If the Qersnyk steppe traditions around Temur, the tea-and-scroll austerity of Tsarepheth where Samarkar remakes herself, and the way the very sky reflects rival khaganates in Range of Ghosts pulled you in, you’ll love the lush, lyrical texture of Under Heaven. Kay builds a Tang China–inspired world where funerary rites, court protocol, and borderland horse cultures carry real weight, and quiet choices in tents and throne rooms echo across empires—much like Temur’s flight with Bansh and the rituals that shadow him.

You followed Temur and Samarkar across steppe, desert, and mountain as khaganates rose, skies altered with succession, and al-Sepehr’s designs rippled through nations. The Grace of Kings delivers that same sweep: rebellions, airborne marvels, and divine meddling collide as ambitious leaders remake an empire. If the empire-sized canvas and fate-of-realms momentum of Range of Ghosts thrilled you, this blend of invention, warfare, and god-touched destiny will hit the same epic nerve.

If you were hooked by the succession struggle that forces Temur into exile, the Nameless assassins al-Sepehr unleashes, and the fragile alliances Samarkar must navigate, The Goblin Emperor focuses that tension entirely inside a treacherous court. Maia inherits a throne amid conspirators and would-be kingmakers; he must untangle plots and build coalitions before they end him. It’s the same pulse of quiet power plays and moral resolve you liked in the council chambers and caravan tents of Range of Ghosts.

In Range of Ghosts, the cosmology is tangible—the sky itself shifts with imperial fortune, necromancy raises blood ghosts, and old beliefs press on the living. City of Stairs runs on that same charged mythic engine: a conquered city built by miracles hides ruptured divinities, and an envoy-sleuth peels back theology and statecraft to find what still breathes beneath doctrine. If the way gods and magic shape borders and policy hooked you, this sharp, haunting investigation will too.

If you enjoyed moving between Temur’s hard choices on the steppe, Samarkar’s perilous wizardry, and the widening lens on al-Sepehr’s plots, The Bone Shard Daughter offers a similarly braided narrative. Lin claws for the truth of her empire’s magic, while exiles and adventurers on distant isles uncover the cost of rule—each thread tightening toward revelations that reframe the whole map. That same multi-angled build you liked in Range of Ghosts pays off here with gripping, character-first momentum.