Books like Gardens of the Moon, according to Reddit

The read-alike list

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

#1

The Eye of the World

Robert Jordan

Trollocs burn a village hunting for one of three farm boys, so an Aes Sedai spirits all three out before anyone learns which.

75 shared threads

#2

The Black Company

Glen Cook

A mercenary company signs a contract with an undying sorceress they call the Lady, on the losing side of a war where the villains already won.

53 shared threads

#3

The Way of Kings

Brandon Sanderson

A bridgeman slave carries spears through a warzone he's not allowed to fight in, until he decides to become the soldier no one will follow.

57 shared threads

#4

Assassin's Apprentice

Robin Hobb

A royal bastard trains as the king's poisoner and assassin, and readers fifteen books later still call the ending emotionally devastating.

40 shared threads

#5

The Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien

A gardener and three friends carry a cursed ring across a continent at war, because the only way to destroy it is to walk it into the volcano that forged it.

87 shared threads

#6

A Game of Thrones

George R. R. Martin

Ned Stark's family gets pulled into a succession war for the Iron Throne while an unkillable winter creeps south.

58 shared threads

#7

The Blade Itself

Joe Abercrombie

A crippled torturer, a vain swordsman, and a berserker haunted by his own alter ego get pulled into a war none of them understand yet.

53 shared threads

#8

Hyperion

Dan Simmons

Seven pilgrims travel together to a planet that kills, each one carrying the private story of why they volunteered to go.

163 shared threads

#9

Dune

Frank Herbert

Paul Atreides survives his family's massacre on a desert planet and becomes the messiah the empire engineered him to be, then has to live with it.

154 shared threads

#10

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Brandon Sanderson

A street thief who can swallow metal and burn it for power gets recruited into a heist crew whose actual target is the immortal emperor who's ruled for a thousand years.

40 shared threads

#11

The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss

A legendary hero narrates his own rise from orphaned street kid to feared arcanist over three days, except Rothfuss never wrote day three.

37 shared threads

#12

The Fifth Season

N. K. Jemisin

An orogene comes home to find her son beaten to death and her daughter gone, the same day a continent starts splitting apart.

78 shared threads

The overlap, in numbers

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

1. #1 The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan — 75 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
2. #2 The Black Company by Glen Cook — 53 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
3. #3 The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson — 57 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
4. #4 Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb — 40 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
5. #5 The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien — 87 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
6. #6 A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin — 58 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
7. #7 The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie — 53 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
8. #8 Hyperion by Dan Simmons — 163 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
9. #9 Dune by Frank Herbert — 154 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
10. #10 Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson — 40 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
11. #11 The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss — 37 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
12. #12 The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin — 78 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF