The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like The Magicians

Grossman, 2009 · #38 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 85/120 · adapted for screen

A brilliant, unhappy Brooklyn teenager is admitted to a secret college of magic. He then finds that the land from his favorite childhood books is real.

Its strongest scores: theme and mood. The five books below have the closest scores across all eleven criteria.

If you liked The Magicians, read:

1. Three Hearts and Three Lions

   Anderson, 1961 · #29 on the list · 87/120

   A Danish resistance fighter in 1943 is thrown into a world of Carolingian legend, where he is a hero he has forgotten.

   Close on mood, structure, further reading, creative details.

2. Bartimaeus

   Stroud, 2003 · #41 on the list · 84/120

   In an alternative London run by magicians, a boy summons a sardonic five-thousand-year-old djinni to settle a grudge. He sets a revolution in motion.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

3. Moonheart

   de Lint, 1984 · #30 on the list · 87/120

   Two friends in a sprawling Ottawa house find a doorway to an otherworld of Celtic and Indigenous spirits, and an ancient enemy behind it.

   Close on mood, structure, further reading, creative details.

4. Something Wicked This Way Comes

   Bradbury, 1962 · #26 on the list · 88/120

   A carnival arrives in an Illinois town in October with a carousel that can make you younger or older. Two boys and one father stand against Mr. Dark.

   Close on theme, structure, creative details, real-world blend.

5. Harold Shea

   de Camp & Pratt, 1941 · #47 on the list · 81/120

   A psychologist uses symbolic logic to travel into the worlds of Norse myth, The Faerie Queene and other legends, where magic runs on rules he can learn.

   Close on mood, structure, further reading, creative details.

How the scores work: each book is rated 1 to 10 on eleven criteria; real-world blend and climax and fights count double, for a maximum of 120. See the full Fantasy 101.