If the bardic Songs, true names, and ancient lore Maerad uncovers with Cadvan made you swoon, you’ll love the shimmering, riddle-rich language of The Riddle-Master of Hed. McKillip’s tale wraps prophecy and identity into names and riddles the way The Naming entwines the Gift with old epics—capturing that same haunting, poetic atmosphere you felt from Gilman’s Cot to the shadow of the Hulls.

Loved how Maerad’s Bardic traditions, Songs, and the deep histories behind Pellinor’s fall made the world feel ancient and vast? In The Name of the Wind, Kvothe studies at the University, digs through the Archives, and learns the perilous art of naming—its music, language, and legend echoing the careful lore you followed from Maerad’s discovery of her Gift to the threat of the Hulls.

If Maerad’s escape from Gilman’s Cot, her hard-won training with Cadvan, and her first tests at Norloch drew you in, Sabriel offers a similarly gripping passage into power. Sabriel must master necromantic bells, venture beyond safety, and face a rising ancient evil—mirroring Maerad’s coming into her Gift and confronting the Nameless One’s shadow through courage and skill.

If you admired Maerad’s strength as she grows from enslaved orphan to Bard—defying corrupt powers and evading the Hulls—then Katsa’s journey in Graceling will resonate. She rebels against a manipulative king, chooses her own moral compass, and survives treacherous wilderness and courtly schemes with the same steel that carries Maerad across Annar.

If the structured Bardic Gift—its oaths, disciplines, and rules—hooked you as Maerad learns to wield power under Cadvan’s guidance, the allomancy of The Final Empire will hit the same sweet spot. Watching Vin train, test limits, and strategize with tightly defined magical mechanics echoes the thrill of Maerad mastering her abilities while outrunning darkness.