of world-building.

Over the years, I’ve reluctantly come to accept that this book and series are not necessarily for everyone, but they are absolutely for me, and I always find myself feeling a sort of kinship with other readers who love them as much as I do.

Pippi is the queen of the quirky kids, and I was one of her tribe. But it turns out you don’t have to be a bookish little girl in glasses to appreciate her antics.

My son thought Pippi, with her zany outfits and absurd tall tales, was fantastic. Sure, I had to take a moment to make sure he knew that parents don’t generally leave little kids alone to fend for themselves in big Victorian houses. Once we got that point out of the way, Pippi was an absolute pleasure to read together.

Incerto, that is Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile and Skin in the Game (+ Bed of Procrustes, which is a collection of very smart aphorisms) are not exactly fiction, but maestro added fiction into it anyway. Nero, Fat Tony, Jevgenia demonstrate on unrelated occasions how the ideas and properties (found in the "real world" discussed in the book would unfold. The overall theme of the book, however, discusses risk - risk-taking. And believe it or not, risk exists in all domains of life, hence, using this book to meditate on it deeply made me appreciate... It made me appreciate life, and all things in life – more than I used to. It might sound like a lot, and it is... If there is just one non-fiction book you will read, make it Taleb's Incerto.

I picked up The Last Wish after playing the Witcher games and listening to the soundtrack, but what surprised me is how funny it is.

Yes, it is epic fantasy in every sense of the word, but Geralt’s dry humor cuts through the blood and curses, and his conversations with Dandelion had me laughing out loud. What makes it great, though, is how Sapkowski flips fairy tales upside-down, twisting familiar stories into something darker and sharper.

I enjoyed the way morality blurs—there are monsters, sure, but the humans are often MUCH worse. It’s a book that asks hard questions about society under the guise of swords and spells.

Ever since Sapkowski’s original short stories that introduced Geralt’s world, Witchers have been a middle ground between humanity and monsters. Geralt is just slightly inhuman, even in his cutest moments, and experiences much of the same ostracism that kings and villages heap on the creatures he’s hired to dispatch. In his best stories, Geralt has an understanding of them. Sometimes, it’s a djinn who’s tired of being used; other times, it’s a mediocre dude who’d rather be cursed to look like a half-beast because more ladies will date him now.

The width of monstrous experiences keeps that series (and its adaptations) fresh.

I love this book because it goes beyond cryptids and also discusses mythological beasts like unicorns and Medusa, and the folklore behind them. Each entry is only a page or two and accompanied by an illustration, so it’s a quick read overall, and since there’s an index, I can jump around and read about whatever creature I feel like catching up on.

Definitely less science-y than my other selections, but sometimes I’m in the mood for straightforward fun, and this book’s easy focus on critters and short entries hits the mark.

I have recommended this novel as it is one of the few to come out of the Iraq war written by an Iraqi writer, telling its story from the point of view of the local Iraqis. 

Hadi, an old junk dealer, dismayed by the hasty burials of incomplete bodies after the daily bombings, puts together a body from the parts he finds. This composite body, he calls “Whatsitsname,” becomes possessed with the soul of a bombing victim and sets about killing those responsible for turning Baghdad into a slaughterhouse.

Blending its style between war fiction, horror, and fantasy, this darkly effective satire of the fatal logic of sectarianism follows Whatsitsname as he expands his scope, claiming: “There are no innocents who are completely innocent, and no criminals who are completely criminal.”

While The Stand was my gateway book into post-apocalyptic horror, I find myself returning more often to Stephen King’s The Mist.

I love how this comparatively short and contained story explores the fear of the unknown in a compelling and succinct manner. Furthermore, I was both fascinated and unnerved by how the unprecedented events of the story change and corrupt the everyday people trapped in the supermarket.

My standalone mass market paperback copy is well-traveled, as it’s a quick and satisfying apocalyptic read that I will grab from my bookshelf when embarking on a trip. 

Spooner incorporates a classic Russian fairy tale into her rendition of Beauty and the Beast, creating a rich narrative set in an enchanted forest, both mysterious and dangerous. Though the framework of the original tales is there, this novel does a great job redressing the mannequin (figuratively speaking) so that we get a fresh and enjoyable exploration into the duality of human nature—among other things. I loved the tenacious heroine, who’s a skilled archer and feels more at home in the woods, and it’s her desire for revenge that sparks the chain of events that follow. The author’s version of the beast goes beyond the archetypal motif of “bad guy with good heart,” and the pacing of the book allows for a more authentic delivery (and transformation) of emotion between the characters.