Here are 6 books that These Burning Stars fans have personally recommended if you like These Burning Stars. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of A Closed and Common Orbit

Chelsea Zhao

From Chelsea's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Chelsea loves this book

There is just something about Becky Chambers writing, characters, and world.
This is cozy sci-fi that makes you really feel. I love that all the books feature a queer normative world.
I love everything about it.

By Becky Chambers ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Closed and Common Orbit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 HUGO AWARD AND THE ARTHUR C CLARKE AWARD

'Chambers is simply an exceptional talent' Tor.com

**Winner of the 2017 Prix Julia-Verlanger**

The stand-alone sequel to the award-winning The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has to start over in a synthetic body, in a world where her kind are illegal. She's never felt so alone.

But she's not alone, not really. Pepper, one of the engineers who risked life and limb…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Justice of Kings

J.T. Greathouse Author Of The Hand of the Sun King

From my list on fantasy with wonderful characters and settings.

Why am I passionate about this?

I firmly believe that literature exists to do more than entertain us. It has an incredible power to expand our perspective about the world and the lives of the people around us. Fantasy, in particular, can stretch the mind’s boundaries by asking us to empathize with compelling characters and wrap our heads around strange and wondrous worlds. I try to achieve that in my books, presenting thrilling stories, fantastic worlds, and emotionally charged moments, but always through the eyes of real-feeling people. I hope the books on this list will feel as mind-expanding and empathy-building to you as they did to me!

J.T.'s book list on fantasy with wonderful characters and settings

J.T. Greathouse Why J.T. loves this book

While Vonvalt–the titular Justice–sits front-and-center on the cover of this novel, I found myself more drawn in by the story's narrator, his apprentice Helena.

At first, she mostly seems like a Watson-type, a character primarily there to be the audience’s window into the world of her far more interesting mentor. But as the story went on, I was drawn in by Helena’s fascinating characterization–which grows more interesting as the trilogy continues–and by how she navigates the increasingly horrific corners of the world that her story reveals.

By Richard Swan ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Justice of Kings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Action, intrigue, and magic collide in this epic fantasy following Sir Konrad Vonvalt, an Emperor's Justice, who is a detective, judge, and executioner all in one—but with rebellion and unrest building, these are dangerous times to be a Justice . . . 

The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne. 

Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman.…


Book cover of Labyrinth's Heart

Corry L. Lee Author Of Weave the Lightning

From Corry's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Corry's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Corry L. Lee Why Corry loves this book

I love a big story that sticks the landing, and the Rook & Rose trilogy (which finishes with Labyrinth’s Heart) is a fabulous example. The characters are all distinct and interesting, multifaceted and pulled in many directions - with their loyalties, their friendships, their ambitions. The world is rich and well-textured (it initially seems simple and familiar in book 1, but reveals wonderful layers), and the magic is deeply tied into that world and its people.

I had a bit of a hiccup in the plot of this book, as there’s effectively a side-quest that fills the first third, which didn’t work for me, but I’m glad I persisted. Labyrinth’s Heart pays off everything the first two books set up, and left me deliciously satisfied by a great big trilogy - and looking forward to what these authors write next!

Also, if you enjoy audiobooks, the narrator Nikki Massoud is…

By M. A. Carrick ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Labyrinth's Heart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Lush, engrossing and full of mystery and dark magic" (BookPage), Labyrinth's Heart is the thrilling conclusion to M. A. Carrick's Rook & Rose trilogy, in which a con artist, a vigilante, and a crime lord become reluctant allies in the quest to save their city from a dangerous ancient magic.

May you see the face and not the mask.

Ren came to Nadezra with a plan. She would pose as the long-lost daughter of the noble house Traementis. She would secure a fortune for herself and her sister. And she would vanish without a backward glance. She ought to have…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of A Market of Dreams and Destiny

Corry L. Lee Author Of Weave the Lightning

From Corry's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Corry's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Corry L. Lee Why Corry loves this book

I’m a sucker for fantasy that explores class struggles and industrialization in a way that’s deeply tied into the story's fantastical world. A Market of Dreams and Destiny triumphs at this as the backdrop for a wonderfully human tale of ambition and love. Both the main characters are underdogs - one in magical society, one in a Victorian-ish mundane society. What a delight to root for the factory worker and slave to outwit the rich and powerful. I gobbled this book up in one day.

By Trip Galey ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Market of Dreams and Destiny as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Enter the bazaar of the bizarre where fate and fortunes are for sale in this high-stakes magical adventure across a London not quite like our own, perfect for fans of Neverwhere and The Night Circus.

Below Covent Garden lies the Untermarkt, where anything and everything has a price: a lover's first blush, a month of honesty, a wisp of fortune. As a child, Deri was sold to one of the Market's most powerful merchants. Now, after years of watchful servitude, Deri finally spots a chance to buy not only his freedom but also his place amongst the Market's elite when…


Book cover of The Helm of Midnight

Unknown Author

By Marina Lostetter ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Helm of Midnight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hannibal meets Mistborn in Marina Lostetter’s THE HELM OF MIDNIGHT, the dark and stunning first novel in a new trilogy that combines the intricate worldbuilding and rigorous magic system of the best of epic fantasy with a dark and chilling thriller.

In a daring and deadly heist, thieves have made away with an artifact of terrible power―the death mask of Louis Charbon. Made by a master craftsman, it is imbued with the spirit of a monster from history, a serial murderer who terrorized the city.

Now Charbon is loose once more, killing from beyond the grave. But these murders are…


Book cover of Cher: Part One

Stephanie Lincoln Author Of Born to be Brave: My 56 Hour Battle for my Life in the Olympic National Forest

From Stephanie's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Stephanie's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Stephanie Lincoln Why Stephanie loves this book

I mean....what a life! What was suprising was that the first part of this book tells her grandmother's story and her mother story! It was like reading two memoirs before you even began with Chers memoir. What stories! I am such a memoir junkie and this one was just amazing. I couldn't put it down and I was just so mezmerized by the range of expereinces she had in her life (and this was only part 1)! I can't wait for part 2. Some people were bothered that Cher did not narrate the entire audio book. I didn't mind it. The narrator did a good job. Yall need to realize this woman is almost 80 years old. As someone who narrated her own memoir, its EXHAUSTING! I don't blame her for not narrating the entire thing. It's a 15 hour audio book, and this was just part one! I highly…

By Cher ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Cher as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller The Global #1 Bestseller

After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.

Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.

She is a lifelong activist and…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of A Closed and Common Orbit
Book cover of The Justice of Kings
Book cover of Labyrinth's Heart

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