Hello, does anybody have any recommendations on books similar to the Harry Potter series? Wizards, elves, humans, etc, etc.
Harry Potter-esque stories
- Thread starter the_wildcard
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This may be too different (shorter, no creatures) but:
http://www.amazon.com/House-Clock-Walls-Lewis-Barnavelt/dp/014036336X
This was its cover when I read it in sixth grade:
http://mealibris.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/the-house-with-a-clock-in-its-walls/
Anyone remember it?
Never read these but take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Wizards
How about the Percy Jackson books?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Jackson_&_The_Olympians
http://www.amazon.com/House-Clock-Walls-Lewis-Barnavelt/dp/014036336X
This was its cover when I read it in sixth grade:
http://mealibris.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/the-house-with-a-clock-in-its-walls/
Anyone remember it?
Never read these but take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Wizards
How about the Percy Jackson books?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Jackson_&_The_Olympians
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How are you about reading manga? Because Naruto, D.Gray Man and especially Full Metal Alchemist are all very Harry Potter-esque
The Percy Jackson books, starting with The Lightning Thief, are really fun. I'd recommend them.
Way back when I was referred to The Golden Compass et al. as being a sort of dark Harry Potter trilogy. In retrospect they're quite the reading experience (and things get much crazier than you'd expect at the outset), but I don't know whether they're really very HP'esque.
I think there is a significant gap, the Dark trilogy as a series is one that sits in that grey area between juvenile and adult fiction and has some very particular arguments that it tries to advance (and we could argue about what they are). The potter books are books for children (and there is nothing wrong with that) which have been appropriated by adults in some way that I don't quite understand - I don't think beyond some superficial aspects of both featuring some similar fantasy trappings that they occupy anything like the same space.
Please, please, please!
Read the Discworld novels! Specifically the Tiffany Aching sequence: Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and (soon to come out) I Shall Wear Midnight. These books are much, much better than the Potters. They place emphasis on when not to use magic, which is even more important than knowing when to use it, and in some ways teens can take something from that, a subtle lesson about character.
Read the Discworld novels! Specifically the Tiffany Aching sequence: Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and (soon to come out) I Shall Wear Midnight. These books are much, much better than the Potters. They place emphasis on when not to use magic, which is even more important than knowing when to use it, and in some ways teens can take something from that, a subtle lesson about character.
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I have to add my two cents and suggest the Newbery Medal-winning The Graveyard Book.
I just read that this month and adored it. It's a one-shot, not a series, but it has such a sense of completeness, it doesn't need a sequel. It has ghosts, ghouls, a vampire, a witch and the sinister "Jacks." Surprisingly, it is one of the most touching, charming and entertaining books I've read in a long time, and I am a very, very hard to please reader.
It does have similar elements to Harry Potter--the young boy, raised in a strange world that exists side-by-side with our world, whose parents were killed by a mysterious villian that he, too, must some day face. But I have to say that I thought The Graveyard Book was actually better written and, in its own dark way, more emotionally effective.
I just read that this month and adored it. It's a one-shot, not a series, but it has such a sense of completeness, it doesn't need a sequel. It has ghosts, ghouls, a vampire, a witch and the sinister "Jacks." Surprisingly, it is one of the most touching, charming and entertaining books I've read in a long time, and I am a very, very hard to please reader.
It does have similar elements to Harry Potter--the young boy, raised in a strange world that exists side-by-side with our world, whose parents were killed by a mysterious villian that he, too, must some day face. But I have to say that I thought The Graveyard Book was actually better written and, in its own dark way, more emotionally effective.
Hmm, orphan with a destiny, magical powers, Dumbledore like mentor figures...
This may be hard to find. It's probably out of print, and it is pretty obscure, but you might want to try this story called, Star Wars...
This may be hard to find. It's probably out of print, and it is pretty obscure, but you might want to try this story called, Star Wars...
The Magicians (http://johnadcox.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/the-magicians-by-lev-grossman/) is a terrific, if dark, Harry Potter/Narnia for adults.
Hmm, orphan with a destiny, magical powers, Dumbledore like mentor figures...
This may be hard to find. It's probably out of print, and it is pretty obscure, but you might want to try this story called, Star Wars...
Obi-Wan is gay?
Darth Vader - friend or foe?
Heh.
Sounds like the Chronicles of Prydain to me
. Maybe not as Harry Potter-esque as some of the other suggestions in this thread, but it's still a great fantasy series.
Jonathan Stroud's The Bartimaeus Trilogy starting with The Amulet of Samarkand. It's a sort of alternative history where magicians are the ruling class of turn of the century England.
Hmmm... Sounds like the Hero's Journey to me.
Seriously, people, who cares? My junior-year college fiction professor did an in-class assignment showing how you can take something like the fable of the fox, the crow, and the cheese and use the basic underlying structure and fiddle with the surface to make it your own.
It's all about how you make something your own. Even Shakespeare, whose works have been re-made thousands of times, did repackaging of older tales himself!
Hey guys, thanks for all of the suggestions!
Thespeckledkiwi
Vice Admiral
I highly recommend Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Fun, fun stories.
I tried Leven Thump, but that was hard.
I tried Leven Thump, but that was hard.
Circle of Magic!
There are actually two series with this tittle. The more well-known one is a quartet written by Tam Pierce in the late 90s. They are all very good.
The other is a series of six written by James McDonald and Deb Doyle a decade earlier. It is an excellent series.
Be warned, both are meant for a slightly younger age group than HP. Like 8-11 or so. The last time I read them I was 13 myself so I can't say how well they translate to an older audience.
There are actually two series with this tittle. The more well-known one is a quartet written by Tam Pierce in the late 90s. They are all very good.
The other is a series of six written by James McDonald and Deb Doyle a decade earlier. It is an excellent series.
Be warned, both are meant for a slightly younger age group than HP. Like 8-11 or so. The last time I read them I was 13 myself so I can't say how well they translate to an older audience.
A friend put The Name of the Wind in my hands the other day and said it was a sort of Harry Potter story, but aimed more toward adults. Haven't started it yet though.
Check out the Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is Chicago most famous wizard who helps the police solve supernatural cases. Read the books, but the TV series isnt that great. I think Dresden is kinda like a adult harry potter with the Wizards councils and wars with vampires and fairys and the like. not to mention they are really funny.
http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-D...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265131583&sr=8-2
here you go, enjoy.
http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-D...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265131583&sr=8-2
here you go, enjoy.
Eragon trilogy.
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