Books like “The Once and Future King”

What to read after “The Once and Future King” by T. H. White: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
The Mists of Avalon
Marion Zimmer Bradley · 1982
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
The Arthurian legend is told through the women around the throne, above all Morgaine, a priestess of Avalon. As Britain turns to a new faith and a new king, she works to keep the old ways alive and watches the cost of a united kingdom.
2
The Crystal Cave
Mary Stewart · 1970
Same genre: “Historical fantasy”
- Medieval Setting
- Wise Mentor
Merlin, the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess, grows up despised and unsure of his parentage. Drawn toward a hidden power, he travels through a Britain of warring kings and finds his place as the prophet and adviser of a young Arthur.
3
The Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood · 2005
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Betrayal
From the underworld, Penelope tells her side of the long wait for Odysseus, while the twelve hanged maids answer with their own chorus. The familiar myth is retold from the women the epic left out.
4
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Love Triangle
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.
5
Legendborn
Tracy Deonn · 2020
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
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.
6
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis · 1950
Similar setting: “Medieval Setting”
Four children step through a wardrobe into Narnia, a land locked in endless winter by the White Witch. With the lion Aslan they are drawn into a struggle for the country's freedom, and one of them betrays them all.
7
Ariadne
Jennifer Saint · 2021
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Betrayal
Princess Ariadne helps Theseus escape the labyrinth, then is abandoned on a shore where Dionysus finds her. She must decide how much of her story to give away to a god, and what freedom is worth.
8
The Eye of the World
Robert Jordan · 1990
Similar setting: “Medieval Setting”
Three young men from the village of Emond's Field are driven from home by monsters out of legend. Pursued by servants of the Dark One, they learn that one of them may be the Dragon Reborn, destined to save the world or break it.
9
The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan · 2005
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
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.
10
The Book of Three
Lloyd Alexander · 1964
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
- Wise Mentor
Taran, an assistant pig-keeper who wants only to be a hero, loses the oracular pig Hen Wen and follows her into the land of Prydain. With a bard, a princess and a creature named Gurgi, he stumbles into a war against the Horned King.
11
The Dragonbone Chair
Tad Williams · 1988
Similar setting: “Medieval Setting”
Simon is a kitchen boy in the castle of the Hayholt, who dreams of heroes while the old king's health fails. When betrayal strikes, he flees into a country of trolls and swords, and the fate of Osten Ard falls into unlikely hands.
12
Kaikeyi
Vaishnavi Patel · 2022
From the same world: “Mythology Retelling”
- Mythology Retelling
Born a princess and cast aside by her father, Kaikeyi claims a place at court and wins the love of a king. When war threatens her sons' future, she uses the boons she was granted to change the fate of a kingdom.