Books Like The Gilded Ones
If you finished The Gilded Ones and want more academies and war colleges, found family, gods and mythology, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
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The picks
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1. Blood Song
Shares: academies and war colleges, found family, gods and mythology
Vaelin Al Sorna's father drops him at the gates of a warrior order as a boy and never comes back. The training years are the best part, harsh and full of dead kids. Books two and three don't hit the same way, so treat this as a near-standalone.
- Academies and War Colleges
- Found Family
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War, Harm to children, Torture
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2. Red Sister
Shares: academies and war colleges, found family
Nona is eight, about to be hanged, and gets rescued by a convent that trains nuns to kill. Murder nuns, friendship and some very nasty politics. Gentler than Prince of Thorns but still Lawrence, so nobody is safe.
- Academies and War Colleges
- Assassins
- Found Family
- Revenge
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Harm to children, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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3. The Shadow of the Gods
Shares: gods and mythology, found family
Norse-flavored and set in a land where the gods killed each other and their bones still litter the land. Three narrators: a mother hunting her stolen son, a thrall with a dangerous secret, and a mercenary. The shield walls are the best in the genre.
- Gods and Mythology
- Found Family
- Revenge
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, War, Human trafficking, Death of a loved one
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4. The Poppy War
Shares: academies and war colleges, gods and mythology
It starts as a school story about a war orphan who aces the exam into a military academy. Then the war arrives. Based on the Second Sino-Japanese War, including the Nanjing Massacre. Read the warnings, seriously.
- Academies and War Colleges
- Gods and Mythology
- Grimdark
- Revenge
Content warnings
Genocide, War, Sexual assault, Drug or alcohol abuse, Graphic violence, Torture
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5. Godkiller
Shares: gods and mythology, found family
Kissen kills gods for a living, which is a good trade in a kingdom that banned worship. Then she's stuck escorting a girl bound to a tiny god of white lies. Grumpy found family, small sharp book, easy entry into darker fantasy.
- Gods and Mythology
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one, Harm to children
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6. Malice
Shares: gods and mythology, found family
Corban is a blacksmith's son who wants to be a warrior, and a war between fallen angels is brewing behind the human kingdoms. Old-fashioned epic fantasy that takes a while to warm up. Book one is a slow build, books two through four hit harder.
- Gods and Mythology
- Found Family
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Animal death, Death of a loved one
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7. Between Two Fires
Shares: found family, gods and mythology
France, 1348. The plague is killing everyone, and a disgraced knight ends up protecting an orphan girl who says angels speak to her. Fallen angels are making war on the world and the imagery is straight out of a medieval nightmare. Proper horror.
- Demons
- Grimdark
- Found Family
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Gore, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Sexual assault, Harm to children
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8. The Fifth Season
Shares: found family, gods and mythology
It opens with a woman finding her son beaten to death by his father, on the same day the world ends. Orogenes can move the earth and are feared, enslaved and bred for it. Parts are in second person, which pays off. Won the Hugo three years running for a reason.
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Harm to children, Genocide, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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9. The Witch's Heart
Shares: gods and mythology, found family
Angrboda was burned three times by Odin and walked away. She hides in a forest, falls for Loki and has three monstrous children the gods have already decided to destroy. Norse myth from the witch's side. Quiet for a long stretch, then devastating.
- Witches
- Gods and Mythology
- Found Family
Content warnings
Torture, Death of a loved one, Harm to children, Physical or emotional abuse
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10. The Magicians
Shares: found family, gods and mythology
Quentin gets into a secret college for magic and finds out his favorite childhood fantasy world is real. He's still miserable. A grown-up, hungover answer to Narnia and Harry Potter. Quentin is hard to like and that's sort of the point.
- Dark Academia
- Found Family
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Drug or alcohol abuse, Gore, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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