40 Magical Books Like Harry Potter

The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) – Michael Scott

The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book Nicholas Flamel protects – the Book of Abraham the Mage. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. Which is exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do. And if the prophecy is right, twins Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Pennyroyal Academy – M A Larson

A young girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy. There, given the name “Evie,” she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies.

The Wizards Of Once – Cressida Cowell

Once there were Wizards, who were Magic. And Warriors, who were not. But Xar, son of the King of Wizards, can’t cast a single spell and Wish, daughter of the Warrior Queen, has a banned magical object of her own. When they collide in the wildwood, it’s the start of a grand adventure that just might change the fabric of their worlds.

The Iron Trial – Holly Black and Cassandra Claire

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial. Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail. All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

The Raven Boys – Maggie Stiefvater

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them. Until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her. His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

A Darker Shade Of Magic – V. E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari. Magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Red London — and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

Magic For Liars – Sarah Gailey

When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister.

The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them – Newt Scamander

As every fan of the Harry Potter stories knows, the shelves of the Hogwarts Library are home to all sorts of fascinating books. A set textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since publication, Newt Scamander’s masterpiece has entertained wizarding families through the generations.

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

Sophie is the eldest of three sisters, destined to fail miserably. But she attracts the attention of the Witch of the Waste and finds herself transformed into an old lady. The only person who can break the spell is the wizard Howl.

Diana Wynne Jones’ entrancing, classic fantasy novel is filled with surprises at every turn. 

The Lost Years (Merlin Series Book 1) – TA Barron

A raging sea tosses a boy upon the shores of ancient Wales. Left for dead, he has no memory, no name, and no home. But it is his determination to find out who he is—to learn the truth about his mysterious powers—that leads him to a strange and enchanted land. And it is there he discovers that the fate of this land and his personal quest are strangely entwined.

Inkheart – Cornelia Funke

Meggie loves stories. But her father, Mo, hasn’t read to her since the disappearance of her mother. When a stranger knocks at their door, Mo is forced to reveal an extraordinary secret. That when he reads aloud, words come alive, and dangerous characters step out of the pafes.

Suddenly Meggie is living the kind of adventure she has only read about in books, but this one will change her life for ever …

Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer

Twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered a world below ground of armed, dangerous and high-tech fairies. He kidnaps one of them and holds her for ransom in an effort to restore his family’s fortune. But he may have underestimated the fairies’ powers.

Now an original movie on Disney+, here is the book that started it all, the international bestseller about a teenage criminal mastermind and his siege against dangerous, tech-savvy fairies.

Binti Series – Nnedi Okorafor

The Binti Trilogy is a series of 3 novella in the Africanfuturist science fiction genre. There are three titles in the series – Binti, Binti: Home and Binti: The Night Masquerade. The series follows the story of protagonist Binti as she leaves earth to study at a prestigious university in space.

The Colour of Magic – Terry Pratchett

Discworld exists on a frontier between thought and reality, a parallel time and place that may seem like our own, but vastly different. And Twoflower is the Discworld’s first tourist.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but The Colour of Magic is the first Discworld book.

The Amulet Of Samarkand – Jonathan Stroud

Nathaniel is a magician’s apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hot-shot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of his elders, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who’s boss. With revenge on his mind, he summons the powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely.

This is a thrilling new voice in children’s literature-a witty, gripping adventure story featuring a boy and his not-so-tame djinni.

The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

The tale of Kvothe, the notorious magician, the accomplished thief, the masterful musician, the dragon-slayer, the legend-hunter, infamous assassin, and unassuming inkeepter.

‘This is a magnificent book’ – Anne McCaffrey

Sabriel – Gareth Nix

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But during her final semester, her father does missing. And Sabriel knows she must enter the dangerous Old Kingdom to find him.

Game of Thrones fans will love the New York Times bestselling Abhorsen series. Sabriel, the first installment in the trilogy, launched critically acclaimed author Garth Nix onto the fantasy scene as a rising star.

Assassin’s Apprentice – Robin Hobb

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, hidden from the world and raised by his father’s stableman. All the royalty treats him as an outcast, except King Shrewd, who secretly taught him the arts of an assassin.

“Fantasy as it ought to be written” – George R. R. Martin

Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo

Alex is the most unlikely of Yale’s freshman class. She dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much worse. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern

The Circus of Dreams, open only at nightfall. It appears without warning. The gates shudder and unlock, seemingly of their own violation, inviting the crowd inside.

“A Romeo and Juliet tale drenched in magic realism, The Night Circus defies both genres and expectations. In short, it’s a showstopper.” – The Boston Globe

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke

In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England – until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity. Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell’s pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear.

A Wizard of Earthsea – Ursula K. Le Guin

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, was the reckless Sparrowhawk in his youth. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he released a terrible shadow upon the world.

“The magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream.” — Neil Gaiman

Wizard’s First Rule – Terry Goodkind

Deep in the upper Ven Forest, close to the Boundry, woodsman Richard Cypher is intent on tracking down his father’s killers. Richard has no idea of how far his quest will take him from home, nor that his world, his very beliefs, are about to be shattered…

The Magicians – Lev Grossman

Quentin Coldwater turns up for an interview at Princeton University, but he finds the interviewer dead and a strange envelope with his name on it, that leads him down a path very different to what he expected.

‘The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea . . . dark and dangerous and full of twists’ – George R. R. Martin

Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school. Again. And that’s the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbooks and into his life.

A Discovery Of Witches – Deborah Harkness

Diana Bishop – a young scholar and a descendant of witches – discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

Richard Mayhew is a young London businessman with a good heart and ordinary life. Until he discovers a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He helps her. But it’s an act of kindness that plunges him into a world he never dreamed existed.

The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman

Lyra Belacqua is heading North, where the Gobblers take the children (including her friend) and her fearsome uncle is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world. Lyra knows she needs to act, but to help one is to betray the other.

The modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an “All-Time Greatest Novel” and Newsweek hailed as a “Top 100 Book of All Time.”

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

Sixteen year old Jacob finds himself on the remote island off the coast of Wales. There’s a crumbled old building, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores the ruins, it becomes clear that they were more than peculiar. And that they’re still alive.

Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo

Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first battle. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes a dormant power she didn’t know she had.

Enter the Grishaverse with book one of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by number one New York Times-bestselling author, Leigh Bardugo.

City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

Clary was just a normal girl, until she witnessed a murder at a nightclub and suddenly she’s swept up into the world of Shadowhunters. It’s because of this that she meets Jace and Clary can’t stop herself from falling in love with him, despite the fact that he acts like a jerk.
“Prepare to be hooked” – Entertainment Weekly

Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi

Zélie remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic, when three different clans ruled. Everything changed when magic suddenly disappeared. A ruthless king killed everyone who had powers, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Tomi Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her West African-inspired fantasy debut Children of Blood and Bone.

Caraval – Stephanie Garber

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful and cruel father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, a once-a-year performance, are over. But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation arrives.

A Deadly Education – Naomi Novik

There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you’re inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J. Maas

Feyre is a huntress, but killing the wrong wolf changes her life forever. She’s taken away from her family by a man in a jewelled mask named Tamlin. As her feelings for Tamlin turn from hostility to passion, Fayre learns the land of the faerie are much more dangerous than she realized.

“With bits of Buffy, Game Of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series of total joy ” – Stylist

Eragon – Christopher Paolini

Poor farm boy, Eragon, finds a stone in the forest. It turns out it wasn’t a stone at all when it hatches a dragon. His simple life has changed drastically and now he must take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders.

The fate of the Empire rests in his hands. . .

Red Queen – Victoria Aveyard

The Reds are commoners ruled by the Silvers. Mare Barrow is a Red who finds herself working in the Silver Place. There, she discovers that she possesses a deadly power. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

THIS IS A WORLD DIVIDED BY BLOOD – RED OR SILVER

The Chronicles Of Narnia – C. S. Lewis

Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch.

Don’t miss one of America’s top 100 most-loved novels, selected by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams – but he can’t pull it off alone. Six outcasts and one impossible heist.

Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017, this fantasy epic from the No. 1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the Grisha trilogy is gripping, sweeping and memorable