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The Book of Jhereg

Steven Brust

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for The Book of Jhereg. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: assassin protagonist, criminal underworld, mob politics, impossible job, magical assassination, mystery-solving, class conflict, social revolt, outsider in power structure, minority advancement, fantasy crime caper

Setting labels used: secondary world, fantasy empire, corrupt city, organized crime setting, magical society, social hierarchy, racial stratification, long-lived race, human minority, aristocratic houses, revolutionary unrest, military/political intrigue, sorcery society, multi-house polity

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

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Jhereg

Steven Brust · 1983 · Vlad Taltos

A human assassin in a magic-soaked empire takes an impossible hit that could trigger war and expose deeper secrets.

Why this is here

Premise labels: assassin for hire · caper · murder mystery · criminal underworld · impossible job · mafia fantasy · power politics

Setting labels: secondary world · fantasy empire · criminal underworld · urban setting · floating castle · long-lived nonhuman race · human minority · house-based society · world with magic · world with resurrection

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1163

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Teckla

Steven Brust · 1987 · Vlad Taltos

A crime-boss assassin must protect his wife when her secret revolutionary activism threatens their marriage and his world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: revolution · marital conflict · class conflict · assassin protagonist · crime boss · political unrest · protecting spouse · social justice · worker uprising · identity crisis

Setting labels: fantasy empire · capital city · urban slum · human quarter · fantasy city · class-stratified society · feudal hierarchy · alien-race society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1625

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Gagner la guerre

Jean-Philippe Jaworski · 2009 · Récits du Vieux Royaume

An assassin-narrated fantasy of power, betrayal, and survival in a Renaissance-inspired republic after war.

Why this is here

Premise labels: assassin protagonist · political intrigue · power struggle · war aftermath · court conspiracy · mercenary loyalty · survival

Setting labels: imaginary republic · renaissance-inspired city · Italian Renaissance-inspired · maritime state · war-torn realm · semi-historical fantasy world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1915

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Blade of Tyshalle

Matthew Woodring Stover · 2001 · The Acts of Caine

A broken assassin-turned-administrator is dragged back into a brutal two-world struggle of plague, power, and gods.

Why this is here

Premise labels: assassin protagonist · alternate world · corporate control · entertainment violence · revenge plot · plague outbreak · broken hero · world-altering stakes · two-world conflict

Setting labels: Earth · alternate world · parallel world · future Earth · dystopian future · fantasy world · corporate state · caste society · interdimensional setting · post-plague world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2036

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City of Miracles

Robert Jackson Bennett · 2017 · The Divine Cities

A grieving exiled protector hunts an assassin and uncovers a divine conspiracy that could reshape his world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: revenge quest · assassination mystery · dead gods · divine power · hidden conspiracy · justice pursuit · protect the child · revenge and redemption · truth unraveling

Setting labels: secondary world · urban setting · city-state politics · post-divine world · alternate history feel · modernizing world · industrializing world · fantasy city · large-scale worldbuilding · contiguous series timeline

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2146

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Tortured Souls: The Legend of Primordium

Clive Barker

In the corrupt city of Primordium, an assassin’s encounter with an ancient flesh-shaper ignites transformation, revenge, and desire.

Why this is here

Premise labels: corrupt city · flesh transformation · revenge quest · assassin protagonist · monster-making · forbidden bargain · political upheaval · ancient entity · beauty and brutality

Setting labels: ancient city · corrupt city · degraded city · city-state · mythic reality · dark fantasy world · first city

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2188

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Flight of the Nighthawks

Raymond E. Feist · 2006 · The Darkwar Saga

A wizard and allies race to stop a body-hopping enemy and an assassin conspiracy threatening Kesh and Midkemia.

Why this is here

Premise labels: sorcerer protagonist · conspiracy · assassins guild · court intrigue · body-hopping villain · world-threatening invasion · young protagonists

Setting labels: Midkemia · Empire of Great Kesh · fantasy world · secondary world · magic-mediated world · interworld rift

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2192

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Rogues

George R.R. Martin · 2014 · Ancient World

A cross-genre anthology of rogues, thieves, tricksters, and morally gray characters by major fantasy and thriller authors.

Why this is here

Premise labels: rogues · scoundrels · tricksters · antiheroes · morally ambiguous characters

Setting labels: secondary worlds · urban fantasy · high fantasy worlds · contemporary settings · historical settings · alternate history · science fiction settings · westerosi history

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2196

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Court of Assassins

Philip C. Quaintrell · 2022 · The Ranger Archives

A deadly assassin begins to question his conditioning and must flee into a dangerous new life hunting monsters.

Why this is here

Premise labels: assassin redemption · assassin protagonist · monster hunting · escape from cult · forbidden freedom · outlawed assassin · ranger origin story · moral awakening · hunted fugitive

Setting labels: secondary world · medieval fantasy · dark fantasy world · monster-filled world · assassin order · wilds · towns and villages · cult-like institution · pre-series timeline

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2204

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A Face Like Glass

Frances Hardinge · 2012

A masked foundling in an underground city of learned expressions and magical food becomes a dangerous pawn in court intrigue.

Why this is here

Premise labels: outsider protagonist · hidden identity · memory loss · truth vs lies · court intrigue · underground society · magical crafts · social hierarchy · political struggle · coming of age · escape narrative

Setting labels: underground city · subterranean setting · cloistered society · class-stratified society · dystopian setting · fantastical world · sealed city · mountain cavern · court society · claustrophobic setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2232

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Oath of Swords

David Weber · 2006 · War God

A reluctant, outcast warrior is chosen by a war god and dragged into a violent, political fantasy journey.

Why this is here

Premise labels: reluctant hero · chosen champion · divine recruitment · unlikely paladin · on the run · political hostage · racial prejudice · escape mission · protect the vulnerable · fantasy quest

Setting labels: fantasy world · secondary world · medieval-like · contested realms · travel across lands · post-mage war history

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2280

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In the Shadow of Lightning

Brian McClellan · 2022 · Glass Immortals

A disgraced leader returns home to solve his mother’s murder as a magical resource runs out and war closes in.

Why this is here

Premise labels: murder mystery · political intrigue · resource depletion · family succession · outcast returns · war on the horizon · magic crisis · investigation

Setting labels: secondary world · city-state politics · imperial politics · magic-dependent society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2291

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