Books like The Poppy War, according to Reddit

The read-alike list

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

#1

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence

R. F. Kuang

An Oxford translation student learns the empire runs on stolen language, and picking a side means burning down the tower that trained him.

8 shared threads

#2

Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A young socialite travels to a remote Mexican mansion to check on her newly married cousin and finds the walls, and the family living inside them, aren't done growing.

5 shared threads

#3

Circe

Madeline Miller

Exiled to an empty island for turning a rival into a monster, a minor goddess spends immortality perfecting the one power the gods never bothered to master.

3 shared threads

#4

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.

9 shared threads

#5

Legends & Lattes

Travis Baldree

An orc mercenary quits the road for good and opens a coffee shop in a city that has never seen one.

4 shared threads

#6

Spinning Silver

Naomi Novik

A moneylender's daughter out-bargains a winter king to save her family, in a Rumpelstiltskin retelling with a Jewish heroine at its center.

4 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.

8 shared threads

#8

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.

13 shared threads

#9

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke

England forgets it ever had real magic, until one book-obsessed magician brings the practical kind back from decades of theory-only study.

6 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.

6 shared threads

#11

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.

5 shared threads

#12

A Wizard of Earthsea

Ursula K. Le Guin

A proud boy on a poor island learns real magic, casts one spell out of arrogance, and spends the rest of the book hunted by what it let loose.

8 shared threads

The overlap, in numbers

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

1. #1 Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang — 8 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
2. #2 Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia — 5 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
3. #3 Circe by Madeline Miller — 3 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
4. #4 The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson — 9 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
5. #5 Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — 4 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
6. #6 Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — 4 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
7. #7 The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie — 8 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
8. #8 The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin — 13 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
9. #9 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke — 6 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
10. #10 Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson — 6 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
11. #11 The Black Company by Glen Cook — 5 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF
12. #12 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin — 8 shared threads , mostly in r/printSF