10 Books to Read if You Like Harry Potter

Harry Potter fans have a huge void to fill now that the series has reached its conclusion. Thankfully there are other enchanting books out there filled with magic and monsters to satisfy even the biggest Harry Potter fan.

Here are 10 books to read if you haven’t quite got over J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter just yet.

Skulduggery Pleasant — Derek Landy

This is a supernatural mystery series about Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley aka Valkyrie Cain, a very unusual and darkly talented female magician. Featuring a good balance of wit and action, their adventures to overcome an ancient evil will keep you hooked until the end.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief — Rick Riordan

Perseus “Percy” Jackson is the title character and narrator of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The Lightning Thief is the first book of the series where we meet Percy, who is the twelve-year-old son of a human and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy has ADHD and dyslexia but has also inherited magical powers from his father. The Lightning Thief sees our hero set out on an adventure to settle an ongoing battle between the gods that might ignite World War III.

Scythe — Neal Shusterman

This book is the first in the Arc of a Scythe series which comprises of three books. It is set in a distant future where death has been eliminated, people are immortal and society is controlled by an advanced computer system called “The Thunderhead”. To prevent overpopulation, there are “scythes” who glean, that is, kill, people randomly. The story starts with two teenagers, Citra and Rowan, being asked to begin their apprenticeships as scythes, an offer they cannot refuse.

The School for Good and Evil — Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil is a fantasy fairytale series of books set in a fictional location known as the Endless Woods. Best friends Sophie and Agatha, who are polar opposite characters, are kidnapped and sent to the enchanted school where children are trained to become fairytale heroes and villains, respectively. Unfortunately, good, beautiful Sophie is sent to the evil school whilst plain, grumpy Agatha is sent to the good school. The book follows the girls’ trials and tribulations in this new unexpected world that they have been thrust into.

Neverwhere — Neil Gaiman

This book catapults its hero Richard, a young businessman, into a world that he has never known before. Neverwhere lies beneath his native London and is a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels and those who have fallen between the cracks. Richard’s single act of kindness will have devastating repercussions and will thrust him into a world that is at once familiar and bizarre and where a strange destiny awaits.

The Name of the Wind — Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind is also known as The Kingkiller Chronicle. It is the first in a series of a masterful, epic fantasy saga. Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of a magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. This masterpiece of a novel follows Kvothe’s rise from humble beginnings and near insurmountable obstacles and is a gripping, action filled the coming-of-age story.

Eragon — Christopher Paolini

Eragon is the first book in The Inheritance Cycle. In his homeland of Aragaesia, ruled by a powerful and evil monarch, we meet Eragon, a poor farm boy, who discovers a dragon’s egg. Eragon sets out on a predestined journey where he realises that he is the one person who can defend his country from the evil king and restore its fortunes.

Throne of Glass — Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass is the first of seven books of a young adult, high fantasy series. The story follows the journey of Celaena Sardothien, an eighteen-year-old assassin in the kingdom of Adarlan. After a year’s imprisonment, she is brought before Prince Dorian and given the chance of freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in the hunt for a new royal assassin. Celaena battles her way through and embarks on an adventure that leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

The Infernal Devices 1: Clockwork Angel — Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel is the first novel in The Infernal Devices trilogy. It is a Victorian-era fantasy series that promises plenty of magic, love and action. After the death of her aunt, Tessa Gray is sent a ticket to travel to London and once there, she finds herself sucked into London’s dark, supernatural underworld in a search for her missing brother. Soon she finds herself up against a secret organisation of vampires, demons, warlocks and humans.

Rivers of London — Ben Aaronovitch

The novel centres around the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police, who, after an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into a secret section of the police force that deals with magic and the supernatural. Peter Grant becomes the first English apprentice wizard for over seventy years and is immediately plunged into a world of mystical crimes and evil.

Escape into a realm of magic, mystery and the supernatural and bag a copy of one of these suggested novels from Agenda Bookshop.