Since its release in February, Elden Ring has become an immense popular success. The game has outsold all estimates, left its mark on the entire gaming market, and prompted countless discussions. In addition to its gameplay, Elden Ring is beloved for its story, with a particular focus on its setting and its unique cast of characters.
Given the unique storytelling style of FromSoftware, there are few stories exactly like that of Elden Ring. However, there are some novels with similar settings, similar styles, similar inspirations, and even familiar techniques and themes that Elden Ring players will immediately recognize. For players who want more of what the game offers, some books can fill that void.
7 A Song Of Ice And Fire Shares A Writer
One of the most widely-discussed things about Elden Ring before its release was the involvement of fantasy writer George R. R. Martin. The level of his involvement remains unclear, seemingly confined to writing the game's backstory and developing its characters, but his influences can be felt in many facets of the game's story.
A Song of Ice and Fire is Martin's magnum opus, the book series behind Game of Thrones, and there are similarities between the works. They both draw heavily on history and mythology, focus on large and dysfunctional families, and the ramifications individual disagreements can have on the wider world. The series is five books in, but Elden Ring fans could do worse than giving it a read.
6 Lord Valentine's Castle Tells A Similar Tale
At its heart, Elden Ring is a story of an outcast, rejected by their homeland and gods, returning to claim the highest position of power there is. The Tarnished return after centuries, fights their way through the dangers of the Lands Between, and eventually acquire enough Great Runes to reforge the Elden Ring, and take their rightful place as Elden Lord.
In many ways, this echoes the plot of Lord Valentine's Castle, by Robert Silverberg. Although a science-fantasy story, the novel follows an amnesiac wanderer named Valentine, who learns that he is the true ruler of the planet Majipoor. It tells of his long trek across the world to reach spiritual guidance before he returns to claim his throne, mirroring Elden Ring in several ways.
5 American Gods Is Also Inspired By Real-World Mythology
The heart of Elden Ring's backstory is a civil war between the gods of the Lands Between. In the wake of the breaking of the Elden Ring, the demigods all turned on one another in the wars of the Shattering, bringing devastation to the Lands Between as they scrabbled for power. This takes place alongside several plans from other, shadier figures.
Neil Gaiman's American Gods, the novel behind the TV series, also looks at a conflict between deities with a focus on the deities themselves. It explores the nature of a god, the responsibilities of one, and the desperate scramble to keep power every bit as much as Elden Ring does. Furthermore, both stories draw heavily on Norse mythology in their telling, and keen-eyed readers may spot the same myths being used as references.
4 The Kingkiller Chronicle Talks Of Flawed People And A Flawed World
Although in many ways a lighter and more epic high fantasy story than many of FromSoftware's other works, Elden Ring is by no means a cheerful game. It still solidly occupies space under the umbrella of Dark Fantasy, particularly the further the player gets into the game. This mixture of Heroic and Dark Fantasy occupies a particular niche.
One book series that roughly matches this divide is The Kingkiller Chronicle, by Patrick Rothfuss. It is the story of a legendary hero recounting his deeds in his earlier life, as he takes readers through a dark and cynical world that nonetheless emphasizes the exploits of a particular character succeeding against all odds. While exact storytelling similarities are rare, the overall feel of the two stories is surprisingly similar.
3 Gideon The Ninth Takes Place In A Decaying Empire Stuffed With Surprises
Although its plot is fairly simple, Elden Ring manages to be full of surprising plot twists. Characters have hidden backstories, connections to one another, motivations, and even identities. Players who sift through the lore can have their preconceived notions changed and changed again as the story drops bombshell after bombshell.
This isn't the only similarity Elden Ring has to Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, but it's an undeniable connection between the stories. The world of Gideon the Ninth, taking place in a similar fractured and oppressive empire to the Lands Between, is full of surprises from nearly every corner. If players enjoy being shocked almost every time a character opens their mouth, they could do far worse than that book.
2 Earthsea Is A Fantasy Classic With Familiar Themes
One of the most recognized speculative fiction writers of the 20th century, one of Ursula K. Le Guin's defining works is the Earthsea series of novels. In terms of their setting and plots, they have at-best loose connections with Elden Ring, being fantasy novels set in an Iron Age-equivalent world. Despite this, they are still well worth the read for any fan of Elden Ring.
Aside from anything else, Le Guin's impact on the fantasy and science-fiction genres cannot be overstated, with a great many works of speculative fiction owing her a great debt. Furthermore, the series has similar themes to Elden Ring, with a particular focus on the balance between strength and responsibility, echoing the sorry state of the Lands Between.
1 The Dark Tower Shares A Plot And Aesthetic
A controversial fantasy series, Stephen King's The Dark Tower nonetheless shares a surprising amount of DNA with Elden Ring. In both stories, a character wanders a world devastated, in a form of fantasy post-apocalypse. They both seek to find a central structure in the world for ambiguous reasons while getting frequently sidetracked and dealing with the machinations of fate.
Roland Deschain seeks the Dark Tower whilst the Tarnished seeks the Erdtree, but the plots are very similar. Both get incredibly weird at times, throwing strange concepts and plot twists into a previously-simple story, and have similarly dark senses of humor. While the series may not be for everyone, The Dark Tower could still interest any fan of the game.