2 Answers2026-02-13
I don’t know for sure how many pages it is, but from the few online bookstores and forums I looked up, it looked to be around 280-320 pages or so. Of course, this book is probably one of those that has been reprinted with different page counts, but I suppose I won’t really know for sure until I get it home and open it up. In any case, the number of pages is totally irrelevant to me, as I lost all sense of time while reading ‘The Name of the Wind’, and I can only hope that this sea-faring fantasy is just as compelling, whether it’s a short or long read (The Bone Ships is another such story).
10 Answers2026-03-20
I’ve seen tons of people online wax poetic about how much they love fanfiction for really popular fantasy novels, and honestly I can see why. For one, the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) fandom is HUGEnormous, and so there are thousands of stories about Daenerys and Jon Snow, as well as all sorts of original character/dragon rider pairings. But most particularly, within that huge and dedicated fanbase, there are also tons of really passionately-written novel-length fics that follow the many, many characters in the series through all sorts of scenarios, not least of which is the huge pool of political marriage tropes. I went to Archive of Our Own and searched for the tag “Arranged Marriage” within the A Song of Ice and Fire category, and oh. My. God. There are some seriously, seriously well-written novels there. These writers are operating completely within the parameters of the existing story, and thus are able to be totally immersed in the world and its politics, to craft scenarios that feel completely natural to the characters and the universe in which they reside. And the best part? It’s free. You can read them for yourself, and can see for yourself the incredible amounts of passion and love that the writers have put into these stories.
5 Answers2026-03-10
Give Yes, Your Serpentine Excellency by Kate Stradling a try.
7 Answers2026-03-15
The fanfiction world is full of amazing novel-length stories, including many that are coffee shop AUs or artist AUs of existing characters. I talked about building a small business and slow-burn romance in those. You can find a lot of these stories on sites like Archive of Our Own. They have lots of filters, so you can search for your favorite fandom and then add tags like ‘fluff’ or ‘slice of life’ or ‘bakery AU’ or ‘bookshop AU’. I find some of the best character-driven, low-conflict storytelling on Archive of Our Own, and it’s all free.
5 Answers2026-03-15
The next book I wanted to read after Falling Upward was another book on transformation. Even though The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is mostly fiction and an allegory, it is another very good book on transformation. Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor is another book that portrays darkness as a place of transformation, and ways that we can grow there. Like Rohr, she shows how we can transform our messy lives into something beautiful.
4 Answers2026-03-12
For readers who fell for the unapologetic messiness of Sour Heart, a new-to-you book might be Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi, a wild ride that follows a Nigerian woman who is host to multiple spirits. Although immigrant-centric in theme, the book’s fragmented, visceral prose and its exploration of a disjointed identity are going to speak to fans of Zhang’s unflinching work. Also recommended is The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch, a dystopian novel written in raw, bodily prose by a fierce rebel of a writer. Zhang’s book isn’t easily matchable, but these two are offbeat enough to feel like kindred spirits.
5 Answers2026-02-25
For a bit of a twist, look at The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley. Like the Emerald Tablet, this short book of paradoxes is seriously funny in places, yet profound in others. The Golden Chain of Homer is similarly fascinating, a deeply satisfying nature philosophy and alchemy book that’s less obscure than the Tablet yet no less magical. Again, these books are not reads – they are experiences which stay with you long after you have finished reading them – like a truly wonderful joke that somehow becomes even greater with age.
7 Answers2026-03-25
Otaku no Video is an older OVA that is sort of a documentary on the rise of the “otaku king.” Of course it would be all celebratory towards the end, but the “interviews” with live-action, 80s-shaded “real” otaku in the thing have that same cringeworthy, uncompromising authenticity that was the hallmark of Dorkin’s comic. The stories that make up the main body of the thing are sort of triumphant in hindsight, but the general take is that the main character’s an obsessive outcast, and the thing looks like a sort of time capsule of Eltingville-style intense fandom viewed by outsiders with revulsion and disgust.
3 Answers2026-01-09
Boethius' 'The Consolation of Philosophy' is this beautiful blend of philosophy and literature, so if you're looking for something similar, I'd start with Seneca's 'Letters from a Stoic'. It’s got that same mix of personal reflection and deep philosophical inquiry, but with a more practical, down-to-earth vibe. Seneca’s letters feel like conversations with a wise friend, just like how Lady Philosophy feels like a comforting presence in Boethius' work.
Another great pick is Marcus Aurelius' 'Meditations'. It’s less structured and more fragmented, but the way it grapples with suffering, purpose, and the nature of existence really resonates with Boethius' themes. Plus, there’s something timeless about both works—they feel like they could’ve been written yesterday, even though they’re centuries old. I always come back to them when life feels overwhelming.
1 Answers2026-02-22
If you loved reading The Mighty Red: A Novel, you might also enjoy reading The Crimson Veil by Lila Vane. Both novels are emotionally rich stories that follow the main characters as they try to come to terms with their identities and legacies. While The Crimson Veil is a novel about a young artist’s journey through grief and self-discovery, it has similar qualities to The Mighty Red in terms of prose. The stories are full of lyrical descriptions of everyday moments that can feel profound. I came across The Crimson Veil whilst on a bookstore crawl and it left me with the same bittersweet feeling that I had experienced when finishing The Mighty Red – the feeling of having finished a cup of tea that I wished I could go back to and have another cup of.
For even more of this type of story, I would recommend “Scarlet Shadows” by Julian Cross. While a good deal darker and set in a dystopian world where color equals power, there is something deeply familiar in the emotional core of the story. It’s a very inside-the-head-of-the-hero type of story and the young man here grapples with trying to be true to himself in a world that is determined to force him to be something else. I loved “The Mighty Red” in part because of the author’s innovative use of visual metaphors to get at emotional ideas (red equals passion, pain, rebellion), and Cross is similarly resourceful with color to similar end. While a far more plot-oriented book than “Mighty Red,” I found myself racing through the pages of “Shadows” and the book’s end has lingered in my mind for months.