Books like Circe, according to Reddit

The read-alike list

Ranked by co-mention strength — how often each book shares a thread with Circe, normalized so ubiquitous books don't dominate.

#1

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

Patroclus follows Achilles into the Trojan War, narrating the years it takes to watch the boy he loves become the killer a prophecy always promised.

6 shared threads · praised

#2

The Poppy War

R. F. Kuang

A war orphan tests into an elite military academy, awakens the power of a fire god, and becomes the architect of the genocide the history books warned about.

3 shared threads · panned

#3

Uprooted

Naomi Novik

A village girl handed over to a reclusive wizard as tribute turns out to be the only one who can fight the corrupted Wood eating her valley.

3 shared threads · praised

#4

Spinning Silver

Naomi Novik

A moneylender's daughter boasts she can turn silver into gold, and the winter king of the Staryk takes her up on it, then takes her as his wife.

3 shared threads · praised

#5

The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien

A burglar with no interest in adventure gets talked into robbing a dragon by a wizard who never quite explains the plan.

4 shared threads · mixed

#6

Assassin's Apprentice

Robin Hobb

A bastard prince trained as an assassin narrates sixteen books of loss, loyalty, and one very long grudge against fate.

3 shared threads · praised

#7

The Goblin Emperor

Katherine Addison

An exiled half-goblin prince inherits a throne he never wanted after an airship 'accident' kills his father and half-brothers.

3 shared threads · mixed

#8

The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss

An orphaned actor's son claws his way toward becoming a legend by the University's fire-and-sympathy magic — a story stuck at book two for over a decade.

3 shared threads · mixed

#9

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke

Two rival English magicians revive magic itself, and neither can predict what the fairy they bargained with actually wants.

3 shared threads · praised

#10

The Fifth Season

N. K. Jemisin

A woman searches a dying continent for the daughter her husband stole, while the world ends again on schedule.

6 shared threads · praised

#11

The Blade Itself

Joe Abercrombie

Nine-Fingers the barbarian just wants to survive one more winter, but a torturer's investigation and a prince's war have other plans.

3 shared threads · praised

#12

The Three-Body Problem

Liu Cixin

A Chinese radio astronomer's decades-old reply to an alien signal puts Earth on a collision course with an invasion fleet centuries out.

7 shared threads · panned

The overlap, in numbers

Where each pairing actually shows up. Click through for the full Reddit verdict on each book.

1. #1 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller — 6 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
2. #2 The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
3. #3 Uprooted by Naomi Novik — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
4. #4 Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
5. #5 The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien — 4 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
6. #6 Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
7. #7 The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
8. #8 The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
9. #9 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
10. #10 The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin — 6 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
11. #11 The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
12. #12 The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin — 7 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF