The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like The Golden Ass

Apuleius, c. 170 · #23 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 90/120

Lucius dabbles in witchcraft in Thessaly and is accidentally turned into a donkey. Robbers, priests and millers pass him from hand to hand until the goddess Isis restores him.

Its strongest scores: divine influence and originality. The five books below have the closest scores across all eleven criteria.

If you liked The Golden Ass, read:

1. The Owl Service

   Garner, 1967 · #42 on the list · 83/120

   Three teenagers in a Welsh valley find a pattern of owls on a dinner service. They are forced to replay a tragedy from the Mabinogion.

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

2. Puck of Pook's Hill

   Kipling, 1906 · #25 on the list · 89/120

   Two Sussex children summon Puck, the last of England's fairies. He brings them Roman soldiers, Norman knights and other figures from the island's past.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

3. American Gods

   Gaiman, 2001 · #3 on the list · 102/120

   Shadow Moon walks out of prison into the service of a con man named Wednesday. A war is brewing between America's old gods and its new ones.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

4. She

   Haggard, 1887 · #46 on the list · 81/120

   A Cambridge scholar and his young ward follow an ancient potsherd into Africa. They find Ayesha, an immortal queen who has waited two thousand years.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, epicness.

5. Harold Shea

   de Camp & Pratt, 1941 · #47 on the list · 81/120

   A psychologist uses symbolic logic to travel into the worlds of Norse myth, The Faerie Queene and other legends, where magic runs on rules he can learn.

   Close on mood, structure, further reading, real-world blend.

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.