18 books like Something Wicked This Way Comes

What to read after Something Wicked This Way Comes — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Colors of Space Marion Zimmer Bradley · 1963 · ★ 3.7 · 130p · ≈ 4h · Moderate Synopsis - When Bart Steele goes to the Earth spaceport to meet his father for the first time in five years, he doesn’t realise that his life will never be the same again. Half- Mentorian by birth, he is able to understand and co-exist with the Lhari, the non-human species which has a strangle hold on space travel. Bart overhears the Lhari at the spaceport discussing the need to intercept an… Shares: Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Fantasy

The Bug Wars · 1979 · 269p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The lizard-men of the Tzen Empire have erupted from the Black Swamps of their home world to fight the Wasps, Leapers and Ants of the galaxy-spanning Insect Coalition. Rahm is a member of the Empire's Warior caste, the fighting elite of his species. After his unit was abandoned on a hostile planet, they must survive until Tzen forces come again. Insubordinate subordinates are just as much trouble… Shares: Sci Fi, Science Fiction

The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini · 2003 · ★ 4.4 · 386p · ≈ 12h · Moderate The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their… Shares: Male friendship, Boys, Drama

The Voice of the Night Dean Koontz · 1980 · ★ 4.0 · 277p · ≈ 9h · Moderate No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. They were complete opposites. Colin was fascinated by Roy--and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day Roy asked: "You ever killed anything?" And from that moment on, the two were bound together in a game to terrifying to imagine. Shares: Male friendship, Friendship, Horror

A fine dark line Joe R. Lansdale · 2003 · ★ 4.1 · 307p · ≈ 10h · Moderate It is the summer of 1958 in Dewmont, Texas, a town the great American postwar boom passed by. The kids listen idly to rockabilly on the radio and waste their weekends at the Dairy Queen. And an undetected menace simmers under the heat that clings to the skin like molasses... For thirteen-year-old Stanley Mitchell, the end of innocence comes with his discovery of the mysterious long-ago demise of… Shares: Male friendship, Boys, Friendship

Last Days of Summer Updated Ed Steve Kluger · 1998 · ★ 4.4 · 368p · ≈ 12h · Moderate From Goodreads: The hilarious and heart–warming story about a down–and–out kid who finds inspiration in his favourite baseball hero. In Brooklyn, 1940, a wisecracking, baseball loving twelve–year–old boy, Joey Margolis, is in desperate need of a hero. His rich father has recently divorced his mother, leaving her all but penniless, and she is forced to move herself and her son to an Italian… Shares: Male friendship, Boys

RoboDodo Takeover Huma Safari · 2026 · 128p · ≈ 4h · Moderate RoboDodo Takeover is a sci-fi mini web series created by Vultoonz. The series is described as a cartoon with elements of comedy, drama, science fiction, environment, and conservation. It centers around an ornithology theme. The series is being actively developed, with a focus on lore and story. A deranged, orphaned ornithologist turned eco-terrorist unleashes a fleet of bioengineered War-birds… Shares: Sci Fi, Drama, Science Fiction

The Darkness That Comes Before R. Scott Bakker · 2003 · ★ 4.0 · 589p · ≈ 19h · Moderate Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from whole cloth—it's language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals—the kind of all-embracing universe that has thrilled readers of Stephen R Donaldson and George… Shares: Fantasy fiction, Science Fiction

Murder and Machinery Cameron Trost · 2021 Lock the doors and switch the power off at the mains! Tales of deadly machinery have long fascinated us, from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic pendulum to the Terminator films. Murder and Machinery pays homage to this tradition, offering you gripping tales following this theme but set in different times and places, from colonial America and London during the First World War to dystopian futures on… Shares: Sci Fi, Horror

The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie · 2001 · ★ 4.3 · 531p · ≈ 17h · Moderate Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies. Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of… Shares: Fantasy fiction, Fantasy

Black House Stephen King · 2002 · ★ 4.1 · 1456p · ≈ 48h · Moderate Shares: Boys, Horror, Fantasy Shares: Boys, Horror, Fantasy

Mercury Samuel Blondahl · 2012 · 502p · ≈ 16h · Moderate The crew of the starship Mercury prepare for a short trip to Mars, both to test a miraculous new engine, and to serve in an assistance capacity to the first landing team to set foot on the red planet. Sabotage and mutiny strand the Mercury and all hands deep in uncharted space. The ship damaged, and the crew subject to the horrible stress of knowing they may never see Earth again, they… Shares: Sci Fi, Science Fiction

WAR Samuel Blondahl · 2013 · 458p · ≈ 15h · Moderate Fourteen years after the discovery of the planet Anahita deep inside the Ursa Minor dwarf elliptical galaxy, humans have colonized the new world, and built a second starship to establish a stronger presence and facilitate further exploration and transportation between galaxies. Anne Webber, daughter of the famous Mercury designer, takes the engineering seat on Excalibur’s maiden voyage, and… Shares: Sci Fi, Science Fiction

Clayhanger Arnold Bennett · 1910 · 415p · ≈ 13h · Challenging This coming-of-age story set in the Midlands of Victorian England follows Edwin Clayhanger as he leaves school, takes over the family business and falls in love. Bennett wrote it in 1910 at the Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton, and in Lausanne. Edwin Clayhanger's father, Darius, has risen from an extremely poor background, which Bennett repeatedly returns to, to become a prominent printer in Bursley.… Shares: Fathers and sons, Social life and customs

The Chosen Chaim Potok · 1966 · ★ 4.1 · 284p · ≈ 9h · Moderate It's about two jewish boys from different jewish sects with very differing doctrine. The kids meet in the unlikely circumstance of a baseball game, and a terrible accident, that leads them to be lifelong friends Shares: Male friendship, Fathers and sons, Friendship

A Fine and Private Place Peter S. Beagle · 1960 · ★ 3.9 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate This classic ghost story from the author of The Last Unicorn follows Jonathan who’s been living in a cemetery with a raven as his only friend amongst the newly dead until he discovers a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift—the final chance for his own happiness.For nineteen years, Jonathan Rebeck has hidden from the world within the confines of a Bronx’s cemetery, making an… Shares: Fantasy fiction, Horror, Fantasy

Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood · 2002 · ★ 4.0 · 389p · ≈ 12h · Moderate Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help… Shares: Male friendship, Friendship, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Leave Myself Behind Bart Yates · 2003 · ★ 4.4 · 252p · ≈ 8h · Moderate THE WORLD ACCORDING TO NOAH YORK: "Anybody who tells you he doesn't have mixed feelings about his mother is either stupid or a liar." "Real life seldom makes me cry. The only thing that gets to me is the occasional Kodak commercial." "Sometimes I feel like Michelangelo, chiseling away at all the crap until nothing is left but the exquisite thing in the middle that no one else sees until it's… Shares: Male friendship, Friendship

About the book Something Wicked This Way Comes →