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City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer

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These picks are popular with readers who enjoyed this book. Complete a quick Shelf Talk to get recommendations made just for you! Warning: possible spoilers for City of Saints and Madmen below.

In City of Saints and Madmen, did you enjoy ...

... the intricate, immersive worldbuilding and city-as-character?

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

If you found yourself captivated by the labyrinthine city of Ambergris, you'll be equally enthralled by the teeming, bizarre metropolis of New Crobuzon in Perdido Street Station. Miéville's setting is dense with history, strange species, and a palpable sense of place, making the city itself feel alive and essential to the story.

... non-linear, fragmented storytelling and experimental structure?

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

If the shifting perspectives, faux histories, and layered documents in City of Saints and Madmen gripped you, House of Leaves will draw you in with its labyrinthine narrative. The novel weaves together footnotes, multiple narrators, and typographical play to create a reading experience as disorienting and fascinating as Ambergris itself.

... metafictional playfulness and stories about storytelling?

If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino

If you loved how City of Saints and Madmen plays with narrative forms—stories within stories, fictional histories, even fake academic texts—then Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler is a perfect match, immersing you in an endlessly self-referential, playful, and inventive exploration of what it means to read and tell stories.

... a surreal, dreamlike city and ambiguous magic?

The Etched City by K. J. Bishop

If you were fascinated by the slippery, dreamlike boundaries between reality and the impossible in Ambergris, The Etched City will enchant you. Its city of Ashamoil is suffused with strange, ambiguous magic and shifting realities, creating an atmosphere both lush and unsettling, much like VanderMeer's work.

... darkly absurd humor and philosophical undertones?

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

If the offbeat, sometimes sinister wit and existential undertones of City of Saints and Madmen appealed to you, The Third Policeman will delight you with its surreal logic, bizarre characters, and mordant humor that turns the world upside down while probing deep philosophical questions.

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