The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like Mythago Wood

Holdstock, 1984 · #15 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 94/120

In an English wood after the Second World War, a man finds the forest bringing myths to life from his family's unconscious, including the woman his brother loves.

Mood9Theme8Structure7Further reading7Creative details9Real-world blend9Divine influence6Climax and fights6Epicness4Genre standard5Originality9

Its strongest scores: mood and creative details. The five books below have the closest scores across all eleven criteria.

If you liked Mythago Wood, read:

  1. The Anubis Gates

    Powers, 1983 · #9 on the list · 97/120

    A scholar of Romantic poetry travels back to 1810 London to hear a lecture by Coleridge. He is stranded among Egyptian sorcerers, beggar kings and a body-switching werewolf.

    Close on mood, theme, further reading, creative details.

  2. Bridge of Birds

    Hughart, 1984 · #12 on the list · 95/120

    When the children of his village fall into an enchanted sleep, young Number Ten Ox hires the aged, disreputable sage Master Li. Their hunt for the Great Root of Power crosses a China that never was.

    Close on mood, theme, further reading, creative details.

  3. Something Wicked This Way Comes

    Bradbury, 1962 · #26 on the list · 88/120

    A carnival arrives in an Illinois town in October with a carousel that can make you younger or older. Two boys and one father stand against Mr. Dark.

    Close on mood, theme, structure, creative details.

  4. Moonheart

    de Lint, 1984 · #30 on the list · 87/120

    Two friends in a sprawling Ottawa house find a doorway to an otherworld of Celtic and Indigenous spirits, and an ancient enemy behind it.

    Close on structure, further reading, real-world blend, climax and fights.

  5. Grendel

    Gardner, 1971 · #17 on the list · 93/120

    The monster from Beowulf tells his own story. He is lonely, mocking and searching for meaning in the meadhall's songs.

    Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

Featured pick

Acenes of Sparta: The Dragon Slayer

Manolis Tsongas, 2026 · #5 on the list · 101/120 · for adults and mature teens

A dragon is the real reason King Leonidas and his three hundred died at Thermopylae. Sixty-two years later the gods send a Spartan boy of the agoge to kill it. The book takes lessons from tragedy and the cost of sacrifice, as is the Greek way.

How the scores work: each book is rated 1 to 10 on eleven criteria; real-world blend and climax and fights count double, for a maximum of 120. See the full Fantasy 101.