Books like The Goblin Emperor, according to Reddit

The read-alike list

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

#1

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.

9 shared threads · praised

#2

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Becky Chambers

A ragtag crew takes a multi-year tunneling job to punch a wormhole through space and mostly just has to get along with each other for the ride.

35 shared threads · praised

#3

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

A man alone in an endless house of statues and tides slowly realizes he isn't who the House says he is.

21 shared threads · praised

#4

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.

31 shared threads · praised

#5

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries)

Martha Wells

A security robot hacks its own governor module, gains free will, and spends its days streaming soap operas instead of killing anyone.

46 shared threads · mixed

#6

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.

13 shared threads · praised

#7

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin

An envoy is sent alone to a planet where everyone is genderless most of the month, and he has to unlearn who he assumes is in charge.

33 shared threads · praised

#8

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.

14 shared threads · praised

#9

A Wizard of Earthsea

Ursula K. Le Guin

A prideful young mage summons a nameless shadow to prove his power, then spends years learning to face it instead of running.

19 shared threads · mixed

#10

The Black Company

Glen Cook

A mercenary company's own physician keeps its journal through the Vietnam War on peyote, one contract and one dead wizard-lord at a time.

11 shared threads · praised

#11

The House in the Cerulean Sea

TJ Klune

A buttoned-up caseworker is sent to inspect an orphanage of six magical children, one of them the literal Antichrist, and has to decide whether the rulebook is wrong.

5 shared threads · praised

#12

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.

3 shared threads · praised

The overlap, in numbers

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

1. #1 Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — 9 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
2. #2 The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers — 35 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
3. #3 Piranesi by Susanna Clarke — 21 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
4. #4 The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin — 31 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
5. #5 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells — 46 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
6. #6 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke — 13 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
7. #7 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin — 33 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
8. #8 The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie — 14 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
9. #9 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin — 19 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
10. #10 The Black Company by Glen Cook — 11 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
11. #11 The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — 5 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
12. #12 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF