If you liked... American Gods

My goal is to recommend books for fans of a larger book franchise. For example, if you liked The Wheel of Time, you might also really like Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga. Easy enough, right? Except I'm going to try to be less obvious than that. I fully expect half of the people reading this post to say, 'no shit dude I read that like 10 years ago!' To you I say, you're right. Most of this stuff will be widely read, but I hope not all of it. I also hope to recommend things outside of genre that will appeal to fans. We'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, this post, and others like it, will turn people on to things they've never heard of, or never considered reading.

                   

Before I get into the post, I should probably talk about American Gods first. I've not reviewed it myself, but my friends over at The Ranting Dragon have and I like how they put it:

American Gods is at times disturbing, strange and mysterious as we follow Shadow and his employer, Mr. Wednesday, as they travel the country, interacting with mythological and modern gods. This book examines [America] in a way few have attempted. American spirituality, obsessions and heritage are gathered together into a single novel that comments not only on the country we have become, but the nation we once were.

If someone is reading this post without having read American Gods, well... I want you to read it this anyway. It might not be terribly cogent, but I hope it will give you something to think about and encourage you to read Gaiman's novel and the five listed below.

With that said, if you liked American Gods by the great Neil Gaiman, you might also like:

The Troupe by Robert Jackson Bennett

Like American Gods, Bennett's novel has a protagonist trying to find his way, and a gruff elder showing him the ropes. The Troupe follows sixteen-year-old pianist George Carole as he joins vaudeville to find Heironomo Silenus, the man he suspects to be his father. Chasing down Silenus's troupe, he begins to understand that their performances are unique even for vaudeville. It's not until after he joins them that George realizes the troupe isn't simply touring and larger existential crises are at hand.

While George has almost nothing in common with Gaiman's Shadow, there are many similarities between Silenius and Mr. Wednesday. A withholding of knowledge and a larger understanding of the workings of the world, create a mystery that enfolds the entire narrative, unraveling a page at a time. In both novels there exists a palpable alternate reality beyond the pale of the average human experience. They are also steeped in myth, more obviously in American Gods, but also in The Troupe, with appearances by elemental forces, fairies, and primordial chaos. Beyond the superficial similarities, there's a very Gaiman tone -- dark tones and moments of tenderness all the more poignant for there scarcity.

One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

On the surface, there's not much to One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms that would recommend it to fans of American Gods. Jemisin's novel is told in the first person, employs a narrator of dubious reliability, and isn't remotely grounded in myth (it's second world fantasy). Beneath that though is a novel fundamentally about a divine family's struggles against the human condition. Itempas, father of the sky, has banished his children to the human world to live among them and at their command. They plot to return to 'Mt. Olympus' (so to speak), using whatever tools they can to further their end, including an innocent girl named Yeine.

Such a conceit should ring familiar to fans of Gaiman's novel. Like Yeine, Shadow is much more than he appears. Used by Mr. Wednesday and his compatriots to fight the rising tide of the new American gods, Shadow finds himself in a similar struggle. Unlike much of the fantasy genre, the gods in both novels are not only knowable, but they have faces and weaknesses of character. Interacting and confronting them, Yeine and Shadow try to recognize not only their place in the world, but the justification for faith in anything larger than themselves.

It should also bear noting that both novels contain one disturbing and all together odd sex scene.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Warbreaker is the story of two princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god, Lightsong, who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago (I totally stole that from the dust jacket). Among the five novels on this list, Sanderson's is the worst fit stylistically. His prose is far more straight forward, including more light hearted humor that lends the work a brighter tone throughout. However, the notions of belief sustaining the divine and the complex relationship between the worshiped and worshiper are well done in a way not dissimilar from American Gods.

Not to be overshadowed is the notion of changing identities as time marches on, an unraveling of relevance that is part and parcel to American Gods. Sanderson expresses these ideas more clearly than Gaiman, using his two princesses whose roles shift as the novel moves along, eroding the person they thought they were to be replaced by the person they'll become, an experience anathema to Gaiman's gods. Even though fans of Gaiman may find themselves frustrated with Sanderson's novel, I firmly believe that the issues he's tackling make it well worth reading.

White Noise by Don DeLillo
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

I'm putting these last two recommendations together because both are part of the post modernist literary tradition. I personally put DeLillo on the short list of best living writers and Coupland is someone whose work I've greatly enjoyed over the years (Miss Wyoming, jPod, Hey Nostradamus!, to name a few). They address what I view as one of the most important themes in Gaiman's American Gods, America's burgeoning relationship to technology (or progress). As Mr. Wednesday fights to preserve his existence, it's revealed that those 'gods' seeking to replace him in the pantheon are none other than the Personal Computer and the Internet. America's gods are no longer the same as their forefathers. They are replaced by new faiths.

In Microserfs, Coupland writes an epistolary novel that tells Microsoft's story through a somewhat derranged cast of "serfs" (i.e. - employees of the Lord of the manor, Bill Gates). In an interview, Coupland said:

"What surprised me about Microsoft is that no one has any conception of an afterlife. There is so little thought given to eternal issues that their very absence make them pointedly there. These people are so locked into the world, by default some sort of transcendence is located elsewhere, and obviously machines become the totem they imbue with sacred properties, wishes, hopes, goals, desires, dreams. That sounds like 1940s SF, but it's become the world." 

Similarly, DeLillo's White Noise speaks to something like 'American numbness'. The story is a year in the life of Jack Gladney, head of the department of Hitler studies at a Midwestern college. Exposed to a noxious black cloud of chemicals, Jack finds himself seeing his death in everything, an emotion that Mr. Wednesday certainly shares. His impending death is part of the march toward progress, a doom ensured by rampant consumerism and media saturation. As I thought about how to best describe these notions, I decided instead to let DeLillo tell it himself:

''Am I going to die? . . .'' 

''Not in so many words.'' 

''How many words does it take?'' 

''It's not a question of words. It's a question of years. We'll know in fifteen years. In the meantime we definitely have a situation. . . . I wouldn't worry. . . . I'd go ahead and live my life. . . .'' 

''But you said we have a situation.'' 

''I didn't say it. The computer did. . . .'' 

''. . . .Name one thing you could make. . . . We think we're so great and modern. . . . Could you rub flints together? Would you know a flint if you saw one? . . . What is a nucleotide? You don't know, do you? . . . What good is knowledge if it just floats in the air? It goes from computer to computer. . . . But nobody acutally knows anything.'' 

If you liked... The Gentlemen Bastards

My goal is to recommend books for fans of a larger book franchise. For example, if you liked The Wheel of Time, you might also really like Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga. Easy enough, right? Except I'm going to try to be less obvious than that. I fully expect half of the people reading this post to say, 'no shit dude I read that like 10 years ago!' To you I say, you're right. Most of this stuff will be widely read, but I hope not all of it. I also hope to recommend things outside of genre that will appeal to fans. We'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, this post, and others like it, will turn people on to things they've never heard of, or never considered reading.

                   

Scott Lynch's debut novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, has become something of an icon in the modern fantasy lexicon. I presume everyone reading this post has read at least Lies, and hopefully its sequel Red Seas Under Red Skies as well. I also hope those same readers are chomping at the bit to read Republic of Thieves later this year. If not, let me illuminate. The Gentleman Bastards series is a buddy heist/con novel with a big river of violence and inequality that resonates throughout it. Is it a literary exploration of any particular theme? God no. It's mostly a raucous good time and I think that's reflected in the list below with the exception of one of my choices that offers a deeper look at some of the meatier elements Lynch only touches on.

Without further ado....

If you liked The Gentleman Bastards then you might really like:

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick

I'm starting recent and obvious, but I do so with a reason. It's because I can't imagine anyone enjoying Lynch and not doing the same with Douglas Hulick. That is unless first person narrators are a non-starter. Hulick's protagonist, and narrator, is Drothe, a criminal information broker. His best friend, Bronze Degan, is a master swordsman. They have light hearted conversations, they have deep conversations, they have conversations in the midst of fighting, spying, and flirting. And they do it all in a city not dissimilar from the Venetian style of Lynch's Camorr. A man against the world mentality and a stark separation between the haves and have nots, fits Among Thieves right into Lynch's niche on bookshelves around the world.

Yet it's an entirely distinct novel in its own right with a more mature approach to character, really cool thieves' cant, and some showing off by Hulick, who is a trained swordsman. This is, above all, the novel that has to be read for those who salivate for more of The Gentleman Bastards.

The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubenstein

Non-fiction! Julian Rubenstein's Ballad of the Whiskey Robber is an improbably true story of a gentleman thief named Attila Ambrus. He's a goalie for the biggest hockey team in Budapest, who takes up bank robbery to make ends meet. Arrayed against him are the most incompetent team of crime investigators the Eastern Bloc has ever seen: a robbery chief who's learned how to be a detective by watching dubbed Columbo episodes; a forensics man who wears top hat and tails on the job; and a driver so inept he's known only by a Hungarian word that translates to Mound of Ass-Head. And it's all true.

Like Lynch's series, Whiskey Robber features a main character who... well... just read this. If that doesn't sound a little like Locke Lamora I don't know what does. Along with that, Rubenstein does a phenomenal job of capturing the nature of crime, the unfortunate circumstances that lead one down its path, and the resonance of a subversive criminal in an unequal society.


The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas


If I'm ranking my favorite novels of all-time, I suspect this Dumas novel would rank in the top ten. Given the kind of novels Lynch writes, I would imagine he's a fan of it as well. Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned in the island fortress of the Château d'If. Having endured years of incarceration, he stages a daring and dramatic escape and sets out to discover the treasure of Monte Cristo and take vengeance on his enemies.

Fans of Gentleman Bastards will find a lot of similar motivation between Locke and Dantès: revenge for those who wronged him, a love for a woman he cannot have, and a certainty of purpose. Likewise, once  Dantès becomes the Count of Monte Cristo, the story is one big con, full of disguises and bluffs. Not as swashbuckling as some of his other work, Dumas still manages to include plenty of action and adventure in this psychological thriller.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Say what, Justin?! Charles Dickens is probably the further thing from anyone's mind when imaging this post. But, put aside the action and adventure of Lynch and consider who Locke is and where he comes from. A little boy, orphaned, rejected by society, and alone. Taken in by the Thieftaker, and later Chains, Locke is forced to survive by any means necessary. Sounds familiar?

Admittedly, Chains is a fare more cuddly figure that Fagin, but there is some similarity between the two stories. Dickens surrounds the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humor, which Lynch does to a lesser degree. Not to mention, are you going to tell me you didn't finish Lies of Locke Lamora and immediately say, "Please, sir, I want some more."

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Ranajiemi

Of all the novels listed thus far, this is likely to be the most challenging for readers. Oliver Twist is more archaic and slow, without the action of genre fiction, and only tangentially connected to Lynch's work, but Quantum Thief is a whole other world of fiction. It's science fictionally dense. What the hell does that mean? It means lots of undefined neologisms, abstract concepts in brief phrases, and a boatload of plot compacted into a sub-300 page novel. It's genre fiction for the genre die hard. This is probably the least likely novel to ever recommend to someone who says, "I'd like to try this SFF thing."

All that aside, the caper nature Gentleman Bastards caper is on full display in Ranajiami's post-human criminal protagonist Jean le Flambeur. Flambeur, meaning gambler in English, executes a flawless bait and switch heist with the law right on his tail. In a nice change of pace, Ranajiemi also delves into the other side of the law, writing half the novel from the point of view of investigator Isidore Beautrelet that lends the novel an edgy noir flare. I admit Quantum Thief may be a stretch for fans of Lynch, but those that invest the time and brow furrowing required to finish it, and appreciate it, will find themselves rewarded.

If you liked.... A Song of Ice and Fire

This is a new feature I'm going to try out here on the blog. My goal is to recommend books for fans of a larger book franchise. For example, if you liked The Wheel of Time, you might also really like Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga. Easy enough, right? Except I'm going to try to be less obvious than that. There are gads of tremendous books out there in the ethos that are largely ignored because they aren't sexy anymore. Either they're not new enough, or they never quite caught on, or it took too long for book two to show up and everyone forgot about it, or the author is a real asshole, or the publisher is an asshole and didn't put resources behind it, or the agent is an asshole and won't give up the eBook rights, or this blogger is an asshole and never reviewed it. Not to belabor the point (too late), but the main character might be an asshole. Long story short, no one likes assholes.

Regardless, I'm going to start with some low hanging fruit and start my 'If you liked...' series with George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. I fully expect half of the people reading this post to say, 'no shit dude I read that like 10 years ago!' To you I say, you're right. Most of this stuff will be widely read, but I hope not all of it. I also hope to recommend things outside of genre that will appeal to fans. We'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, this post, and others like it, will turn people on to things they've never heard of, or never considered reading.

Without further ado....

If you liked A Song of Ice and Fire then you might really like:

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• With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz
• The Deluge by Henryk Sienkiewicz
• Fire in the Steppe by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Called, The Trilogy, Sienkiewicz's three book series has been described by the New York Time Book Review as "a Polish Gone with the Wind." With Fire and Sword is set in the 17th century and follows the struggle of the kingdom of Poland to maintain its unity in the face of the Cossack-led peasant rebellion. Like Martin's ASoIF, Sienkiewicz trilogy is a sweeping epic that covers a large span of time, telling the story of a nation caught in the throes of a civil war, of a people struggling for survival, and of events that changed the face of the world.

If there's a problem with Sienkiewicz's novels it's that they're translated. There's no avoiding the awkwardness that this occasionally engenders. It also means that names and places are difficult to grasp, not unlike some of the more annoying fantasy series that unnecessarily use apostrophes every other syllable. But, with a little commitment, The Trilogy offers everything fantasy readers love about Martin's series sans dragons and Melisandre. Given the rise of the 'silk road fantasy' (per Paul Weimer), Sienkiewicz offers fantasy readers tremendous perspective on the historical and cultural references being used in many recent novels.

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• The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu
• The Straits of Galahesh by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Interestingly, if this post was titled, 'If you liked Henryk Sienkiewicz' Bradley P. Beaulieu's Lays of Anuskaya series would still make the list. The story centers around Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo's eyrie stands at the trade crossroads of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya. The protagonist, Nikandar, Prince of Khalakovo (although not the heir), is set to marry the daughter of a rival Duchy. Of course, he's not in love with her, instead he showers his affections on Rehada, an indigenous Aramahn whore. Amid this tangled web of love, a conspiracy begins to brew with other Duchies vying for power, and a fringe Aramahn group known as Maharraht who would see the entire system upended.

Very much in the tradition of the multiple points of view epic fantasy, Beaulieu tells a story so wide in scope that it fears to overwhelm his efforts to contain it. The character stories are intimate and personal, but their actions resonate across a canvas that encompasses the entire world and reverberate through history. Or something really important sounding like that. This is a brand new series, so perhaps it's inclusion here is a bit premature. Nevertheless, Beaulieu appears to be one of the few newer authors out there who's writing epic fantasy with the of depth and nuance achieved by Martin's ASoIF.

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• The Folding Knife by K.J. Parker

In the Vesani Republic, the First Citizen's word is nearly law. Elected by the people, he administers the largest economic power outside the somewhat fractured Eastern Empire. Today, the First Citizen is Bassianus Severus (Basso). Deaf in one ear and brilliant in business, he killed his own wife and brother-in-law after finding them in bed together. Alienated by his surviving family, he uses his influence to become the most powerful man in Vesani which of course he uses to do all kinds of screwed up and Machiavellian things.

Folding Knife is an epic fantasy - just not traditionally so. It follows a man through thirty years of his life describing his rise and fall from power through war and peace in 400 some odd pages. While the novel itself is far tighter than anything Martin's included in his epic series, Parker's prose and characterizations are a near perfect fit. There is a veracity in everything Parker writes, as though anything contained within the book's cover is possible, a trait exhibited time and again by Martin. Basso could have absolutely been a POV in ASoIF as head of his House. If there's one author everyone should be reading in the current fantasy climate other than Martin, it's Parker.

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• Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham

This is an epic retelling of the legendary Carthaginian military leader, Hannibal and his assault on the Roman empire. Hannibal is drawn from the scant historical record as a terror on the battlefield, yet one who misses his family and longs to see his son children grow up. Whether portraying the deliberations of a general or the calculations of a common soldier, Durham captures the personal and political nuances of war in the ancient world. And there's quite a bit of head lopping.

Most would probably suspect that if anything by Durham made this list it would be his Acacia Trilogy. I considered it, but it lacks the hard edge and gut wrenching reality that permeates ASoIF. In Martin's series consequences are everywhere and they never take a day off. Things aren't neat and tidy. They're like a Roman battlefield filled with offal and discarded bits of flesh and bone. Pride of Carthage captures that feeling for me. I'd also heartily recommend his fantasy trilogy, but not necessarily for someone looking to capture the Westeros feel.

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• The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham

I was going to do a similar write-up for this one as I did for the others. It's really not worth it because Jared from Pornokitsch has done the work for me (READ THIS REVIEW). Suffice to say Abraham's series is a political and emotional masterpiece that does everything ASoIF does without resorting to the battlefield. It makes the series a bit slower and less engaging in the early going, but the pay off is tremendous as he ensnares the reader is a high stakes epic game that reflects the Cold War sensibilities of the 1980's. There's no such thing as coincidences and Abraham status as the "unofficial" protege of Martin isn't one either.