Books like “American Gods”

What to read after “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Anansi Boys
Neil Gaiman · 2005
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling” and “Urban Fantasy”
Fat Charlie Nancy learns that the father he barely knew was the spider god Anansi, and that he has a brother he never met. Spider is charming, magical and trouble, and he turns Charlie's careful life upside down while Charlie tries to bury a past that will not stay buried.
2
The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan · 2005
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling” and “Urban Fantasy”
Percy Jackson, a twelve-year-old who keeps getting expelled, learns he is a demigod and is accused of stealing Zeus's master bolt. With Annabeth and Grover he crosses America to return it, facing monsters and gods to stop a war on Olympus.
3
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Quest
Xingyin grows up alone on the moon, hidden from the emperor who exiled her mother for stealing an elixir of immortality. When her magic is discovered she flees, conceals her identity at the celestial court and trains as a warrior to win her mother's freedom.
4
The Darkest Night
Gena Showalter · 2008
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling” and “Urban Fantasy”
- Mythology Retelling
- Urban Fantasy
Cursed to carry the demon of Violence, the immortal warrior Maddox has spent lifetimes in torment. Every night he dies at the hands of the gods, and every dawn he wakes. Rescuing a mortal woman named Ashlyn from his enemies throws them both into a conflict that could free or destroy him.
5
A Touch of Darkness
Scarlett St. Clair · 2019
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling” and “Urban Fantasy”
- Mythology Retelling
- Urban Fantasy
Persephone is a young journalist who wants an ordinary life, away from her mother Demeter's plans. At a nightclub she meets Hades, the god of the dead, and loses a wager that binds her to his realm. She must learn to grow life in the underworld, or surrender to a love she was warned against.
6
Her Majesty's Royal Coven
Juno Dawson · 2022
From the same world: “Urban Fantasy”
- Urban Fantasy
Four friends once swore an oath to Her Majesty's Royal Coven, the secret department of witches protecting Britain. Decades on, one runs the coven and one has left it, and whispers of a prophecy and a young warlock of frightening power force them to choose between tradition and what is right.
7
Sunshine
Robin McKinley · 2003
From the same world: “Urban Fantasy”
- Urban Fantasy
- Reluctant Hero
Rae Seddon, a baker called Sunshine, is captured by vampires at her family's lake cabin and learns she carries magic of her own. Bound to a vampire who should be her enemy, she is pulled into a war among the Others, the supernatural beings living beside humans.
8
Legendborn
Tracy Deonn · 2020
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling” and “Urban Fantasy”
- Mythology Retelling
- Urban Fantasy
After her mother's death, Bree Matthews joins an early college program at UNC and witnesses a demon attack that no one else remembers. Pulled into a secret society descended from King Arthur's knights, she hunts for the truth behind the magic that erased her memory.
9
The Witch's Heart
Genevieve Gornichec · 2021
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Angrboda is a witch burned three times for refusing to reveal the future. She hides in a forest and builds a quiet life until Loki finds her, and their children draw the eyes of the gods. A prophecy turns every small happiness into a countdown.
10
The Thief
Megan Whalen Turner · 1996
Similar plot moves: “Trickster” and “Reluctant Hero”
Gen has been locked in the king's prison of Sounis for boasting that he can steal anything. Freed by the king's magus, he is dragged along on a hunt for an ancient artifact that could settle the fate of three nations, and he schemes, complains and remembers more than he admits.
11
Rosemary and Rue
Seanan McGuire · 2009
From the same world: “Urban Fantasy”
- Urban Fantasy
- Reluctant Hero
Half-fae changeling October 'Toby' Daye wants nothing to do with Faerie after fourteen years away from it. When a fae noble is murdered and binds Toby with a dying curse to find the killer, she is pulled back into the dangerous politics of the local faerie court.
12
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville · 2000
From the same world: “Urban Fantasy”
- Urban Fantasy
In the vast industrial city of New Crobuzon, the scientist Isaac agrees to restore flight to a creature who has lost its wings. The experiment releases something that feeds on dreams and minds, and the city is soon sliding toward disaster.