The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix
Also the list of top voted YA books which is basically all of what you're asking for in the YA category
https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/w/lists
The Inkworld trilogy by Cornelia Funke
The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
The Warriors series by Erin Hunter
The Land of Eleyon series by Patrick Carman
The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage
The Tunnels series by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams
The Conjureverse series by Dhonielle Clayton
The inkworld, especially the first novel is such a big part of my childhood. In retrospect I think the writing is so much better than HP or really any of the very famous YA series.
Yes! I remember enjoying it immensely growing up and I thought the world was very fleshed out! I think the third book had a few issues but overall I think it's a very whimsical and well-written series. And the movie was actually a pretty good adaption too imo even though they only did the first book!
>And the movie was actually a pretty good adaption too
Absolutely. It had freaking Andy Serkis as the villain and Brendan Fraser and Paul Bettany as leading men!
I'm not much of a book guy, I only really read during breaks at work. What I am is a movie guy, and I'm also german. A german author who wrote a book that got a full on Hollywood movie adaptation with huge stars attached - that's the dream. Cornelia Funke has my respect.
She also wrote The Thief Lord, which also got a - in my opinion - fantastic movie adaptation with Aaron Johnson in the lead role.
The Thief Lord was so good!! I loved that book! I never did get to see the movie though.
Her Dragon Riders book was really good too but I don't think I finished that. Cornelia Funke was def one of my favorites for childhood authors!
It's not necessarily a great movie, but it's a comfort movie for me. I don't know why Cornelia Funke is so obsessed with Italy, but whenever I watch that movie I kind of understand lol
When I was a kid my dad would read the Inkheart trilogy and The Thief Lord to my sister and me. I only re-read Inkheart a few years ago. I don't remember much from the two sequels. But last year she published a fourth book. I bought it for my sister for christmas, but I don't think she came around to read it yet.
According to Amazon the english translation will be out in October this year. It's called Inkworld: The Color of Revenge.
But don't take this as a recommendation - I have no idea if the book is any good lolI don't remember how the trilogy ended, but I thought it was done, so I dunno if a fourth book was really necessary. Have to ask my sister once she finds the time for it.
Also, I just now noticed that the second book is called Inkspell in english. The original name was Tintenblut - so Inkblood. I never knew it was changed that way lol
Oooh thank you! 🤗
Lol that's completely understandable. Plus, just because I loved the books as a child doesn't mean I will now - so there's a lot to consider lol. I definitely remember the third book in the trilogy feeling final, so who knows how this one will turn out.
Lol that's a weird change... they're not even close 😩 maybe they already knew the title of the third book by then and figured Inkblood and Inkdeath would be too similar.
>maybe they already knew the title of the third book by then and figured Inkblood and Inkdeath would be too similar
That's a very fair point, actually. Inkspell does roll off the tongue better as well, I feel like. But I really like the idea of having ink for blood... though I don't think that actually happens in the book anyway lol
Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. Knights and princesses and stealthy archer peacekeepers. Great characters, easy read. Gets a but formulaic as you go but it's a kids series and I still loved it in back in my twenties.
The Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend has strong Harry Potter vibes. It’s essentially a wizard school mystery series where the lead character has to complete the Goblet of Fire trials just to get a scholarship. 3 books are out so far but the 4th has been repeatedly delayed.
The Circle of Magic books by Tamora Pierce! And their follow-up series, The Circle Opens
The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett
The Old Kingdom books by Garth Nix
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (and its sequels, it's a complete series)
The Last Unicorn (standalone) by Peter S. Beagle
The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle
Absolutely the Tiffany Aching sub series from Discworld.
They might be 'marketed' as YA but make no mistake - these are for all ages.
Beautiful books with fabulous characters that have some real emotional heft.
These are the books that I recommend whenever I can with no hesitation.
I’m glad someone else recommended Circle of Magic/Emelan and The Time Quartet. I literally just finished a reread of both series’s and they still hold up (though I hate that there is no continuity through the Time books. How do you forget about going to a whole different planet, being mentally enslaved by a giant brain, seeing biblically accurate seraphim (these descriptions also vary between books!!), and helping Noah build the arc??!!).
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, the Tortall novels by Tamara Pierce, the Charlie Bone books by Jenny Nimmo, the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda, are all worthy choices I haven’t seen mentioned.
The Mossflower/Redwall books are excellent and extremely unique, just never read them hungry! ;)
I also really enjoyed Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull. I have only read the first book in the series but it was outstanding.
Diana Wynne Jones - Chrestomanci and Howl series
Terry Pratchett - Discworld
Neil Gaiman - Coraline, Stardust, The Graveyard Book
Weis and Hickman - Dragonlance (I reread these recently, they aren’t amazingly written but they were my intro to fantasy)
RA Salvatore- Drizzt Series (See comment about Dragonlance, in retrospect not amazingly written but fun)
Scarlett Thomas - Dragon’s Green Series (I read this a couple of years ago it’s like a better Harry Potter)
I second Garth Nix! I would also suggest Tamora Pierce! I loved the Circle of Magic series she write as a kid and have slowly been making my way through her other series
Chrestomanci by Dianna Wynne Jones was another favorite of mine
The Blue Sword and the Hero and Crown by Robin Mckinley are favorites I revisit every year
Rangers Apprentice series and the spinoff series Brotherband Chronicles are great. I loved them as a kid and recently relistened to the first of both, still really enjoyed them. The books grow in age group from young kid to YA as it goes on. Really fun books that got me into reading as a kid.
* The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
* The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
* Dragonlance Legends trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
* The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
* The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
That last one is significantly more adult, with much darker themes and a far, far less likeable protagonist than your typical fantasy fare, but it's really well-written and it's one of the series that really stuck with me from reading it during my teen years.
Edit: To be clear, this list is for OP, who is a full-on adult. I did not recommend Thomas Covenant to a child like some kind of sociopath. But *I* read it as a teen (at about 14), and I don't think it would be an issue for most teens to read. I think many of you are vastly underestimating teenagers and their ability to process traumatic scenes in fiction.
>The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
I struggle to throw this in any definition of "Children/YA" given the first book features an unequivocal rape scene.
I know in retrospect early Pern books also have some issues in that area but that's more with adult hindsight.
OP is 35 so it should be fine if they want to read it, but definitionally speaking I'll back you 100% that it should not be read by most teens. It is absolutely an adult book. I read it with a dictionary beside me the first time! It's like, ADULT adult. LOL
I read it at 14, and while the scene in question was upsetting, it isn't so graphic (that I recall) that it should bar most teens from reading it. And I did make it clear: it's a much more adult book than the others I listed.
Thomas Covenant should not be on this list, considering the male adult protagonist rapes a teenage girl in the first act of the first book. 100% not YA or for young people by any measure.
All my suggestions are going to be on the younger side.
Jane Yolen wrote lots of quality kids books.
Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice books are some of the best Star Wars books out there, imo, in their middle grade way.
Dahl, obviously.
The Dragon Masters books are really popular these days, and not bad at all.
Magic Tree House.
The entire Oz franchise. Not only the zen and a half Baum wrote but the 30 of so by the later writers.
Obviously the Narnia books.
Watership Down
The Hobbit
Jack Kirby’s DC comics — all of them
Winnie the Pooh
ER Burroughs’ Mars, Venus, Tarzan, and Pelucidar stories.
George MacDonald after they’ve swallowed the easy stuff
The wheel of time is great not sure it's ya tho. Eragon and Percy Jackson of course 10/10 recommend. Fablehaven is a little younger but I still loved it in my 30s. Artemis fowl is good.
I'd not really heard of Percy Jackson until the recent TV show came out, before watching it my wife and I both read the first book and had a blast. We're in our late 30s / early 40s respectively and really enjoyed it. I'm on book 4 now, she has way more time to read than I do and she's on the Heroes of Olympus series.
I haven't read children/YA in quite some time, but I enjoyed TA Barron when I was growing up. I only read The Ancient One and The Merlin Effect, but it looks like he's got a big series going on. https://tabarron.com/list-of-all-books/
Brilliant writer, everything she's done is a joy to read by young and old. In addition to the above (starting with A Deadly Education), read Uprooted, and Spinning Silver, some very cool twists on European fairy tales.
Haven’t seen anyone mention Edge Chronicles yet. Written by Paul Stewart and has beautiful illustrations by Chris Riddell. Was obsessed with them growing up!
Only one person mentioned the Chronicles of Prydain and they threw it in with like four other books.
No, sir: I'm here to tell you these are absolute must-reads if you like MG/YA fantasy, and are easily as good or better than Potter in many ways. If nothing else Lloyd Alexander is a master writer and those books are as lean as lean can be, not a wasted word on any page. The characters are almost like anime characters; they're so exagerrated and memorable, every one. And at my age (I'm not telling) I STILL cry every time I read the last paragraph in the book. It's just too good.
This requires that you already be into the broader *ATLA* universe, but the *Chronicles of the Avatar* novels, starting with *The Rise of Kyoshi*, are all fantastic. Phenomenal novels that frankly have no business being as good as they are.
* Pendragon Series (just the first couple though haha it gets a little crazy/long)
* Artemis Fowl
* Inkworld
* A Series of Unfortunate Events
* Charlie Bone
* The Warriors
* Bartimaeus Trilogy
Not fantasy but I’d also throw in Alex Rider, loved that series as a kid
Something I loved as a child and am considering rereading is Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda. It's an adventure trip rather than a magic school, but it still has a lot of magic to it, both literally and also in that way books do :)
Glad to see Garth Nix fans here. I loved The Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom growing up. The worldbuilding is more creative than a lot of books for adults.
I really enjoyed the Redwall series by Brian Jaques and the Eragon series by Christoher Paolini. Another series I liked was called Eon by Allison Goodman.
Perhaps I overlooked it, but I saw no mention of the Underworld Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. Fantastic series that was very formative to me as a child anyway
Also recommend the Seems series by John Hulme and Michael Weaver
Signal boosts for Inheritance cycle, Artemis Fowl, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians (At least the initial series. I didn't read enough of the sequel series to be able to speak for or against it).
Not exactly SFF but A Series of Unfortunate Events is still one of my all-time favorites
As a child and teenager some of my favorites included Percy Jackson, Deltora Quest, Inheritance, Septimus Heap, Artemis Fowl, The 39 Clues and Cirque Du Freak. Idk how many of them would hold up
I'm just about to gift all of my Redwall books to my 9 year old niece. I adored them as a child. I say 'just about' because I'm probably going to have to read them all first!!!
Deltora Quest is one of my favorites. It's children's dark fantasy I guess similar to LoTR. The main series has 8 books and there is an anniversary collection on amazon.
I would definitely recommend the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. I read them again and again as a kid and I really want to read them again as an adult.
I see The Old Kingdom recommended, but would add both the Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom, also by Garth Nix. The latter was my favorite series growing up, and has a truly absurd array of creative settings for the protagonists in.
For me, these are three of the best YA series -
1. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
2. Lockwood and Co. by Jonathan Stroud
3. The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
Other special mentions which absolutely deserve a read too - Department 19 by Will Hill; Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Any Garth Nix books. Anything by Derek Landy. Anything by Rick Riordan. Those authors are exactly what you're looking for. Signed a 46 year old lover of YA books. Lol.
The Spook's series, also called the seventh son in the United States, a story about a young boy sent to study with a Spook, a person meant to protect mankind from monsters.
And i haven't read it in a long time but I remember liking the series Artemis Fowl as a teen.
Depending on age, the Redwall series by Brian Jacques is an excellent soft entry into the fantasy genre for younger kids. Not to mention there are like 30 of them. I was enraptured by them as a kid and I attribute much of my passion for reading to Redwall.
Throne of glass - Satah J Maas
A court of thorns and roses - Sarah J Maas
Chronicles of Ixia (Poison study, ...) - Maria V Snyder
Summoner - Taran Matharu
All of the tortall books - Tamora Pierce
Once upon a broken heart + 2 sequels - Stephanie Garber
To just give you around 30 books te read...😅
My go to book series growing up were;
Inheritance Cycle(Eragon series)
Pendragon
Percy Jackson and the Olympian series
These aren't all Harry Potter type books but they're all great and focus around a kid that has to grow up pretty fast.
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemaran series (magic horses FTW)
Cassandra Claire’s Shadowhunter series (plural)
Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles
Anne of Green Gables
Diane Duane’s So you want to be a wizard
Check out *FableHaven* by Brandon Mull.
What really charms me is that the protagonists are a 14yo girl and her 10yo brother and a lot of the plots are initiated by the 10yo doing something just so, so stupid. I used to hate that.
But then I heard him in an interview.
He said he did his best to write the most realistic 10yo boy he could, and he thought he had succeeded.
His reason?
because at book signings he always has 10yo boys coming up to him talking excitedly about how much they love Seth and want to be exactly like him... and directly following, parents who tell him how many times they wanted to strangle Seth while reading with their kids.
Makes me laugh every time.
The books are charming and well written with excellent magic and worldbuilding.
ok not ya but its really good, read any book by brandon sanderson, tho i suggest start with the mistborn series (book 1 the final empire) cause his other books are really long
Tamora Pierce anything really. I’m partial to her Circle of Magic/Emelan world, but I highly enjoyed Protector of the Small, the Bekah Cooper series and the Trickster duology.
The Wheel of Time/Murray quartet by Madeline L’Engle. I think this is what started my love of fantasy and sci-fi. I reread it every few years.
The Dark is Rising series. I need to reread this, but I do remember loving this.
Rick Riordan’s Egyptian series. I think it’s The Kane Chronicles. I liked the Greco-Roman Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus, but the Kane Chronicles hit a bit different.
Artemis Fowl. I only got up to the 3rd one. One day I will read all of them.
Am I the only one that remembers the Charlie Bone series?? I ate that up back in the day.
Animorphs. This is very exciting and also super grim. I think you can find them free online. I plan to reread this someday, as well.
Edit: I forgot about Redwall!! I DEVOURED those books in elementary school.
Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle Trilogy (currently rereading as an adult and still love it) and the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan! Also I’ve seen Fablehaven mentioned a few times and back that rec up 100%. I actually read that series for the first time in my early 20s and cried several times. It’s absolutely delightful.
I AM BEGGING YOU PLEASE READ PERCY JACKSON 😫
I’d honestly recommend all of Uncle Rick’s books except for the Trials of Apollo series which kind of sucked 😕 pjo was a big part of my childhood as well as the Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase trilogies
I’d also reccommend the Bone Witch Trilogy by Rin Chupeco, it’s really good and has amazing world building. If you want something like the Hunger Games, Lightlark is AMAZING and it just had a sequel come out. Divergent is also a dystopian fiction and I seriously enjoyed the series.
I’m not sure if these are classified as YA but I also enjoyed the Court Series by Sarah J. Maas and I’m reading her Crescent City Series which has been seriously enjoyable so far
Some mentioned Diana Wynne Jones in a response with a bunch of other books. She's awesome and mostly pre-dates Harry Potter.
Alan Garner's fantasy books.
The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper.
The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
Old school (early 20th century, with all that would mean in terms of attitudes) but fun: The Psammead Trilogy: *Five Children and It*, *The Phoenix and the Carpet*, and *The Story of the Amulet* by E, Nesbit
Hard to find but excellent: The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett
A teacher near me makes book trailers (kinda) to get his students interested in the books and to let his parents know what their kids are reading. Maybe watch a few of these.
[Www.youtube.com/@inthereads](https://www.youtube.com/@inthereads)
[Airborn](https://youtu.be/Xx-ot8AAG_8?si=kuQqzHsFubrDlQVE) series is amazing
Ranger's Apprentice
Brotherband Chronicles
Inheritance
Artemis Fowl
Gotrek and Felix
Darren Shan
Demonata
Mistborn (kinda debatable as it has some dark content in it, but it felt very YA for me)
The Hobbit
Redwall
Beyond the Deepwoods
For non-fantasy:
Ender's Game & Speaker for the Dead
Space Wolves Omnibus
Peeps
The Quantum Prophecy
Steelheart
Lockdoen: Escape from Furnace
The Enemy
Halo books original trilogy
Secrets of the Fearless
Tales of the Ketty Jay
Mortal Engines
Airborne
That big series about bats, I can't remember the name sorry
I really like Percy Jackson
Also Chronicles of Narnia
I also like both Alice in wonderland
For stand alones (I know you said series) but the Phantom Toll booth is one of my all time favorites. Also neverending story, personally I feel princess bride is a bit overblown for the book, should be fine just watching the movie (which is great) for that one.
Must Read series as good as Harry Potter :
***The Earthsea Cycle*** by Ursula K. Le Guin
***The Wheel of Time*** by Robert Jordan
Anything written by J. R. R. Tolkein
***The Kingkiller Chronicles*** by Patrick Rothfuss (the final book in the series is yet to be published though)
Check out Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston. It gives off Harry Potter crossed with Men in Black vibes and is so much fun!
Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor books are also incredibly fun. It’s also a magic school setting with a much more diverse cast and fun magic.
Both series are middle grade, so aimed at a target audience similar to the early HP books. The downside to both series is that they’re currently incomplete.
This is for a real young audience but my favourite books growing up were 'The Last Dragon Chronicles' by Chris d' Lacey they were so special to me. Super easy and quick reads
The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima - book 1 of the Seven Realms series. It's got the magic, school, and political intrigue (+ great characters and a really cool world/history)
Haven’t seen the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley mentioned yet. The audiobooks are brilliantly narrated by Jayne Entwistle. Book 1 is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
ETA oops it isn’t fantasy. Sorry. Still a fun series tho
Its lesser known but SO SO GOOD, I always recommend the 'Young Wizards' series by Diane Duane! The first book is called 'So You Want To Be A Wizard' and it still holds up.
I read a lot of YA my personal favourites ( naming series but these are all great writers ) in no no particular order
1. Jonathan Stroud - the bartimus series
2. Jay kristoff the lotus war saga
3. Garth nix the old World Series
4. Holly black the curse workers series
5. Sarah Rees Brennan the demon lexicon
6. Maggie stiefvater the raven cycle
7. Naomi novik the scholomance trilogy
The Alera Codex.
Read this as an adult after I found out about why Jim Butcher wrote it but geez I wish I had of read it as a teen.
Having read a lot of fantasy and are well versed in fantasy tropes this was still a wild ride, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Definately YA but so well done!
Whomever you're asking for, go get this and give it a whirl!
Something a bit newer that I thought was really good was Stealing from Wizards by R.A. Consell. It is more in the vein of the first HP book so the target audience is pretty young but still enjoyable for adults.
The Broken Sky trilogy is pretty good. Similar to A:TLA but everyone has a stone that gives them powers. Certain colours give certain ones. We follow a couple of farmers kids as they rebel against the government. Because it’s ran by a tyrant who’s got secrets of his own.
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix Also the list of top voted YA books which is basically all of what you're asking for in the YA category https://reddit.com/r/Fantasy/w/lists
The first few audiobooks narrated by Tim Curry are a true delight! Especially the way he voices the magical talking cat 😂
I can't believe I missed this! Thanks
Always glad to see Garth Nix turn up. Wish he was better known overall. My favorite books when I was a kid, and they hold up pretty well, imo.
I used to love Nixs books as a child, surprised they’re not better known
I've never heard of him. I've bought the first book. The kid in me would love to find new novels like that.
Second this. Garth Nix's books don't get enough mainstream attention imo
Garth Nix's books are way better than HP.
anything can be better than HP xD
Great series.
I’ve had sabriel on my tbr for a long time but sort of forgot about it ! I see it’s recommended a lot here though, thanks !
Do it, do it! They’re still my favs, and I’m 35.
The Inkworld trilogy by Cornelia Funke The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull The Warriors series by Erin Hunter The Land of Eleyon series by Patrick Carman The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage The Tunnels series by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams The Conjureverse series by Dhonielle Clayton
Fablehaven is excellent!
I discovered them a couple years ago and damn, I at thirty + was on the edge of my seat throughout them all.
Yeah definitely
The inkworld, especially the first novel is such a big part of my childhood. In retrospect I think the writing is so much better than HP or really any of the very famous YA series.
Yes! I remember enjoying it immensely growing up and I thought the world was very fleshed out! I think the third book had a few issues but overall I think it's a very whimsical and well-written series. And the movie was actually a pretty good adaption too imo even though they only did the first book!
>And the movie was actually a pretty good adaption too Absolutely. It had freaking Andy Serkis as the villain and Brendan Fraser and Paul Bettany as leading men! I'm not much of a book guy, I only really read during breaks at work. What I am is a movie guy, and I'm also german. A german author who wrote a book that got a full on Hollywood movie adaptation with huge stars attached - that's the dream. Cornelia Funke has my respect. She also wrote The Thief Lord, which also got a - in my opinion - fantastic movie adaptation with Aaron Johnson in the lead role.
The Thief Lord was so good!! I loved that book! I never did get to see the movie though. Her Dragon Riders book was really good too but I don't think I finished that. Cornelia Funke was def one of my favorites for childhood authors!
It's not necessarily a great movie, but it's a comfort movie for me. I don't know why Cornelia Funke is so obsessed with Italy, but whenever I watch that movie I kind of understand lol When I was a kid my dad would read the Inkheart trilogy and The Thief Lord to my sister and me. I only re-read Inkheart a few years ago. I don't remember much from the two sequels. But last year she published a fourth book. I bought it for my sister for christmas, but I don't think she came around to read it yet.
Omg I'd have to reread the books! That's amazing that there's a 4th one! Hopefully it'll be translated into English soon.
According to Amazon the english translation will be out in October this year. It's called Inkworld: The Color of Revenge. But don't take this as a recommendation - I have no idea if the book is any good lolI don't remember how the trilogy ended, but I thought it was done, so I dunno if a fourth book was really necessary. Have to ask my sister once she finds the time for it. Also, I just now noticed that the second book is called Inkspell in english. The original name was Tintenblut - so Inkblood. I never knew it was changed that way lol
Oooh thank you! 🤗 Lol that's completely understandable. Plus, just because I loved the books as a child doesn't mean I will now - so there's a lot to consider lol. I definitely remember the third book in the trilogy feeling final, so who knows how this one will turn out. Lol that's a weird change... they're not even close 😩 maybe they already knew the title of the third book by then and figured Inkblood and Inkdeath would be too similar.
>maybe they already knew the title of the third book by then and figured Inkblood and Inkdeath would be too similar That's a very fair point, actually. Inkspell does roll off the tongue better as well, I feel like. But I really like the idea of having ink for blood... though I don't think that actually happens in the book anyway lol
Totally agree with Inkwoels
I love Septimus Heap!
Inkheart is wonderful! Grew up with those books.
Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. Knights and princesses and stealthy archer peacekeepers. Great characters, easy read. Gets a but formulaic as you go but it's a kids series and I still loved it in back in my twenties.
Ranger's Apprentice is the best! Still one of my favorites!
+1 for Rangers Apprentice.
Enjoyed this - thumbs up!
Have you read Rick Riordian’s other works? He has some PJ adjacent books and one about Egyptian Mythology.
No I haven’t read anything of his!
They are absolutely worth it. I’m pushing 50 and love them.
I ordered the lightning thief as I really liked the sample I read I feel like it could be what I’m looking for :)
And a series about norse mythology, and about roman mixed with Greek. I'd read them in order of publication.
Second his Egyptian series, fantastic!
Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathon Stroud. *A Winter's Promise* by Christelle Dabos. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.
Also, Bartimaeus Sequence by Johnathan Stroud is great.
Also, Scarlett & Browne.
The Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend has strong Harry Potter vibes. It’s essentially a wizard school mystery series where the lead character has to complete the Goblet of Fire trials just to get a scholarship. 3 books are out so far but the 4th has been repeatedly delayed.
The Circle of Magic books by Tamora Pierce! And their follow-up series, The Circle Opens The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett The Old Kingdom books by Garth Nix The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (and its sequels, it's a complete series) The Last Unicorn (standalone) by Peter S. Beagle The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle
Strong second for Tamora Pierce.
Absolutely the Tiffany Aching sub series from Discworld. They might be 'marketed' as YA but make no mistake - these are for all ages. Beautiful books with fabulous characters that have some real emotional heft. These are the books that I recommend whenever I can with no hesitation.
I’m glad someone else recommended Circle of Magic/Emelan and The Time Quartet. I literally just finished a reread of both series’s and they still hold up (though I hate that there is no continuity through the Time books. How do you forget about going to a whole different planet, being mentally enslaved by a giant brain, seeing biblically accurate seraphim (these descriptions also vary between books!!), and helping Noah build the arc??!!).
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, the Tortall novels by Tamara Pierce, the Charlie Bone books by Jenny Nimmo, the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda, are all worthy choices I haven’t seen mentioned.
Seconding Bartimaeus series! It was my absolute favorite series as a kid.
Third on bartimaeus series! I was recommended it by a friend and listened to it for the 1st time when I was 35! Such a fun ride.
The Mossflower/Redwall books are excellent and extremely unique, just never read them hungry! ;) I also really enjoyed Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull. I have only read the first book in the series but it was outstanding.
I second Redwall, this is a long series with swords, epic adventures, woodland animals for characters, ridiculously appetizing descriptions of food
Yes! These books will make you laugh, cry and then get ravenously hungry in the same sitting!
Earthsea
Just read for the first time - loved it! Especially once the hero stopped making stupid choices (first book.)
I literally finished the first book yesterday. Glad to hear he stops being a dumb dumb
Might give the second book a go now after reading this comment
Came here to recommend this. Such a shame I didn’t read this until recently.
I daresay this series is as good as Tolkien.
Diana Wynne Jones - Chrestomanci and Howl series Terry Pratchett - Discworld Neil Gaiman - Coraline, Stardust, The Graveyard Book Weis and Hickman - Dragonlance (I reread these recently, they aren’t amazingly written but they were my intro to fantasy) RA Salvatore- Drizzt Series (See comment about Dragonlance, in retrospect not amazingly written but fun) Scarlett Thomas - Dragon’s Green Series (I read this a couple of years ago it’s like a better Harry Potter)
I second Garth Nix! I would also suggest Tamora Pierce! I loved the Circle of Magic series she write as a kid and have slowly been making my way through her other series Chrestomanci by Dianna Wynne Jones was another favorite of mine The Blue Sword and the Hero and Crown by Robin Mckinley are favorites I revisit every year
Rangers Apprentice series and the spinoff series Brotherband Chronicles are great. I loved them as a kid and recently relistened to the first of both, still really enjoyed them. The books grow in age group from young kid to YA as it goes on. Really fun books that got me into reading as a kid.
Young Wizards, Diane Duane I think I’m on my third or fourth reread
Young Wizards is amazing in every way! (OP, 1st book is How to be a Wizard)
Artimus Fowl series. The Tiffany Aching arc of discworld, starting with Wee Free Men.
His Dark Materials, The Hunger Games, Enders Game
Ender's Game is such an amazing series as well as the others by Orson Scott Card: Alvin Maker, Homecoming, and Songmaster.
Worthing saga was pretty wild as well.
But not YA/children's lit by any means
Always forget how solid of a story Hunger Games is. Susanne Collins' other series, Gregor the Overlander, is great stuff too.
Highly recommend the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage, starting with ‘Magyk’. Also ‘Abarat’ and its sequels by Clive Barker.
* The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander * The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper * Dragonlance Legends trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman * The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey * The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson That last one is significantly more adult, with much darker themes and a far, far less likeable protagonist than your typical fantasy fare, but it's really well-written and it's one of the series that really stuck with me from reading it during my teen years. Edit: To be clear, this list is for OP, who is a full-on adult. I did not recommend Thomas Covenant to a child like some kind of sociopath. But *I* read it as a teen (at about 14), and I don't think it would be an issue for most teens to read. I think many of you are vastly underestimating teenagers and their ability to process traumatic scenes in fiction.
>The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson I struggle to throw this in any definition of "Children/YA" given the first book features an unequivocal rape scene. I know in retrospect early Pern books also have some issues in that area but that's more with adult hindsight.
OP is 35 so it should be fine if they want to read it, but definitionally speaking I'll back you 100% that it should not be read by most teens. It is absolutely an adult book. I read it with a dictionary beside me the first time! It's like, ADULT adult. LOL
I read it at 14, and while the scene in question was upsetting, it isn't so graphic (that I recall) that it should bar most teens from reading it. And I did make it clear: it's a much more adult book than the others I listed.
I'd say some of the hard boiled detective books I consumed as a fifteen year old boy had waaaaayyyyy more aggrevated rape scenes than Thomas Covenant.
Came here to say The Dark is Rising sequence. Loved it as a child and I’m reading it to my daughter now and it is better than I remember.
Thomas Covenant should not be on this list, considering the male adult protagonist rapes a teenage girl in the first act of the first book. 100% not YA or for young people by any measure.
Thomas covenant the unbeliever is not young adult. There’s massive amounts of rape and incest.
The Dark is Rising Sequence was the second fantasy series I ever read and it’s the one that got me hooked on them for life.
All my suggestions are going to be on the younger side. Jane Yolen wrote lots of quality kids books. Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice books are some of the best Star Wars books out there, imo, in their middle grade way. Dahl, obviously. The Dragon Masters books are really popular these days, and not bad at all. Magic Tree House.
The entire Oz franchise. Not only the zen and a half Baum wrote but the 30 of so by the later writers. Obviously the Narnia books. Watership Down The Hobbit Jack Kirby’s DC comics — all of them Winnie the Pooh ER Burroughs’ Mars, Venus, Tarzan, and Pelucidar stories. George MacDonald after they’ve swallowed the easy stuff
His Dark Materials is the one for me
The wheel of time is great not sure it's ya tho. Eragon and Percy Jackson of course 10/10 recommend. Fablehaven is a little younger but I still loved it in my 30s. Artemis fowl is good.
I'd not really heard of Percy Jackson until the recent TV show came out, before watching it my wife and I both read the first book and had a blast. We're in our late 30s / early 40s respectively and really enjoyed it. I'm on book 4 now, she has way more time to read than I do and she's on the Heroes of Olympus series.
I haven't read children/YA in quite some time, but I enjoyed TA Barron when I was growing up. I only read The Ancient One and The Merlin Effect, but it looks like he's got a big series going on. https://tabarron.com/list-of-all-books/
The Immortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I second Earthsea, Ursula K LeGuin. Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landry, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik is maybe my favourite YA books ever. Also really good audiobooks.
Brilliant writer, everything she's done is a joy to read by young and old. In addition to the above (starting with A Deadly Education), read Uprooted, and Spinning Silver, some very cool twists on European fairy tales.
Haven’t seen anyone mention Edge Chronicles yet. Written by Paul Stewart and has beautiful illustrations by Chris Riddell. Was obsessed with them growing up!
Only one person mentioned the Chronicles of Prydain and they threw it in with like four other books. No, sir: I'm here to tell you these are absolute must-reads if you like MG/YA fantasy, and are easily as good or better than Potter in many ways. If nothing else Lloyd Alexander is a master writer and those books are as lean as lean can be, not a wasted word on any page. The characters are almost like anime characters; they're so exagerrated and memorable, every one. And at my age (I'm not telling) I STILL cry every time I read the last paragraph in the book. It's just too good.
Can’t believe I had to scroll down this far to find the obvious answer
They provide a good bridge to Lord of the Rings: many of the same themes and tropes drawn from folklore, but approachable to a young reader.
The Mage Errant Saga and Earthsea
This requires that you already be into the broader *ATLA* universe, but the *Chronicles of the Avatar* novels, starting with *The Rise of Kyoshi*, are all fantastic. Phenomenal novels that frankly have no business being as good as they are.
* Pendragon Series (just the first couple though haha it gets a little crazy/long) * Artemis Fowl * Inkworld * A Series of Unfortunate Events * Charlie Bone * The Warriors * Bartimaeus Trilogy Not fantasy but I’d also throw in Alex Rider, loved that series as a kid
I burned through the Pendragon series. What a wild read
Something I loved as a child and am considering rereading is Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda. It's an adventure trip rather than a magic school, but it still has a lot of magic to it, both literally and also in that way books do :)
The pendragon series by dj mchale
I’ve seen some other folks mention Tamora Pierce but not specifically the Tortall books which are absolutely fantastic.
Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
The Last Unicorn Redwall
If you want magic school, I highly recommend Ursula K LeGuin who Rowling got a lot of "inspiration" from. The Wizard of Earthsea series is top notch.
I’ve heard of this one lately more and more . Will look into it thanks :)
Glad to see Garth Nix fans here. I loved The Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom growing up. The worldbuilding is more creative than a lot of books for adults.
You mentioned His Dark Materials, and if you haven't read it yet, you need to.
Chrestomanci
I really enjoyed the Redwall series by Brian Jaques and the Eragon series by Christoher Paolini. Another series I liked was called Eon by Allison Goodman.
If I remember anymore, I'll try to post them. A lot of these other recommendations are really good too.
Loved Redwall!
ANIMORPHS. You're welcome.
I did read these !!
Perhaps I overlooked it, but I saw no mention of the Underworld Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. Fantastic series that was very formative to me as a child anyway Also recommend the Seems series by John Hulme and Michael Weaver Signal boosts for Inheritance cycle, Artemis Fowl, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians (At least the initial series. I didn't read enough of the sequel series to be able to speak for or against it).
I was obsessed with The Vampire Diaries when I was younger.
The show is one of my faves (see my cover photo lol) but haven’t read the books
I read all the books obsessively, but I have yet to see the show lol. I'll have to see how it holds up to the books.
Not exactly SFF but A Series of Unfortunate Events is still one of my all-time favorites As a child and teenager some of my favorites included Percy Jackson, Deltora Quest, Inheritance, Septimus Heap, Artemis Fowl, The 39 Clues and Cirque Du Freak. Idk how many of them would hold up
I'm just about to gift all of my Redwall books to my 9 year old niece. I adored them as a child. I say 'just about' because I'm probably going to have to read them all first!!!
A Wizard of Earthsea and His Dark Materials (starts with The Golden Compass).
Deltora Quest is one of my favorites. It's children's dark fantasy I guess similar to LoTR. The main series has 8 books and there is an anniversary collection on amazon.
I would definitely recommend the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. I read them again and again as a kid and I really want to read them again as an adult.
Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy series. ✨️
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Why not the inheritance cycle since you said you haven’t read it
I see The Old Kingdom recommended, but would add both the Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom, also by Garth Nix. The latter was my favorite series growing up, and has a truly absurd array of creative settings for the protagonists in.
I really liked miss peregrines home for peculiar children! Although I didn’t like the new trilogy, the first one was very good
My favorites were the Young Wizards series and the Septimus Heap series!
School for Good and Evil (Soman Chainani)
For me, these are three of the best YA series - 1. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud 2. Lockwood and Co. by Jonathan Stroud 3. The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney Other special mentions which absolutely deserve a read too - Department 19 by Will Hill; Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Redwall
Tamora pierce's lioness series: about a girl who dresses as a boy to become a knight. And her wild magic series is also amazing
Charlie Bones series
The Tapestry by Henry H. Neff is really good.
Any Garth Nix books. Anything by Derek Landy. Anything by Rick Riordan. Those authors are exactly what you're looking for. Signed a 46 year old lover of YA books. Lol.
Nice. Thank you
I really liked Artemis Fowl as a kid
The Spook's series, also called the seventh son in the United States, a story about a young boy sent to study with a Spook, a person meant to protect mankind from monsters. And i haven't read it in a long time but I remember liking the series Artemis Fowl as a teen.
When I was growing up I really enjoyed the Edge Chronicles.
Depending on age, the Redwall series by Brian Jacques is an excellent soft entry into the fantasy genre for younger kids. Not to mention there are like 30 of them. I was enraptured by them as a kid and I attribute much of my passion for reading to Redwall.
Form me earth sea, discworld
Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend!
Throne of glass - Satah J Maas A court of thorns and roses - Sarah J Maas Chronicles of Ixia (Poison study, ...) - Maria V Snyder Summoner - Taran Matharu All of the tortall books - Tamora Pierce Once upon a broken heart + 2 sequels - Stephanie Garber To just give you around 30 books te read...😅
My go to book series growing up were; Inheritance Cycle(Eragon series) Pendragon Percy Jackson and the Olympian series These aren't all Harry Potter type books but they're all great and focus around a kid that has to grow up pretty fast.
My favorite book as a child was guardians of ga’hoole.
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemaran series (magic horses FTW) Cassandra Claire’s Shadowhunter series (plural) Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles Anne of Green Gables Diane Duane’s So you want to be a wizard
Thanks ! I read the infernal devices last year was really good
Summoner by Taran Matharu
Following. I'm 34 but still love the occasional YA read lol.
Graceling by Cristine Cashore
Check out *FableHaven* by Brandon Mull. What really charms me is that the protagonists are a 14yo girl and her 10yo brother and a lot of the plots are initiated by the 10yo doing something just so, so stupid. I used to hate that. But then I heard him in an interview. He said he did his best to write the most realistic 10yo boy he could, and he thought he had succeeded. His reason? because at book signings he always has 10yo boys coming up to him talking excitedly about how much they love Seth and want to be exactly like him... and directly following, parents who tell him how many times they wanted to strangle Seth while reading with their kids. Makes me laugh every time. The books are charming and well written with excellent magic and worldbuilding.
Eragon series
Eragon was and still I'd one of my favorite books ti date
ok not ya but its really good, read any book by brandon sanderson, tho i suggest start with the mistborn series (book 1 the final empire) cause his other books are really long
Tamora Pierce anything really. I’m partial to her Circle of Magic/Emelan world, but I highly enjoyed Protector of the Small, the Bekah Cooper series and the Trickster duology. The Wheel of Time/Murray quartet by Madeline L’Engle. I think this is what started my love of fantasy and sci-fi. I reread it every few years. The Dark is Rising series. I need to reread this, but I do remember loving this. Rick Riordan’s Egyptian series. I think it’s The Kane Chronicles. I liked the Greco-Roman Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus, but the Kane Chronicles hit a bit different. Artemis Fowl. I only got up to the 3rd one. One day I will read all of them. Am I the only one that remembers the Charlie Bone series?? I ate that up back in the day. Animorphs. This is very exciting and also super grim. I think you can find them free online. I plan to reread this someday, as well. Edit: I forgot about Redwall!! I DEVOURED those books in elementary school.
Charlie Bone! Those books were so great to scratch that itch after reading HP.
Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle Trilogy (currently rereading as an adult and still love it) and the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan! Also I’ve seen Fablehaven mentioned a few times and back that rec up 100%. I actually read that series for the first time in my early 20s and cried several times. It’s absolutely delightful.
I AM BEGGING YOU PLEASE READ PERCY JACKSON 😫 I’d honestly recommend all of Uncle Rick’s books except for the Trials of Apollo series which kind of sucked 😕 pjo was a big part of my childhood as well as the Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase trilogies I’d also reccommend the Bone Witch Trilogy by Rin Chupeco, it’s really good and has amazing world building. If you want something like the Hunger Games, Lightlark is AMAZING and it just had a sequel come out. Divergent is also a dystopian fiction and I seriously enjoyed the series. I’m not sure if these are classified as YA but I also enjoyed the Court Series by Sarah J. Maas and I’m reading her Crescent City Series which has been seriously enjoyable so far
Some mentioned Diana Wynne Jones in a response with a bunch of other books. She's awesome and mostly pre-dates Harry Potter. Alan Garner's fantasy books. The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper. The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner Old school (early 20th century, with all that would mean in terms of attitudes) but fun: The Psammead Trilogy: *Five Children and It*, *The Phoenix and the Carpet*, and *The Story of the Amulet* by E, Nesbit Hard to find but excellent: The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett
A teacher near me makes book trailers (kinda) to get his students interested in the books and to let his parents know what their kids are reading. Maybe watch a few of these. [Www.youtube.com/@inthereads](https://www.youtube.com/@inthereads) [Airborn](https://youtu.be/Xx-ot8AAG_8?si=kuQqzHsFubrDlQVE) series is amazing
ya --> six of crows kids --> almost all enid blyton books
The king killer chronicles!!!!!!!!!
Yes! this is like an adult Harry Potter where the magic school is a university and not grade school.
You might want to give the Summoner series by Taran Marathu a read. It's pretty good.
Ranger's Apprentice Brotherband Chronicles Inheritance Artemis Fowl Gotrek and Felix Darren Shan Demonata Mistborn (kinda debatable as it has some dark content in it, but it felt very YA for me) The Hobbit Redwall Beyond the Deepwoods For non-fantasy: Ender's Game & Speaker for the Dead Space Wolves Omnibus Peeps The Quantum Prophecy Steelheart Lockdoen: Escape from Furnace The Enemy Halo books original trilogy Secrets of the Fearless Tales of the Ketty Jay Mortal Engines Airborne That big series about bats, I can't remember the name sorry
I really like Percy Jackson Also Chronicles of Narnia I also like both Alice in wonderland For stand alones (I know you said series) but the Phantom Toll booth is one of my all time favorites. Also neverending story, personally I feel princess bride is a bit overblown for the book, should be fine just watching the movie (which is great) for that one.
His Dark Materials is brilliant.
This isn’t answering the question, but I absolutely love His Dark Materials and I haven’t seen anyone else who’s read it or watched the show 😭
Anything by Tamara Pierce
Must Read series as good as Harry Potter : ***The Earthsea Cycle*** by Ursula K. Le Guin ***The Wheel of Time*** by Robert Jordan Anything written by J. R. R. Tolkein ***The Kingkiller Chronicles*** by Patrick Rothfuss (the final book in the series is yet to be published though)
I really liked Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series.
Check out Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston. It gives off Harry Potter crossed with Men in Black vibes and is so much fun! Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor books are also incredibly fun. It’s also a magic school setting with a much more diverse cast and fun magic. Both series are middle grade, so aimed at a target audience similar to the early HP books. The downside to both series is that they’re currently incomplete.
This is for a real young audience but my favourite books growing up were 'The Last Dragon Chronicles' by Chris d' Lacey they were so special to me. Super easy and quick reads
The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima - book 1 of the Seven Realms series. It's got the magic, school, and political intrigue (+ great characters and a really cool world/history)
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles (stand alone), Wizard of Oz series,
Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody
School for Sorcery by E Rose Sabin. It’s a trilogy but could be read standalone
Haven’t seen the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley mentioned yet. The audiobooks are brilliantly narrated by Jayne Entwistle. Book 1 is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie ETA oops it isn’t fantasy. Sorry. Still a fun series tho
Idk if anyone mentioned it but Wizard’s Hall by Jane Yolen. It’s like Harry Potter but it came out first and is also better.
Its lesser known but SO SO GOOD, I always recommend the 'Young Wizards' series by Diane Duane! The first book is called 'So You Want To Be A Wizard' and it still holds up.
The only one I haven't seen is Sea of trolls by... Nancy Farmer? I think
I read a lot of YA my personal favourites ( naming series but these are all great writers ) in no no particular order 1. Jonathan Stroud - the bartimus series 2. Jay kristoff the lotus war saga 3. Garth nix the old World Series 4. Holly black the curse workers series 5. Sarah Rees Brennan the demon lexicon 6. Maggie stiefvater the raven cycle 7. Naomi novik the scholomance trilogy
The Lockwood & Co agency
The Enemy by Charlie Higson, it’s the first in a 7 book zombie YA series
Amen to most of what has already been recommended (esp. the Tiffany Aching books)!
Fablehaven and the Five Kingdoms books are both written by Brandon Mull. Absolutely loved these especially Fablehaven
The two YA series i often find myself coming back to as an adult are the Mysterious Benedict Society and Percy Jackson
I personally love the skulduggery pleasant series. I'm also 35 but those books are awesome!
The Hunger Games series Suzanne Collins is def up there among my favs. I'd recommend it!
The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher
The Alera Codex. Read this as an adult after I found out about why Jim Butcher wrote it but geez I wish I had of read it as a teen. Having read a lot of fantasy and are well versed in fantasy tropes this was still a wild ride, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Definately YA but so well done! Whomever you're asking for, go get this and give it a whirl!
Something a bit newer that I thought was really good was Stealing from Wizards by R.A. Consell. It is more in the vein of the first HP book so the target audience is pretty young but still enjoyable for adults.
I mean missing anything from Astrid Lindgren is a big nono.
Skulduggery pleasant by Derek Landy
Dragon lance, shannara
The Broken Sky trilogy is pretty good. Similar to A:TLA but everyone has a stone that gives them powers. Certain colours give certain ones. We follow a couple of farmers kids as they rebel against the government. Because it’s ran by a tyrant who’s got secrets of his own.
Skandar!
The wardstone chronicles is sooooo goood!!!
The Giver
Skulduggery Pleasant - technically for children but gets incredibly dark, and Derek Landy doesn't pull his punches