More like The White Bone

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EarthseaUniverse
universe19 books1964
Epic fantasy, about wizards, set in secondary world.
“There is a lesson every wizard of Earthsea learns young: to know a thing's true name is to hold its whole being, and to speak it is to move the balance of the world.”
from the catalogue
Start with A Wizard of Earthsea →
includes Earthsea Cycle
NationNovel
Terry Pratchettstandalone novel2008
About found family and coming of age, set in islands and 19th century.
InfernoSeries
series2 books1976
Dark in tone, about redemption, set in afterlife & underworld.
“In Inferno, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle send a science fiction writer to his death and drop him into a modern-dress version of Dante's nine circles of Hell, where he must reason his way toward understanding why he has been damned.”
from the catalogue
Start with Inferno →
LilithNovel
George MacDonaldstandalone novel1895
Eerie in tone, about identity, set in otherworld.
The Great DivorceNovel
C. S. Lewisstandalone novel1945
Literary & general, set in afterlife & underworld.
Life of PiNovel
Yann Martelstandalone novel2001
Literary & general, about identity, set in at sea and contemporary.
“After a shipwreck, he survives 227 days while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, raising questions about the nature of reality and how it is perceived and told.”
from the catalogue