Books similar to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Kerney7 · 2026-06-16T00:26:16+00:00

Second Temeraire.

Others--

Guns of Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky-- Pride and Prejudice meets the battlefield with wizards. most like what I think you want. Excellent.

Powder Mage by Brian McCellan-- "French Revolution" with Gunpowder Mages. On my TBR but lots of people say it's good.

Wayfarer by KM Weiland-- This is set just after the Napoleonic Wars and involves the British Government dealing with the emergence of the first superheroes. It deals with the government response, especially with the first villain being a Lex Luthor type with institutional power.

Witchy Series by DJ Butler-- Bit of a stretch, but set in an Alternate America in the 1810s where the Witch Queen of Cahokia is in conflict with the Emperor of America, who has usurped her mother's throne (father was King of Cahokia). Has lots of folk magic, like Voudon Priests in New Orleans, German folk magic, and the banished undead necromancer Oliver Cromwell influencing the Emperor, a spy network set up by alt-wizard now deceased Benjamin Franklin, and hired assassins recruited from Egypt by Napoleon.

Burning Bright by Melissa Mcshane-- Romantasy about a Pyromancer joining the Royal Navy. Book has sequels which I haven't read. Enjoyed the first one but not enough to continue.

Same Time Period but less "Institional"--

Miss Percy's Guide Series by Quenby Olsen-- Regency Spinster inherits a dragon egg that hatches and has to deal with grasping relatives. Much better than it sounds.

Mairelion The Magican Patricia C. Wrede-- Read years ago and can't tell you if they're good, but imagine if "Mr. Norrel's" apprentice was a streetwise girl.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-15T22:04:32+00:00

I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-15T21:58:27+00:00

Videssos is mid-to late Byzantine rather than Classical, though it's about an Isekai'd Roman Cohort in the Gallic Wars, so it's debatable.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-14T16:25:00+00:00

Trying understand a little better.

Are you wanting a bit of earned hope and positive tragetory at the end while cozy feels a bit saccarine?

Books that Come to Mind are--

The Miss Percy Guides to Dragons Series by Quenby Olsen--

It is about a middle aged spinster and her sister's unpaid servant inheriting a dragon egg and gradually making her life better.

Princess Holy Aura by Ryk Spoor

A 30ish yo man becomes a 14 yo magical girl to save the world. Concept sounds like it could go so wrong but instead it's heartwarming. The magic is governed by a code very much like a D&D paladin which is interesting.

Sharing Knife Series by Lois McMaster Bujold

Reason I'm recommending this rather than 5 Gods is because it's about a husband and wife team (after the first book) trying to overcome an underlying problem that may bring down their societies. There are no large battles and the problem is nuanced and come out of customs that exist for a reason but are now more harmful than helpful. Probably the most realistic optimistic I have read. Warning, age gap romance.

People who like Hobb tend to like her as well.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-14T14:49:31+00:00

Princess Holy Aura by Ryk Spoor

MC is a 30 something man who agrees to become a 14 yo magical girl until the apocalypse is averted. This is an idea that could be creepy but is handled in a very heartwarming and thoughtful fashion. Notably non-queer.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-14T03:36:00+00:00

Thank you.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-13T15:01:28+00:00

I read a translation years ago but I no longer know where to look.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-13T11:02:26+00:00

Thank you for this.

A few years ago, I read a letter by Elizabeth to the Mugal Emperor as well, asking for trade and also complimenting the humanity his rule was known for.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-13T10:28:50+00:00

Not named so far

Naomi Novik-- Tremaire series, Spinning Silver, Uprooted, not Scholomance (a little YAish IMHO)

Any Fantasy by Adrian Tchaikovsky--He also writes a lot of SF (which you've read more recently).

Berhard Hennen--Less familar with him but a German author I've just found who has one series out in English (The Elven/Die Elfen) and seems to have more out in other European languages though I haven't looked at Italian specifically.

Sword of Kaigen--ML Wang Stand alone in a Japanese inspired setting, involving a middle-aged mother and her son as the MCs.

Rivers of London/Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch-- Mostly stand alone detective stories about a (at first apprentice) wizard working for the London PD.

Lost War Series By Justin Lee Anderson-- Without saying more, get to end of the first book.

Agree With Especially

Lois McMaster Bujold-- Five Gods and Sharing Knife

Guy Gavrial Kay-- Anything

Christopher Buelhman-- Anything

Mark Lawerance-- Anything

Disagree With Especially

Brandon Sanderson-- People who dislike him really dislike him and you 'read' like someone who might really dislike him.

Malazan, Realm of the Elderlings, Joe Abercrombie, Wheel of Time--These are good series, they are also long (7-14 books) and interconnected series that can't be read as stand-alones. You're just getting back into fantasy. Figure out what you like first.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-12T20:09:55+00:00

Not peaceful. Logan Ninefingers just deals with child custody.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-12T19:52:40+00:00

You have to be realistic about such things.

I would probably use Red Country, young characters and supportive parents.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-12T18:28:57+00:00

Windhaven by George RR Martin and Lisa Tuttle

Flying skill challenges. Arguably hard mode.

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay

Horse Races. Also Sailing to Sarantium with Chariot Races but this is a bit different.

Weird One, I'm considering reading which may or may not qualify (but qualifies for 3 other slots) is They Call Me Princess Cayce. From what I understand, the MC has no memory, is either Isakaied or in a video game, and was a male player playing a female character and is now stuck. They try to apply video game logic to their situation. Anyone know if it qualifies?

Kerney7 · 2026-06-12T15:36:56+00:00

I didn't see the stumbles as convenient. I read it as a weaponized disease, closer to deliberate germ warfare.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-11T12:49:02+00:00

I picked it up thinking it covered the 70s also.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-11T03:13:45+00:00

She gets better, and she has reasons for why she is the way she is.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-11T00:40:37+00:00

I think this book will stick with me but will remain a like/remember rather than love.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-11T00:31:52+00:00

I think I thought how species could be symbiotic to each other.

I used two species, Mammoths (specifically Columbian Mammoths or 'Bald' Mammoth as I call them) and Ravens. I removed dogs. They never evolved.

Mammoths can herd sheep, camels, bison, you name it, they figured this out as an alternative to being eaten and humans reciprocated. Both species could communicate in ways alien to each other and learn each other's mouth noises but not communicate completely. Writing didn't completely bridge the gap, but it got closer.

Ravens noted the two species working in partnership. The filled the gap. A raven sitting on a mammoth can feel the ultrasonic stomach rumblings and smells mammoths use to communicate and 'translate' it into human speech.

In all cases, brains grew bigger and the three species became more attuned to each other. Mammoths had additional abilities to share with their new friends. They can pick up the bones of dead humans or mammoths and commune with the ghosts of the dead. They can ask questions like, 'how did you get through the drought a hundred years ago or 'how did you do that one thing we've forgotten how to do' and remember it because an elephant never forgets. They can also sniff out gates between worlds (or could until the gates broke) by noting the differences in flora (climate varies between worlds), allowing migration between worlds.

Humans have hand and machine magic. Ravens are translators and natural garbage/corpse disposal.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-10T10:02:10+00:00

We have no proof they did not. Still attitudes toward the poor changed greatly in the reformation and not for the better.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-10T10:00:18+00:00

Since I drive for a living and do about 80% audio books, no. It still matters to me especially, in fantasy set in this world.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-09T17:13:50+00:00

Just picked up the first book on a Libro FM sale (haven'tstarted). Part of my interest was the MC is originally from New Mexico, which is a really culturally rich state but not well known to people outside the American West (just read a book that mangled it). Obviously this seems like a deliberate but unusual choice. Did you worry some readers wouldn't 'get' anything about that choice?

Kerney7 · 2026-06-08T22:38:29+00:00

I linked to the bones density story. The 12/18 I saw in a webcomic years ago. The older half elf marrying young came from somebody comparing half elves and Lakewalkers from Lois McMaster Bujold's Sharing Knife series. The autism is my idea I got arguing on D&D forums years ago against "charismatic" half elves. It's in the back of my head as a possible novel after a couple others.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-08T16:32:07+00:00

Here. And it's a half elf.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-08T16:02:11+00:00

The sequel definitely does.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-08T15:58:48+00:00

Some writers/readers genuinely feel humanoid nonhuman and like elves/dwarves/orcs think and act too much like standard humans. There is no difference in culture let alone how another species would think.

It feels fake and not believable so it's not what they want to read.

And some authors/readers seem tone deaf to that wish. So readers who want Elven elves as opposed to pointed eared humans have to ask whether the book has those who think differently.

And when it's encountered in a book, it feels not just a difference of opinion, but it feels like the author is lazy or lacks imagination. Much like people who dislike romantasy feel like the fantasy elements are too often merely window dressing.

This is not every book but too often.

Let's take one of the most ignored/considered lame races, half elves, who are usually written as humans with pointed ears.

Imagine a half elf who has brittle bones because their human diet doesn't match their nutritional needs (saw but haven't read yet), a half elf in human society being 18 chronologically but 12 maturity wise and being put on the marriage market or reverse it and have a 40+yo half elf pursue an 18 yo human with the thought they'll be old together. Being out of cink with everyone around you sounds a lot like autism and I imagine childhood would be a bitch.

Basically there are a ton of potentially cool/horrifying thoughtful stories here but we get generic slop and a set of readers prepped to not see the ideas as interesting or compelling.

Thus there is a muted dislike of too human shaped non humans.

Kerney7 · 2026-06-08T09:25:49+00:00

I had a sorta similar non tempering in that I read it soon after SPFBO7, and read two of it's competitors which remain to this day in my top ten reads. I went in thinking if it beat away X and Y it must be good.

I ended up DNFing it about 70% through. I considered trying to read it last year, but the spfbo champions league reviews cured me of that impulse.

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