Books like Andor TV show

December 3, 2022 8:24 AM

Looking for books that give the same feel as the Andor show.

Just finished Andor and was blown away. Looking for books that give the same feel of a resistance group secretly plotting and fighting against an oppressive empire. I’m figuring there’s loads of WWII ones and others, but I’m not sure where to start.

Prefer non-Star Wars books, since I’m already well aware of those.

posted by fryman to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

Best answer: Not books but some of these are adaptations and all are worth watching: Eight movies to watch after finishing 'Andor'.
posted by caek at 8:47 AM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: HHhH by Laurent Binet will fit the bill.
Binet goes for historical accuracy, but is also an excellent writer.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:22 AM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You might enjoy Amberlough. Essentially a historical fiction but with different country names, following a fascist takeover of a late-1930s pseudo-London-Paris amalgam and the resistance that rises up from there in both that country and the nearby areas. Spies, cabaret performers, diplomats all struggling with classism and racism and homophobia and a brutal religious-fascist regime.
posted by curious nu at 9:23 AM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy has some similar themes while being a very different kind of space story from Star Wars.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:23 AM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Is historical fiction good? The claustrophobia of the Andor characters trying not to slip up and reveal their participation in the resistance reminded me of the World War I flashback portions of The Alice Network.
posted by capricorn at 2:48 PM on December 3, 2022

Agreed with hydropsyche re: Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch books, starting with "Ancillary Justice". Also check out "The Traitor Baru Cormorant" by Seth Dickinson, and its sequels. Acclaimed scifi/fantasy novels from the past several years in case you want more of this sort of adventure/espionage/political intrigue/meditations on complicity stuff.
posted by brainwane at 2:56 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: "Andor" reminded my spouse and me of the 1930s and World War II historical fiction spy thrillers of Alan Furst. He and I recall reading "Dark Star" first so it's probably a fine place to start!
posted by brainwane at 2:58 PM on December 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

Katherine Kurtz has a series of books about people who have extrasensory powers, perform ritual magic, and in rare cases heal called the Deryni. Her books are set in a fictional parallel medieval Great Britian called Gwynedd. They cover two eras of Gwynedd's history.

The two trilogies set in the earlier part of Gwynedd's history show how the Deryni in Gwynedd lose power, have to go into hiding, and the steps they take to ensure the survival of their descendants and their culture. The trilogies are the Legends of Camber of Culdi and the Heirs of St. Camber.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 9:37 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Our Game by John le Carré
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
posted by oldnumberseven at 9:40 PM on December 3, 2022

Best answer: You want Alan Furst, who writes tense historical thrillers set before, during, and after WWII, with spies and resistance fighters living in difficult circumstances and constantly questioning each other's loyalties and motives. They are very good, and I would put money on Gilroy having read some of them.
posted by suelac at 10:34 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I’ve done a fair bit of reading on resistance in Nazi Germany. For nonfiction, look for books about the White Rose. For fiction (but based on real people/events), Every Man Dies Alone is fantastic (it’s also called Alone in Berlin).
posted by chaiyai at 10:16 PM on December 4, 2022