Webrings, online communities, and critical works aimed toward older Potter fans attest to Harry's magnetic appeal to adult readers. Grownups who have followed their favorite wizard-in-training from his first crossing of Gryffindor's threshold through his O.W.L. results have undoubtedly stood at his side as he sought the missing Horcrux in the seventh and final book of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. While feverishly turning the pages, they may have tried to ignore the nagging question in the backs of their minds: What next after the Deathly Hallows?
This audience may find new fantasy worlds to explore by following some of the excellent search strategies suggested by Katherine Bradley Johnson in her Annotated Book List entitled "The Wide Appeal of Harry Potter" or by checking out some of the novels she suggests. In recognition of the completion of the Harry Potter series, some additions to the list of similar books seem timely.
While fantasy books abound, finding novels similar to Rowling's can be difficult. Her talent, imagination, and fine writing combine with her sense of humor and her thorough knowledge of the history of magic and mythology to create a unique world that rivets readers of all ages. In selecting readings to follow the Harry Potter series, it is not enough to create a compendium of British fantasy fiction. In addition to the obvious elements of magic, mystery, and discovery, peopled by the expected wizards and talking beasts, thematic similarities are important. The Potter series is a rich brew of such enticing ingredients — the orphan with a special destiny; the parallel universe of Hogwarts; the struggles between good and evil, love and death; the student mage; even the magical game Quidditch — that the resulting potion holds something for almost every reader.
What follows is a list of suggestions alphabetized by the author's last name. These works exemplify the fantasy genre at its best and bear similarities to the Harry Potter series in theme and style. While most of these novels were written for adult audiences, a few young adult books with strong potential for adult appeal are included.
Harry Potter's adult fans will find several similarities in this series, especially in the first three books — Split Infinity (1980; reprinted in 1990), Blue Adept (1981; reprinted 1990), and Juxtaposition (1983; reprinted in 1990). These novels follow the adventures of Stile, a serf on the planet Proton, a polluted mining planet with highly developed technology. On Proton, Stile is a master at the Games, an amusement in which serfs compete in sports, arts, and other activities. On the parallel planet Phaze, the world is still unspoiled and magic reigns supreme. Human magicians called Adepts are the powerful beings on Phaze, and mythical beasts are real. Stiles crosses from one world into the other as he learns magic and attempts to discover, like Harry, both his own true identity and the reason for attempts on his life.
Those who particularly enjoy the more humorous aspects of the Potter books may want to check out the work of Robert Asprin. A quirky mixture of mythical creatures, magicians, and puns, the series has gained a loyal following from its beginning in 1978 with Another Fine Myth through the publication of Myth-Gotten Gains, co-authored by Jody Lynn Nye, in 2006. Each title contains a pun on the word "myth" — Myth Conceptions, Hit or Myth, Myth Alliances, Class Dis-Mythed, etc. Join Aahz, a demon who has lost his powers and Skeeve, his inept human apprentice as they pursue treasure, glory, and victory over evil in worlds inhabited by a variety of mythological creatures. And be prepared to groan between bouts of laughter!
Green Rider
If you would like to spend some time with another protagonist, this time female, who journeys from an unhappy event in one world to an important calling in another, meet Karigan G'ladheon. After a fight at school, she meets a dying horseman on her way home through the forest. At his request, she takes on a mission to deliver a life or death message to the king. Aided by the ghost of the dead messenger and pursued by supernatural beings, she becomes a member of the Green Riders, an equestrian messenger corps that uses magic. And if the Green Rider delivers, try the sequels: First Rider’s Call (2004) and The High King’s Tomb (2007).
Douglas Brightglade, the hero of Pyromancer (1992), Aquamancer (1992), Geomancer (1994), and Aeromancer (1997), is another wizard in training. In the course of his adventures in the magical world, readers follow Douglas, his wife Myrn Manstar, and his familiar, Marbleheart, a sea otter, through adventures in which each of the elements (fire, water, earth, and air) figure prominently. Like the characters in Rowling's books, the wizards are depicted as believable humans as well as magicians. They deal with daily problems, as Harry and his cohorts do, sometimes solving them with magic. While they reflect the struggle between good and evil, these novels are lighter in tone and lack the darker plot elements of the Potter series.
Ender’s GameEnder’s Shadow
Open Ender’s Game and meet Andrew Wiggin (Ender). Like Harry Potter, he is a child with a special destiny. Born the third child in a future United States where only two children are allowed per family, Ender is identified after a fight with a school bully by members of the International Fleet. This instills jealousy in his siblings, who plot to steal his power. Believing him to be the last hope for human survival against the Buggers, an insectoid race from outer space, the IF members take him to a space station where he trains for military command. Here, his skill and development are monitored through a complex computer fantasy game controlled by Commander Graff, the school's leader and Ender's mentor. Like Harry, Ender often wins his victories not just through his courage, but also through his compassion and his understanding of the motives and needs of the enemy. If Ender's story captures you, you may wish to continue with Ender’s Shadow. In this parallel novel, Bean, an orphan genetically engineered for extreme intelligence, becomes Ender's friend and lieutenant. Through Bean's eyes, the reader sees the events of Ender’s Game, getting a new perspective on the training program and the goals of the Command School faculty. Card says it doesn't matter which book one reads first, but many who read Ender’s Game first say that Ender’s Shadow serves as a spoiler for Ender’s Game.
The Book of Lost Things
On a more serious note, in The Book of Lost Things a twelve-year-old London boy mourns his mother's death at the beginning of World War II. Unable to adapt to his new stepmother and baby brother, David creates an alternate world comprised of bits of the folktales, myths, and fairytales his mother loved. The real world and fantasy merge one day when the Crooked Man appears and hails David as the new king. Like Harry Potter, David finds himself in a world inhabited by beasts and monsters. He must find The Book of Lost Things to return to his own life. In the course of this quest, David is beset by perils worthy of "He Who Must Not Be Named", and meanwhile learns universal lessons about love, courage, and honor.
The Stolen Child
Henry Day, like Harry Potter, is transported from his ordinary life to a world of magic. In Henry's case, however, another child takes his place. Henry becomes Aniday, a changeling, never aging and living in a shadowland as the modern age encroaches. The novel follows the lives of the former human child and the changeling who takes his place: a piano prodigy whose vague memories of his former life haunt him. This exquisitely written novel also shares with the Rowling works the end of childhood and the search for true identity.
Magician
In Magician (first published in 1982, then in 1993 reissued as two novels entitled Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master), Feist tells the story of a war between Midkemia and Kelewan, two worlds connected by a rift — a tunnel in time and space. Pug, an orphan kitchen boy, becomes an apprentice magician. Feist's work resembles Rowland's in both its detailed character development and its focus on the training of the student wizard. It is also similar in that Pug, like Harry, has a close friend whose skills differ from but complement his own. As Pug develops his skills as a wizard over the course of the novels, his friend Tomas becomes a powerful warrior with the help of magical armor once worn by a dragon lord. Together they work to save the lands from an invasion of the Tsurani, a race of Asian warriors who come through a rift from another world. Readers who enjoy the early adventures of this duo may want to continue by reading Silverthorn (1986), and A Darkness at Sethanon (1986), which complete the initial trilogy of the Riftwar series.
Neverwhere
While many of British fantasy writer Neil Gaiman's works may appeal to Harry Potter fans, Neverwhere provides a good portal into this particular mixture of the absurd, the magical, and the frightening. After rescuing a young girl on a London sidewalk, Richard Mayhew finds himself transported to a supernatural London underworld peopled by monsters, angels, and other supernatural beings. In Neverwhere he is called upon to fight the evil that threatens to destroy this sinister parallel world.
In 1968, Ursula Le Guin wrote A Wizard of Earthsea, a young adult novel set on a magical island in the Northeast Sea. In it, Sparrowhawk, like Harry, is transported to an academy where he can learn the art of wizardry. Sparrowhawk, however, is a darker character, elusive and something of a loner. Whereas Harry uses his newly learned skills to solve problems, Sparrowhawk ventures beyond his powers and summons up a dark spirit which he must then seek and conquer before it turns him to the dark side. The first novel in a series of five (two of which won the Nebula award), A Wizard of Earthsea chronicles Sparrowhawk's transition from a fledgling wizard into a young man who becomes more responsible with his increasing magical skills.
Adult readers must suspend their connection with the real world and abandon themselves to whimsy in order to glean the most enjoyment from Terry Pratchett's humorous Discworld series. They may also want to quit their jobs, as Discworld is addictive and contains numerous volumes! The novels are all set on Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants who in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle. Pratchett draws on his broad literary and cultural knowledge to parody works of literature as well as legends, using them as a mirror for current cultural issues. He also, like Rowling, blends elements of everyday life with the fantastic, creating a closer bond between the reader and his characters. In The Wee Free Men (2003), for example, the Queen of the Elves invades Discworld, kidnapping children and taking over their dreams. Young Tiffany Aching discovers that she has inherited her grandmother's talent for witchcraft, and with the help of the Wee Free Men (known as the Nac Mac Feegle) enters the elfin kingdom to bring her baby brother back. Sound simple? Don't be fooled! While telling the story, Pratchett manages to make satirical references to Scottish folklore, the movie Braveheart, Victorian murderer and fairy painter Richard Dadd, and the Smurfs!
In this remarkable series of three novels (The Golden Compass (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000), Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, two twelve-year-olds with daemon animal companions, travel between fantasy worlds to rescue kidnapped children from evil experiments, release captive spirits, and recover powerful magical weapons. In these adventures, they are aided by a bevy of beasts and wondrous creatures, including armored bears, former nuns, angels, and a Texas aeronaut! The only aspect of these novels that would keep Harry Potter from feeling right at home is the less humorous tone. Lyra’s Oxford picks up Lyra's story a few years later.
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And for the younger set who are wondering what to read now that Harry's finale has been written, check out the "If You Liked Harry Potter" list in the children's room.
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