Books like 'The Last Empress'

Readers who enjoyed The Last Empress by Anchee Min also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

historical  fantasy  war  20th century  multicultural

  • Ponniyin Selvan- Whirlwinds : Part 2 by Kalki

    Ponniyin Selvan- Whirlwinds : Part 2 by Kalki

    Rated: 4.66 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Whirlwinds, the exciting second part of Kalki R Krishnamurthy's historic magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan, our hero Vallavarayan Vandhiyathevan's adventures continue as he rides into marshy quagmires, befriends a mysterious girl, becomes the object of intense suspicion by the wily Pazhuvettarayars - and meets the hero of his dreams...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  fantasy  mystery  suspense  length-long
  • Whirlwinds by Kalki

    Whirlwinds by Kalki

    Rated: 4.65 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Whirlwinds, the exciting second part of Kalki R Krishnamurthy's historic magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan, our hero Vallavarayan Vandhiyathevan's adventures continue as he rides into marshy quagmires, befriends a mysterious girl, becomes the object of intense suspicion by the wily Pazhuvettarayars - and meets the hero of his dreams...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  fantasy  mystery  suspense  length-long
  • Sponsored links
  • Sword of Slaughter by Kalki

    Sword of Slaughter by Kalki

    Rated: 4.66 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Ponniyin Selvan is a masterpiece that has enthralled generations of Tamil readers. Many authors have written phenomenal books in Tamil literature after Kalki Krishnamurthy, but Ponniyin Selvan remains the most popular, widely-read novel...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  fantasy  suspense  mystery  length-long
  • Ponniyin Selvan-Part 1-Fresh Floods by Kalki

    Ponniyin Selvan-Part 1-Fresh Floods by Kalki

    Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Ponniyin Selvan is Kalki’s magnum opus based in the 10th century and presents the early life of Raajaraajan and the kings of Chozha Empire. Though written more than 60 years ago this saga is timeless, reeling the readers in its gripping plot which is interwoven with intrigue, conspiracies and romance...
  • The Reckoning by Sharon Kay Penman

    The Reckoning by Sharon Kay Penman

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 38 ratings
    Here, alive from the pages of history, is the compelling tale of a Celtic society ruled by Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, on a collison course with a feudal realm of Edward I. WIth this last book in the extraordinary trilogy that began with HERE BE DRAGONS and continued in FALLS THE SHADOW, Sharon Kay Penman has written a beautiful and moving conclusion to her medieval saga...
  • Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman

    Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 38 ratings
    Simon de Montfort was a man ahead of his time in the thirteenth century, a disinherited Frenchman who talked his way into an English earldom and marriage with a sister of the English king, Henry III. A charismatic, obstinate leader, Simon soon lost patience with the king's incompetence and inability to keep his word, and found himself the champion of the common people...
  • The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

    The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 34 ratings
    The Sun Sister is the sixth epic story in the Seven Sisters series by the number one international bestseller Lucinda Riley.To the outside world, Electra d'Apliese seems as though she is the woman who has everything: as one of the world's top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous...
  • The Shadow Sister (The Seven Sisters) by Lucinda Riley

    The Shadow Sister (The Seven Sisters) by Lucinda Riley

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 46 ratings
    Following on from the bestselling The Seven Sisters and The Storm Sister, The Shadow Sister is the third book in Lucinda Riley's spellbinding series, loosely based on the mythology of the Seven Sisters star cluster...
  • The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy

    The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    In this haunting tale from the bestselling author of The Storyteller of Casablanca, Beatrice kept a wartime secret to protect the innocent. Now, could telling it set her free?Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered...
  • Troy by Stephen Fry

    Troy by Stephen Fry

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 44 ratings
    The story of Troy speaks to all of us - the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the city of Troy, to which they will lay siege for ten whole years. It is a terrible war with casualties on all sides as well as strained relations between allies, whose consequences become tragedies...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  fantasy  humor  ancient times
  • The Blood Debt by Duncan M. Hamilton

    The Blood Debt by Duncan M. Hamilton

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    A blade fit for a hero. An army for a tyrant. A reckoning long awaited, and a tale reaching its end. The riveting conclusion to the Wolf of the North trilogy by Duncan M...
  • Aztec by Gary Jennings

    Aztec by Gary Jennings

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    Aztec is the extraordinary story of the last and greatest native civilization of North America...
  • The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

    The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 72 ratings
    A lost child: On the eve of the First World War, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her - but has disappeared without a trace. A terrible secret: On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell Andrews learns a secret that will change her life forever...
  • Jorundyr's Path by Duncan M. Hamilton

    Jorundyr's Path by Duncan M. Hamilton

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Book 2 of the Wolf of the North trilogy. Jorundyr's Path is walked only by the brave. It is survived only by the strong.As Wulfric pursues Adalhaid's Blood Debt, he soon learns that the path to revenge is never easy, and the desires of men and the will of gods rarely meet. Aethelman seeks answers to questions long ignored. Rodulf chases power and wealth...
  • Beyond the Horizon by Ella Carey

    Beyond the Horizon by Ella Carey

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Suddenly, it became hard to breathe and the sound of the engine throbbed in Eva’s head. The plane crashed and skidded. She heard the wail of sirens. The last thing she remembered was pulling her body across the tarmac an inch at a time—before her world went black.Sweetwater, Texas, 1943. Eva has always wanted to fly away...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  fantasy  military  length-medium
  • Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières

    Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    In his first novel since Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernières creates a world, populates it with characters as real as our best friends, and launches it into the maelstrom of twentieth-century history. The setting is a small village in southwestern Anatolia in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Everyone there speaks Turkish, though they write it in Greek letters...
  • Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

    Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    Tokyo, 1912. The closed world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders - rich provincial familes, a new and powerful political and social elite. Kiyoaki has been raised among the elegant Ayakura family - members of the waning aristocracy - but he is not one of them...
  • The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 3 by Riyoko Ikeda

    The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 3 by Riyoko Ikeda

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 10 ratings
    ...
  • The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 2 by Riyoko Ikeda

    The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 2 by Riyoko Ikeda

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 10 ratings
    Oscar Fran�ois de Jarjeyes, female commander of the royal guard, is at the center of events as Marie Antoinette's involvement in the scandalous Affair of the Diamond Necklace and her passion for Count Fersen of Sweden cause chaos at the court of Versailles. This deluxe hardcover volume contains chapters 23-44 of Riyoko Ikeda's historical fiction masterwork...
  • The Sands of Ammon by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

    The Sands of Ammon by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    THE BESTSELLING EPIC OF THE GLORY AND THE GRANDEUR INTRIGUES AND PASSIONS OF ANCIENT GREECE...AND THE WARRIOR KING WHOSE CONQUESTS BUILT AN ETERNAL LEGEND.ALEXANDER Volume THE SANDS OF AMMONA thousand years after Agamemnon fought the Trojan War. Alexander, the king of Macedonia and descendant of Achilles, follows in the footsteps of Greek legend...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  contemporary  fantasy  length-long
  • On Mother Brown's Doorstep by Mary Jane Staples

    On Mother Brown's Doorstep by Mary Jane Staples

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The big event of the Walworth year was to be the wedding of Sammy Adams, King of Camberwell, to Miss Susie Brown. Everyone was looking forward to it, and Susie was particularly overjoyed when her soldier brother suddenly turned up on leave from service in India in time for the approaching 'knees-up'...
  • King Of Camberwell by Mary Jane Staples

    King Of Camberwell by Mary Jane Staples

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Sammy was the sharp one of the Adams family.Since he was nine-years-old - when he'd charged his mother interest on a loan to make up the rent money - he'd been busy setting up deals and expanding the family business - a china stall in East Street market. But as his mighty empire grew - two shops and a factory in Shoreditch - so did the determination of his assistant, Susie Brown...
  • Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

    Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

    Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    “Last Wednesday he had been engaged in moving an audience of Rennes to anger; on this Wednesday he was to move an audience of Guichen to mirth...”Once he was André-Louis Moreau, a lawyer raised by nobility, unconcerned with the growing discontent among France’s lower class—until his friend was mercilessly struck down by a member of the aristocracy.Now he is Scaramouche...
  • Down Lambeth Way by Mary Jane Staples

    Down Lambeth Way by Mary Jane Staples

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The Adams family of Walworth were poor, cheerful, and above all respectable - even though they sometimes had to seek a little help from the pawnbroker. Mrs Adams - affectionately called Chinese Lady by her children - was a widow, her soldier husband having gone, rather carelessly, to a hero's death on the Northwest Frontier...
  • The Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy

    The Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Britannia, AD 117: Roman centurion Flavius Ferox is trying to live a quiet life of dignified leisure, overseeing his wife's estate and doing his best to resist the urge to murder an annoying neighbour – until someone else does it for him...
  • The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 4 by Riyoko Ikeda

    The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 4 by Riyoko Ikeda

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    France spirals towards a civil war, as nobles continue to ignore the people of France. Noblewoman Oscar François de Jarjayes is forced to reconsider her life as a soldier and a woman, her loyalties and her love. Marie Antoinette and the royal family seek escape, while Robespierre and the National Assembly take up arms and demand democracy...
  • Poison Genius Consort by 芥沫 (Jie Mo)

    Poison Genius Consort by 芥沫 (Jie Mo)

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    Easily cowed and bullied, she was the useless, ugly woman with no talent in medical skills. Supported by millions, he was Tianning’s most respected duke with the power to move all under Heaven. On their wedding day the bridal sedan was carried to the front doors, but the Duke of Qin’s gates were shut tight.They told her, ‘Come back tomorrow...
  • Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw

    Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Ariantes is a Sarmatian, a barbarian warrior-prince, uprooted from his home and customs and thrust into the honorless lands of the Romans. The victims of a wartime pact struck with the emperor Marcus Aurelius to ensure the future of Sarmatia, Ariantes and his troop of accomplished horsemen are sent to Hadrian's Wall...
  • The Princess and The Warrior by Duncan Tonatiuh

    The Princess and The Warrior by Duncan Tonatiuh

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Award-winning creator Duncan Tonatiuh brings a cherished Mexican legend to lifeA Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book and ALA/ALSC Notable Children's Book!   Izta was the most beautiful princess in the land, and suitors traveled from far and wide to woo her. Even though she was the daughter of the emperor, Izta had no desire to marry a man of wealth and power...
  • The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

    The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 28 ratings
    From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and The Kingdoms, an epic Cold War novel set in a mysterious town in Soviet Russia...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  fantasy  mystery  suspense  m-m  queer
  • The Watchmaker's Daughter by Dianne Haley

    The Watchmaker's Daughter by Dianne Haley

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    Hiding the worn piece of paper among her father’s watch deliveries, her eyes fill with tears at the memory of her brave friend walking towards the Nazi soldiers, and the sharp sound of gun fire. Her friend sacrificed herself so that she could deliver this message...
  • The Circus Train by Amita Parikh

    The Circus Train by Amita Parikh

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    At the World of Wonders, Europe's most magnificent travelling circus, every moment is full of magic, and nothing is as it seems--especially for the people who put on the show Lena Papadopoulos has never quite found her place within the circus, even as the daughter of the extraordinary headlining illusionist, Theo...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  fantasy  historical  length-long
  • The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

    The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Dorset, 1642. England is on the cusp of civil war.Jayne Swift, a daughter of the Dorset gentry, has resisted all offers of marriage and instead trained as a physician, using her skills to tend to her Royalist father's tenants and the local population. When civil war sweeps England she vows to remain neutral and aid the injured whether they be Royalist or Parliamentarian...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  mystery  fantasy  military  length-long
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter

    J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    The authorized biography of the creator of Middle-earth. In the decades since his death in September 1973, millions have read THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Born in South Africa in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood and brought up in near-poverty...
  • A Year of Ravens by Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray

    A Year of Ravens by Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Britannia: land of mist and magic clinging to the western edge of the Roman Empire. A red-haired queen named Boudica led her people in a desperate rebellion against the might of Rome, an epic struggle destined to consume heroes and cowards, young and old, Roman and Celt . . . and these are their stories. A calculating queen sees the sparks of revolt in a king’s death...
  • Black Fox One by Elyse Hoffman

    Black Fox One by Elyse Hoffman

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Jonas Amsel and Avalina Keller, devoted Nazis and best friends, have a bright future in Hitler’s Third Reich. Ava, a talented gymnast, wants to serve Germany in the Olympics, and Jonas, who has loved Ava since they were children, wants nothing more than to marry her and start a family. When he is about to propose, however, Ava and her entire family vanish without a trace...
  • Maison Ikkoku, Volume 10 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Maison Ikkoku, Volume 10 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    From the creator of RANMA 1/2 and INUYASHA comes one of Rumiko Takahashi's most beloved series, the romantic (sort of) comedy MAISON IKKOKU, re-presented in a second edition in its original episodic order, with a "missing" episode! Take a trip down memory lane back into Japan's nuttiest apartment house and meet its volatile inhabitants: Kyoko, the beautiful and mysterious new apartment manager;...
  • Maison Ikkoku, Volume 8 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Maison Ikkoku, Volume 8 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Follows the tenants of Japan's nuttiest apartment house where Kyoko, the manager, Yusaku, the college student, Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip, Akemi, the boozy bar hostess, and Mr. Yostuya, the mooching peeper, reside...
  • Maison Ikkoku, Volume 5 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Maison Ikkoku, Volume 5 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Follows the tenants of Japan's nuttiest apartment house where Kyoko, the manager, Yusaku, the college student, Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip, Akemi, the boozy bar hostess, and Mr. Yostuya, the mooching peeper, reside...
  • The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer

    The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The secret is hidden within a collection of Dior dresses.... London, 2017. There’s no one Lucille adores more than her grandmother (not even her mother, she’s ashamed to say). So when her beloved Granny Sylvie asks Lucille to help secure the return of something precious to her, she’s happy to help...
  • Tales of Love, Madness and Death by Horacio Quiroga

    Tales of Love, Madness and Death by Horacio Quiroga

    Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    This is an English translation of the famous collection of 18 weird tales of Horacio Quiroga, which is presented as a Spanish/English bilingual edition.Most of the stories are dark and strange and describe situations that offer no clear way out for the protagonist...
  • 다정한 그대를 지키는 방법 2 (Saving My Sweetheart (Manhwa) #2) by Yujeong Han, Jiei Kim

    다정한 그대를 지키는 방법 2 (Saving My Sweetheart (Manhwa) #2) by Yujeong Han, Jiei Kim

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    마지막 순간까지 날 위해 준 사람이번 생에는 반드시 내가 당신을 지킬게요정말 과거로 돌아온 걸까.모든 것이 기억과 같긴 했다.그녀가 입고 있는 흰 웨딩드레스, 풍성한 수국 부케, 신부 대기실 벽에 걸린 액자까지.급히 소매를 걷고 자신의 팔 안쪽을 살피던 레티샤가 숨을 멈추었다.상처를 내려다보는 그녀의 눈에선 기쁨의 눈물이 흘렀다.“신이시여, 감사합니다.”그녀는 무릎을 꿇고 신께 기도를 올렸다.“그 사람을 살릴 수 있는 기회를 주셔서, 감사합니다.”사랑하는 남자를 잃고 모든 걸 포기한 순간, 모든 걸 돌이킬 기회가 주어진다면?서로를 지키기 위해 무엇이든 할 수 있는 두 사람 사이에 켜켜이 쌓이는 다정한 오해. 그 속에 담긴 설렘과 감동! 서로를 향한 마음은 끝내 이루어질 수 있을까...
    Categorized as:
    war  fantasy  historical  length-short
  • Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott

    Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott

    Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Dreaming the Eagle is the first part of the gloriously imagined epic trilogy of the life of Boudica. Boudica means Bringer of Victory (from the early Celtic word "boudeg"). She is the last defender of the Celtic culture in Britain; the only woman openly to lead her warriors into battle and to stand successfully against the might of Imperial Rome - and triumph...
  • Wait for Me: A Novel by Santa Montefiore

    Wait for Me: A Novel by Santa Montefiore

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    From #1 internationally bestselling author Santa Montefiore comes a gripping new novel of enduring love and devastating secrets, sweeping across England during WWII to Australia five decades later, based on a true story.Rupert promised he was going to come back. All Florence had to do was wait...
  • Dawn of Empire by Sam Barone

    Dawn of Empire by Sam Barone

    Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Five millennia ago, on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, the course of human history changed forever . . .The people of Orak cherish their peaceful village and the life they have made. Though not proficient with the bow or sword, they possess a weapon far stronger: the ability to coax food from the ground. This is why the barbarian leader Thutmose-sin hates and fears them...
    Categorized as:
    war  military  historical  fantasy  length-long
  • Palace by Katharine Kerr, Mark Kreighbaum

    Palace by Katharine Kerr, Mark Kreighbaum

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Bestselling author Katharine Kerr joins with Mark Kreighbaum to present a vivid, alluring and terrifying world of the future.  They call it Palace, the capital of a planet located in a region of space known as the Pinch...
  • Maison Ikkoku, Volume 9 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Maison Ikkoku, Volume 9 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Follows the tenants of Japan's nuttiest apartment house where Kyoko, the manager, Yusaku, the college student, Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip, Akemi, the boozy bar hostess, and Mr. Yostuya, the mooching peeper, reside...
  • Maison Ikkoku, Volume 11 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Maison Ikkoku, Volume 11 by Rumiko Takahashi

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    From the creator of RANMA 1/2 and INUYASHA comes one of Rumiko Takahashi's most beloved series, the romantic (sort of) comedy MAISON IKKOKU, re-presented in a second edition in its original episodic order, with a "missing" episode! Take a trip down memory lane back into Japan's nuttiest apartment house and meet its volatile inhabitants: Kyoko, the beautiful and mysterious new apartment manager;...
  • The Bloody Throne by S.C. Emmett

    The Bloody Throne by S.C. Emmett

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    "Intricate, elegant and sharp as a blade―sweeping political fantasy at its finest." ―Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine ThroneA richly detailed epic of ambition, honor, and sacrifice, The Bloody Throne is the masterful conclusion to Hostage of Empire, a medieval East Asia-inspired fantasy trilogy. The great Zhaon empire is in turmoil...
Fantastic book recommendations by romance book lovers for romance book lovers.
Find out more about romance.io.


Get recommendations by genres & tropes

Use the romance book finder to mix and match over 100 content keywords to find the books that match your preferences

romance book finder

Looking for more inspiration? Enter another book title to get more suggestions on what to read next.


Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.