Netflix’s Arcane shattered every expectation people had for it. I don’t think anyone thought a show based on League of Legends would be a masterclass in well-written character relationships, pacing, and environmental storytelling. And with its last season over, fans are hungry for something to fill the void it’s leaving.
Arcane dips its beautifully animated toes into many literary genres: steampunk, science fantasy, political thriller, romance, drama, and, of course, tragedy. While it’s hard to think of a book that covers all the bases Arcane did as well as it did, plenty of books tackle one or more of them with just as much flair and bravery.
Jinx and Vi’s story may have come to a close, but the ending of their tale could be the spark that launches you, like a graffitied rocket, into another incredible experience. So let’s stop emoting around the point; here are ten books like Arcane.
10. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
I’m starting this list with a stretch so big it could send Ambessa to the chiropractor’s office. With its lush setting and focus on magical creatures, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull is about as far from Arcane in aesthetic as you can get. However, Arcane and Fablehaven share one significant similarity: sibling protagonists with an incredibly engaging dynamic.
Kendra and Seth Sorenson are so much like pre-trauma Vi and Powder that it almost hurts. Their relationship even undergoes a disturbingly similar test when Seth makes a mistake that sets Fablehaven‘s plot in motion. Alongside its focus on siblings, Fablehaven also explores the compromises people must make to create and preserve peace between radically opposing forces, an idea both seasons of Arcane delved into.
9. Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
Airships are a symbol of steampunk, and they play a significant role in Arcane as a major set piece in several action scenes and as a constant reminder of the inequality that defines Pitlover’s relationship with Zaun. If you wish Arcane had done something more with the airships that loom large over Piltover, read Retribution Falls by Josiah Bancroft.
Framed for a crime they didn’t commit, Darian Frey and his eccentric crew of sky pirates go on the run to prove their innocence, pursued by bounty hunters, knights, and a vengeful pirate queen. Retribution Falls‘ swashbuckling air of adventure makes it a clear and fun read, something I’m guessing many Arcane fans desperately want right about now.
8. Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
It’s hard to narrow down what Arcane’s overall message is, but if I had to brave a guess, I’d argue it’s that family is worth fighting for, no matter how heavy the baggage attached to them is. Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft tackles a very similar idea, and it’s also set in a well-fleshed-out fantastical steampunk city.
Thomas Senlin is every bit the naïve, well-intentioned protagonist every major player in Arcane started as. However, as he scours the heart of the city of Babel for his missing wife, he unwittingly embarks on a soul-rending odyssey that pushes his moral code to its shatter point.
7. Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang
The industrialization of magic is one of the primary forces propelling Arcane‘s story, and it raises interesting questions about the paradoxical roles academia and science play in changing and maintaining the status quo. Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang sets out to ask and answer similar questions.
In a version of the British Empire similar to the one that once dominated our world, silver bars store the magic that exists in the bond between words in different languages that have similar meanings. When students at Oxford’s Royal Institute of Translation challenge how their work supports the Empire’s colonial agenda, revolution ignites, and the young radicals’ unity is tested.
6. The City of Towers by Keith Baker
The magi-tech world of Eberron is one of Dungeons & Dragons‘ most iconic and exciting campaign settings. The towering city of Sharn is practically a world itself, ravaged by the same class conflict and political intrigue that defines the relationship between Arcane‘s Piltover and Zaun.
The City of Towers by Keith Baker is one of many books exploring Eberron’s world. It’s a mystery story with a scope that spans from the highest spires of Sharn to the burned-out shadows of its industrial underbelly. It even features a sinister society of aristocratic mages from a hostile foreign nation who look, feel, and act like Noxus’ Black Rose.
5. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Arcane has never been coy about its Shakespearean undertones. Season 2’s incredible opening directly alludes to Macbeth, and its first episode alludes to the often misquoted line from Henry IV, Part 2: “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” I know Macbeth is a play, but I think most people were first exposed to the infamous “Scottish Play” in paperback form in high school English class, so I’m willing to argue it counts as a book by this point.
People have adapted Macbeth into countless settings, but at its core, it’s a story about a decent person driven to do indecent things by a nasty combination of external forces and internal drives. This holds true for almost every character in Arcane, and the results of their choices give Romeo and Juliet‘s tragic conclusion a run for its money.
4. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield
One of Arcane‘s main overarching themes is the cost of war and the lengths we go to justify waging it. Many science fantasy books have explored war through unique lenses. Still, few strike a balance between the raw excitement of fantastical warfare and its terrible consequences it sows and Scott Westefield’s Leviathan.
In an alternate World War I waged between genetically altered beasts and diesel-fueled automatons, disguised London girl Deryn Sharp and exiled Hungarian prince Aleksandar of Hohenburg meet on the deck of a flying whale. Things only get crazier from there, but the friction between the idealized image of warfare and the harsh realities of the real thing is a constant.
3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse is one of the most well-realized fantasy universes I’ve read, one that treats magic as a scientific discipline in a vein very similar to Arcane‘s Hextech. Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy is a fantastic read, but Six of Crows vibes are much closer to Arcane‘s in frequency.
Six of Crow‘s Ketterdam, a crime-ridden metropolis inspired by the historical Dutch Republic, isn’t as technologically advanced as Piltover or Zuan, but the conflict between its social classes hits many of the same notes. If Ketterdam’s Victorian aesthetic isn’t enough to win you over, the electric chemistry between its delightfully chaotic ensemble cast will.
2. Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves
Progress is a word Arcane loves to throw around, and the terrible consequences the blind pursuit of it brings is one of the series’ main themes. If there’s one book that explores how technology can turn the familiar and comforting into something monstrous, it’s Phillip Reeves’ Mortal Engines.
In Mortal Engines, cities have been fitted with colossal wheels and mechanical jaws, which they use to chase down and consume other cities in an endless chase their blissfully ignorant citizens have named “Municipal Darwinism.” This world takes the social pleasantries of pre-World War I Europe and blends them in with the dog-eat-dog philosophy of a Mad Max movie. Its star-crossed leads, prim-and-proper Tom Natesworthy and rough-and-tumble Hester Shaw, also give off big Violyn vibes
1. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
I don’t think it’s controversial to argue that Brandon Sanderson is the GOAT when it comes to speculative literature. Many of his stories blend contrasting genres and sweeping ideas into tightly written epics, and few come closer to recreating the intrigue that turned Arcane into one of Netflix’s greatest success stories than Mistborn.
Mistborn checks off so many of the boxes one might see on a hypothetical “Is this like Arcane?” questionnaire that it’s scary. It’s set in a world where a privileged elite reaps the benefits of a magic system the lower class cannot access. It follows a downtrodden female protagonist who rises to become a revolutionary, loved by her allies but hated by her enemies. Mistborn is every bit the thrilling, thought-provoking adventure Arcane is, so why not take the plunge and see what you’ve been missing?
Published: Nov 26, 2024 03:58 am