Books Like...

'Battle of the Linguist Mages' by Scotto Moore is a unique blend of complex plots, intricate magic systems, and linguistics. The book explores how language shapes reality, both virtual and otherwise, in a zany and smart manner. It features a strong, witty female lead with LGBTQ+ representation and a non-binary character, engaging MMO players with reinventions and reimaginings. The plot revolves around a first-person narrator, Isobel, dominating a video game and being recruited to help fight an alien invasion using linguistics and punctuation marks.

The writing style of 'Battle of the Linguist Mages' reads like a mashup of various popular books, such as Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, Lexicon, Space Opera, and Ready Player One. It is described as a romp of a space opera, filled with glittering details, constantly shifting alliances, double and triple alliances, and ethical explorations relevant to our current and near future lives. The book is praised for its intricate puzzle-like plot, rich world-building details, and its ability to keep readers hooked from the first line to the very end.

The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia is a novel that defies categorization, blending elements of magical realism, metafiction, and love story. The heart of the novel revolves around Federico de la Fe and his daughter, Little Merced, as they leave Mexico for the United States after Federico's wife, Merced, departs. Once in the U.S., Federico joins forces with locals to form a group called the EMF, waging a war against Saturn, sadness, and omniscient narration. The novel is structured in three sections with multiple chapters, each offering diverse character perspectives, including Saturn and the omniscient narrator. The pages are laid out in columns, with elements like blacked-out words and cut pages, adding to the unique style.

The People of Paper is a surreal and creative exploration of themes such as lost love, planetary wars, free will, and ethnic issues, told through a tapestry of bizarre characters and events. Plascencia's writing style incorporates fantastical imagery, multiple viewpoint narration, and metafictional elements, creating a narrative that is both strange and emotionally resonant, challenging readers' expectations and offering a unique reading experience.

In a universe where math and weapons depend on the calendars and rituals observed by people, a math genius captain proposes a wild strategy to recapture a heretic fortress, and ends up inhabited by the ghost of a disgraced general. The rituals include torture, though it's never seen or described in any detail, and there's a lot of emphasis on protocol and different castes, as well as on the exotic effects of exotic calendrical weapons like the amputation gun. The story follows Captain Kel Cheris who is disgraced and given the chance to redeem herself by hosting the mind of a long-dead tactician, Shuos Jedao. Together, they form a new alliance that will change things in a universe where technology itself depends on belief.

Gideon the Ninth is a fantasy sci-fi novel about lesbian necromancers entangled in a Battle Royale cum murder mystery in a haunted mansion in space. The book follows the irrepressibly snarky goth jock lead, Gideon, through action sequences that could rival the best of shounen anime. Despite a hand-wavy world-building at times, the extremely metal plot turns and great ending keep readers hooked. The storytelling style is described as a new level of reading, encouraging readers to give it a try, especially through the audio version for better comprehension.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a humorous science fiction novel by Douglas Adams that follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered Earthling who is saved from the destruction of Earth by his alien friend Ford Prefect. Together, they embark on a journey through space and time, encountering eccentric characters like Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android. The book is known for its quirky, whimsical writing style, filled with absurdity, satire, and philosophical musings on the meaning of life.

The plot revolves around Arthur and Ford's escapades as they hitchhike across the galaxy, facing bizarre situations and navigating through the absurdities of the universe. Adams' narrative style is conversational and comically bizarre, blending elements of science fiction with absurdist humor to create a unique and entertaining reading experience that challenges traditional storytelling conventions.