If the sweep from Westland into the Midlands—Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd racing to thwart Darken Rahl—hooked you, you’ll feel right at home with Rand leaving the Two Rivers alongside Moiraine and Lan to face the Shadow. Like the Confessors and the Boxes of Orden, Jordan’s world brims with ancient powers, prophecies, and relentless pursuit. The sense of flight-and-chase, ambushes on the road, and the looming threat of a world-consuming evil echo the momentum you loved in Wizard’s First Rule.

If you were gripped by Richard’s single-minded drive to stop Darken Rahl and unravel the riddle of the Boxes of Orden, you’ll love Kelsier and Vin’s razor-focused plan to topple the Lord Ruler. The crew’s meticulous schemes mirror Richard’s quest-driven urgency, while Allomancy’s crisp rules scratch the same itch as learning how the Sword of Truth and confessors’ powers truly work. It’s that same feeling of a focused objective barreling toward a decisive confrontation you enjoyed in Wizard’s First Rule.

If the Mord-Sith scenes with Denna—Richard’s brutal captivity and the palpable cost of violence—left a mark, Abercrombie’s world will feel chillingly familiar. Inquisitor Glokta’s interrogations, Logen Ninefingers’ blood-soaked past, and Bayaz’s opaque designs deliver the same hard-edged impact. Like Wizard’s First Rule, the story doesn’t look away from pain or power’s cruelty, making every victory feel earned—and scarred.

If Richard and Kahlan’s impossible love—threatened by the Confessor’s touch and their clashing obligations—kept you turning pages, Yelena and Valek’s perilous bond will hit the same nerve. As Yelena becomes the Commander’s food taster, secrets about her magic and political dangers push the relationship into risk and restraint, echoing the tenderness and tension you felt whenever Richard and Kahlan fought both enemies and their fate in Wizard’s First Rule.

If the Wizard’s First Rule—people believe lies because they want to—struck you, Pratchett’s tale of Brutha, the god Om, and the zealot Vorbis will feel like a brilliant mirror. Where Darken Rahl exploits faith, fear, and symbols to rule, Small Gods dissects how institutions manipulate belief and how truth survives under tyranny. It’s lighter in tone, but its insights into conviction, authority, and moral choice are as piercing as the lessons Richard learns.