Match Book
The House of Shattered Wings
Aliette de Bodard
2015 · Fantasy
How it reads
The House of Shattered Wings is fantasy (gothic fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in a big city setting, in the historical past, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are identity, power and politics and secrets. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. It's a long book, and a real commitment. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something dark
- you want something to chew on
- you want a complete story in one book
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy, heartwarming or funny
- you want something you can finish this weekend
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- fantasy
- Author gender
- female
- Author experience
- established
- Setting: place
- big city
- Setting: time
- historical
- Mood / feeling
- dark
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- long
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- moderately known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, power and politics, secrets
- Ending style
- bittersweet
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The mirror empireKameron HurleyShares: fantasy, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
City of StairsRobert Jackson BennettShares: fantasy, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
A Dance with DragonsGeorge R.R. MartinShares: fantasy, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
The Wolf and the WoodsmanAva ReidShares: fantasy, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
The Price of SpringDaniel AbrahamShares: fantasy, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
The Ruin of KingsJenn LyonsShares: fantasy, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
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