The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like The Dark Tower

King, 1982 · #16 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 94/120 · adapted for screen

Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger of a dying world, crosses deserts, cities and our own reality in pursuit of the Tower at the center of everything.

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

If you liked The Dark Tower, read:

1. Thomas Covenant

   Donaldson, 1977 · #7 on the list · 100/120

   A leper from our world is pulled into the Land, where his illness is cured and the people hail him as a saviour. He refuses to believe any of it is real.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

2. His Dark Materials

   Pullman, 1995 · #4 on the list · 101/120

   Lyra Belacqua follows stolen children north into a mystery about Dust. It ends in a war against the Authority itself.

   Close on mood, theme, creative details, real-world blend.

3. The Old Kingdom

   Nix, 1995 · #24 on the list · 89/120

   Sabriel, daughter of the Abhorsen, crosses the Wall from her English-style boarding school into a land where the dead will not stay dead. She must walk into Death itself.

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

4. The Chronicles of Amber

   Zelazny, 1970 · #31 on the list · 86/120

   Corwin wakes in a hospital on Earth with no memory and discovers he is a prince of Amber, the one true world. His siblings are fighting over the throne.

   Close on theme, further reading, creative details, real-world blend.

5. The Magicians

   Grossman, 2009 · #38 on the list · 85/120

   A brilliant, unhappy Brooklyn teenager is admitted to a secret college of magic. He then finds that the land from his favorite childhood books is real.

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

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.