East+Central European Fantasy
Fantasy inspired by Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and/or Russia (myths, setting, etc.) Will also be including Slavic inspired fantasy books here as well.
created by meganisnotokay
last updated August, 2026
Comments
I've had Deathless by Catherynne M Valente recommended to me as similar to the Winternight trilogy and Uprooted! I haven't read it yet but it seems it would fit this nicely!
I've never heard of it (just looked it up), but I'm intrigued! I'll go ahead and add, thank you!
I have a book on my TBR that might fit from the setting, The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis.
Will add! Thanks!
naomi novik’s other book, spinning silver, is also eastern european inspired!
🫡
Oh this is such a cool list; I was recently just looking for books with eastern European mythology, so this is really perfect! 😍✨
Happy to hear!🥰
Anything Serbian/Balkan recs?
I’ll have to go through them all to see and get back to you (I can’t remember off the top of my head 🥲). I’m hoping that eventually we’ll be able to add notes to books because that’ll def be helpful with these types of lists 💖
Okay, I combed through them and here are some that may match what you are specifically looking for:
Dark Woods, Deep Water by Jelena Dunato is based on Slavic folklore specifically from the Eastern Adriatic region which is a Balkan coastline (the Adriatic region includes parts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania).
Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer has a setting heavily inspired by 19th century Serbia.
Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova is inspired by Bulgarian folklore.
Note: I haven’t read any of these, so this info is based on my research, what the author/marketing has stated, and what other reviewers have said.
A lot of the books on this list are a bit more vague (i.e. “setting inspired by Russia” or “based on Slavic folklore” or “takes inspiration from Polish fairytales” etc etc), but I’m hoping to continually grow this list and add more location-specific books as I find them :)
Thank u sm!! Youre amazing and so so sweet for this!! Iirc, Echo North was more Russian inspired? But that’s not based on any expertise whatsoever, just what I read online before
Ofc 🥰 and that may be! I’ve never read it myself, so I don’t know for sure, but there’s an author’s note and some online interviews where the author states Serbia as setting inspiration. In one she says the landscapes in the latter half of the book are inspired by Serbia, and in another she just generally says “The setting and landscapes are inspired by 19th-century Siberia.” That being said, how much it actually comes across? I can’t say lol
Would Thistlefoot match your vibe? I know it's mostly set in the US (there are flashbacks from Russia), but it is inspired by Baba Yaga
Yeah I honestly went back and forth on that one because of that (haven't read it myself, so wasn't sure), but I think I will go ahead and add it! Once I read it myself, I can always remove it from the list if I feel it doesn't fit.
For my fantasy-based-on-location lists, I include books that use the real location as setting inspiration, but also ones that just use myths/legends/folklore from the real location as well! So I feel Thistlefoot would def fit the "qualifications" :)
Thanks for your comment!
Yeah, I can understand the back and forth, especially not having read it. Hopefully, once you do, it does fit the vibe you were going for. I haven't read the other books on the list, so I am just going off the general description 😅
No no I def appreciate it!! ^__^ 💗
And This Fatal Kiss!! Hehehe
Great list! I'd like to recommend The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk for Estonia. It's set in medieval times, is about traditions, and based on local folklore
Ooo I’ll add it ^__^
Devil's Deal by Layla Fae is an incredible dark fantasy trilogy inspired by Slavic/Polish folklore, highly recommend checking it out and maybe adding it to your list:)
Oooooo! Will do! Thanks sm!
