#10 books to learn in case you like The Wheel of Time – Destructoid

We’ve all skilled the blues once you learn the final phrase in a spiraling e-book collection and shut the chapter on not only a story however a whole chapter of your individual life. But, few fandoms might attest to the aggressive vacancy that assaults you within the aftermath like The Wheel of Time neighborhood.

Studying the 15-book, 4 million-word epic is like sitting by means of the lives of 1000’s of precise individuals and the story of a whole age. If you happen to’re nonetheless aching for a narrative that options comparable brush strokes to Robert Jordan’s timeless fantasy, learn forward to search out out in regards to the 10 e-book collection that is perhaps an ideal substitute for The Wheel of Time.

10. Dune by Frank Herbert

Many similarities exist between Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time and Frank Herbert’s Dune. The previous has the Aes Sedai, whereas the latter has the Bene Gesserit. One encompasses a fearsome warrior race often called the Aiel, whereas Dune introduces the Fremen and their Sandworms because the apex predators of the desert. Paul Atreides is destined to change into the savior of Arrakis, whereas Rand al’Thor is the prophesied Dragon Reborn, fated to save lots of and destroy the world. However whereas these floor analogs exist between the 2 works, The Wheel of Time and Dune couldn’t be additional aside in the way in which they interpret prophecy and archetypes. 

So, decide up Dune for the Muad’Dib and the Fremen and the anti-establishment themes that permeate Herbert’s prose — all of which put one in thoughts of The Wheel of Time — however keep for the writer’s necessary message with reference to savior sorts, false shepherds, and people who prop themselves up as a individuals’s solely technique of salvation.

9. The Shadow of What Was Misplaced by James Islington

James Islington is quick turning into some of the in style fantasy authors. Chances are you’ll know him because the brains behind the acclaimed 2023 novel The Will of the Many, however he really started his profession with 2014’s The Shadow of What Was Misplaced, the primary novel within the so-called Licanius trilogy, adopted by 2017’s An Echo of Issues to Come and completed with 2019’s The Mild of All That Falls.

Many readers who decide up The Shadow of What Was Misplaced instantly discover similarities between it and The Wheel of Time, particularly in the way in which Islington units up his world and magic system. The parallels run so deep that some have even accused Islington of being by-product, although that’s method off the mark contemplating the place the story strikes from there.

It’s set in a world the place the enigmatic Augurs, beings of immense magical energy virtually perceived as gods, as soon as dominated over Andarra with an iron fist. As with all dictators, dissenting factions finally rise, and the Augurs lose maintain of their powers. They’re finally overthrown, however those that dominated below them, beings of much less magical expertise known as the Gifted, keep away from their destiny by surrendering to the rebels, who inscribed their 4 Tenets into the very flesh of the Gifted, forcing them into absolute obedience. Now, 20 years after the battle, a Gifted named Davian has to navigate by means of a world that sees him as a monster.

8. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

I mentioned I’d exclude apparent decisions, however how might we probably overlook The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, which now solely exists by the grace of a sure Robert Jordan who impressed Sanderson when he was simply one other child obsessive about fantasy literature? Brandon would even go on to complete The Wheel of Time after Jordan’s tragic departure in 2007, writing the final e-book within the collection and dividing it into three volumes: The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight, and A Reminiscence of Mild.

It’s fairly the colossal endeavor for one storyteller to put in writing a satisfying conclusion to their very own in style collection, however to have one other younger fantasy writer are available and do it justice in a method that leaves virtually your entire fanbase happy… effectively, I don’t have a phrase for it, however that’s exactly what Sanderson did with The Wheel of Time.

And being such an enormous fan, it’s no surprise that Sanderson’s personal magnum opus, The Stormlight Archive, is normally in comparison with The Wheel of Time when it comes to scale and ambition. A deliberate 10-book collection, of which 5 have come out over the previous decade, The Stormlight Archive takes place in an unique fictional universe. It dials the epic issue as much as eleven by telling a narrative of gods and heralds and mortal males in prolonged, tome-like installments.

7. Reminiscence, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams

Tad Williams is likely one of the most influential authors within the excessive fantasy style, and his work with Reminiscence, Sorrow, and Thorn impressed a number of different contemporaries like George R.R. Martin, Christopher Paolini, and Patrick Rothfuss. The Wheel of Time accommodates sure callbacks to Reminiscence, Sorrow, and Thorn, and whereas Robert Jordan by no means explicitly cited Williams as an affect on his work, there are a lot of similarities between the medieval world of Osten Ard and the post-apocalyptic panorama of the so-called Randland.

The trilogy follows a number of characters however primarily facilities round Simon, an unwitting however adventurous kitchen scullion who will get swept right into a conspiracy with the world’s destiny hanging in steadiness. Williams’ prose is poetic, his storytelling is atmospheric, and his narrative hits all of the marks you’ve come to count on from the style with out feeling by-product or clichéd. If you happen to’re in search of a fantasy story that reimagines archetypal tropes in a well-paced and brilliantly structured story whereas ensuring that none of it comes off as uninspired, then Reminiscence, Sorrow, and Thorn is the collection to choose up, having gone down as a masterwork of the speculative fiction area since its launch within the early ‘90s.

6. Lightbringer by Brent Weeks

The Lightbringer collection takes place in a fictional world the place the magic system relies on coloration. The sorcerers known as Drafters harness gentle and channel it into completely different results, with every coloration within the spectrum having distinctive properties and powers. This magic comes at a price: Lowered life span and insanity, which may take over an individual’s whole thoughts and compel them to go wild. Does that sound acquainted?

Whereas the inflexible magic construction of The Lightbringer eerily parallels The Wheel of Time and the insanity that comes upon channelers in that world once they faucet into the contaminated male half of the One Energy, Lightbringer’s narrative takes a unique course from the get-go, coping with a gritty, virtually grim-dark universe the place the legal guidelines of energy are tilted and the sport is rigged. What units Lightbringer other than many contemporaries is the genius method Brent Weeks flips the script and adjustments your notion about basic elements of his worldbuilding and plot. Nearly each installment within the collection ends with a twist, and never all of them would be the type you cheer on. 

5. The Fifth Season (Damaged Earth) by N.Ok. Jemisin

The Fifth Season, a part of the Damaged Earth trilogy by N.Ok. Jemisin, is likely one of the most bold and well-received fantasy debuts of the final decade. The story takes place in an apocalyptic world the place a recurring catastrophe often called the Fifth Season destroys civilization each few hundred years. In time, the individuals of the supercontinent often called the Stillness adapt to the cruel actuality of their world, however not with out making sacrifices to the pure order of issues, being decreased to castes and warring ethnicities that irritate their pure inclination to tribalism.

The story follows three completely different orogenes (individuals with the facility to affect seismic vitality to create or stop temperatures and even not directly have an effect on the world’s) as they navigate this fractured and treacherous place. Orogenes are shunned by society, which is why our first protagonist, Essun, a middle-aged girl, does all the things she will to cover her powers. When her son inadvertently reveals his personal skills, Essun’s husband kills him, inflicting her to set on a deadly journey throughout the Stillness. The opposite two characters are Syenite, a strong orogene despatched on a mission of discovery, and Damaya, a younger lady with orogenic powers who will get taken away from her dwelling to coach in an establishment devoted to orogenes.

The Fifth Season was adopted by The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky, which additionally garnered crucial acclaim and cemented the Damaged Earth trilogy as top-of-the-line science fantasy trilogies of all time. The apocalyptic undertones mixed with magic customers who’re hunted down due to their pure aptitude make this story a terrific different to The Wheel of Time. 

4. The Echoes Saga by Philip C. Quaintrell

The Echoes Saga is a nine-book epic fantasy collection that scratches each itch for the followers of works as The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time. The world is expansive, the narrative scope is incomprehensibly massive, the lore is intricate, and the characters are multi-layered and compelling. The Echoes Saga is fast-paced and filled with motion, letting readers binge all 9 books with out even realizing the place one ends and one other begins. There are themes of energy, redemption, and destiny set amidst large-scale battles that stretch whole kingdoms and continents. It checks each field for followers of conventional excessive fantasy novels however doesn’t fail to include these trendy allusions to nuance that we’ve all come to like.

The story is ready on the planet of Verda, the place mankind has dominated for over a thousand years by constructing on the ruins of an historical elven civilization. However the millennium has given the mythic race a while for introspect, and so they have come to appreciate the reality that may upset the steadiness of energy ceaselessly: The elves are sooner and stronger and possess higher magic, so maybe the world ought to as soon as once more belong to them. Because the world braces for the storm to return, our narrative places the highlight on Asher, a educated murderer and ranger who doesn’t bear in mind his previous.

3. Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock

It’s exhausting to speak about Michael Moorcock’s affect on popular culture by means of his Everlasting Champion, Elric of Melniboné, with out submitting to trivialization. Many up to date writers, in style in their very own proper (a listing that features names like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman), have cited him as an affect on their work. If you happen to’re intrigued by Chosen One archetypes that get scrutinized by the writer’s veiled research of historic replicas, then studying Elric of Melniboné is an absolute should.

The story takes you to an island kingdom known as Melniboné. Centuries earlier than Elric, Melniboné dominated the world with an iron fist, with the not-wholly-human Melnibonéans utilizing their magical may and pure crafty to subdue the opposite human kingdoms. A few years later, Melniboné is a shadow of its former self, and Elric ascends because the 428th emperor.

As a consequence of his bodily illnesses, Elric spent most of his youth within the royal library, letting him pierce the veil of his individuals’s decadence and develop a way of conscience. This makes him unpopular amongst his individuals, however Elric’s defining trait as an antihero kinds when he discovers Stormbringer, a sword that provides him preventing energy however feeds on the souls of sentient beings. It turns right into a curse and a blessing for Elric, turning him into some of the tragic heroes in all of speculative fiction.

2. Malazan Guide of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

Bold. Grim. Unflinching. Overwrought. Relentless. All these are acceptable characterizers for Steven Erikson’s Malazan Guide of the Fallen, but none can fairly seize what it feels prefer to learn by means of this bold 10-book saga. A world in upheaval. A conspiracy whose roots hint again to historical gods. An ensemble of nuanced characters thrust into the thick of a battle that threatens to engulf the world in flames. And a e-book collection that subverts all expectations and undermines each established clause within the storytelling rulebook, favoring a singular method.

You’ll hear it from followers that “Erikson doesn’t maintain your hand” or “Malazan is the Darkish Souls of fantasy literature,” and there’s a grain of fact right here. Nonetheless, the expertise isn’t as daunting in case you get by means of the primary few hundred pages and settle for that Erikson will not be within the behavior of explaining something, with near zero exposition in these novels. However once you try this and browse by means of this epic saga—thought-about by some to be probably the most bold excessive fantasy story informed because the days of Tolkien, and definitely comparable in scale to Robert Jordan—then Malazan Guide of the Fallen can change your life.

1. The Solar Eater by Christopher Ruocchio

What if Star Wars met extra conventional fantasy tales like The Identify of the Wind? Christopher Ruocchio describes The Solar Eater as a mix of area opera and epic fantasy, going down in a future the place humanity has constructed a galactic empire and subjugated all lesser races. Ruocchio says the primary inspiration for his protagonist, Hadrian Marlowe was, “What if Anakin Skywalker turning into Darth Vader is the correct factor?”

After all, you could possibly swap Anakin’s identify with some other Chosen One who succumbs to the darkness inside. The primary e-book begins on a humble word, initially introduced down by the paroxysms of a fatigued style, however keep on with Ruocchio and he’ll quickly flip his story into top-of-the-line science-fantasy e-book collection you’ve ever come throughout, with an bold story that encompasses a forged of unforgettable characters, epic action-packed moments, and a compelling character research of what it means to be the savior and destroyer of a whole universe.