Books like The Lies of Locke Lamora, according to Reddit

The read-alike list

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

#1

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.

27 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.

10 shared threads

#3

Storm Front (The Dresden Files)

Jim Butcher

Chicago's only professional wizard takes a case involving black magic and a mob boss, with a police captain who wants it solved fast or him gone.

9 shared threads

#4

The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien

A hobbit who has never left his own pantry gets recruited by thirteen dwarves and a wizard to steal treasure back from a dragon.

9 shared threads

#5

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.

7 shared threads

#6

Kings of the Wyld

Nicholas Eames

Five washed-up mercenaries reunite the old band to cross a war-torn continent and rescue one of their daughters from a siege.

3 shared threads

#7

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.

11 shared threads

#8

The Goblin Emperor

Katherine Addison

An airship explosion kills every relative ahead of him in line, and the half-goblin son nobody wanted becomes emperor overnight.

7 shared threads

#9

Neuromancer

William Gibson

A washed-up hacker gets his nervous system rebuilt for one last job, in a world Gibson invented before the internet existed to copy it.

21 shared threads

#10

The Once and Future King

T. H. White

Arthur grows up not knowing he's a king, tutored by a shapeshifting wizard who turns him into a fish, a hawk, and an ant before he ever holds a sword.

4 shared threads

#11

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.

8 shared threads

#12

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.

9 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 Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie — 27 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
2. #2 The Black Company by Glen Cook — 10 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
3. #3 Storm Front (The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher — 9 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
4. #4 The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien — 9 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
5. #5 Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb — 7 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
6. #6 Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
7. #7 The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan — 11 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
8. #8 The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison — 7 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
9. #9 Neuromancer by William Gibson — 21 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
10. #10 The Once and Future King by T. H. White — 4 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
11. #11 Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson — 8 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
12. #12 A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin — 9 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF