59 books like So You Want to Be a Wizard

I loved this book since before it was published.

I gave a quote for the cover of the first printing of it, in fact. Fifteen years later, it still remains a book that can carry me away to a world where magic is not a gift but a challenge to overcome.

Kristen had a fresh idea here, but it still folded into my love of adventure and magic and finding out who we are inside.

That’s a story that will always get my attention, and the writing in this one is also lush enough to make me want to pause and re-read lines.

Getting to become a knight? Yes, please!

Childhood me, adult me, mommy me, writer me, all version of me wanted adventure—and swords. Her books were treasured enough in my home that my (now-adult) daughter and I both had to buy replacement copies over the years.

I read Tammy Pierce’s books with my daughter in the years before I was published, never knowing that years later, I’d be teaching sword fighting and chatting with Tammy herself about swords and books.

This recommendation is listing the one book, but it’s part of a whole set of connected series books.

This was our entry into a world of strong adventurous women, and honestly, I’m not sure I’d have ended up a writer if not for her writing.

I had stopped reading children’s and teen fiction for a couple of years, for the first time in my half a century of life, and then I read A Curse So Dark and Lonely.

There’s a different sort of adventure here, and I think I related to Harper a little bit extra because I have a chronic illness and when it flares up, my limp is so very obvious. It felt good to see magic + that realism.

The combination of magic, a protagonist I could connect to, and fairy tale elements made me start opening the covers of other books I’d bought and shelved.

Long before Harry Potter came The Secret of Platform 13, and the idea of a railroad station where a magical doorway existed.

I grew up in a town built on the railroad. My grandfather worked as a mechanic at the railyard. My field trips were to train museum or train-related locations, so the idea of hidden portal there made perfect sense to my childhood heart.

Trains take us places, why not a magical world? It simply makes sense to me to find a magical world beyond a train station.

This is a high fantasy adventure that does hilarious things with classic RPG tropes.

A magical kingdom grows fed up with hosting epic fantasy adventures for tourists from the world next door, complete with Wizard Guides, tavern stays, dragons, and epic battles with a Dark Lord.

Wizard Derk is assigned to be this year’s Dark Lord and—while he’s at it—save the world from these destructive tours.

The story romps across countries and continents, includes plenty of action, and doesn’t hold back when it comes to the somewhat messy familial relationships between Derk, his wife, and his children.

This is one of those books that reveals something new every time you read it.

Spell Sweeper is another fantastic recent release by the talented Lee Edward Fodi that I just couldn't put down. Set in an updated magic school, the story will pull you in with its incredible world-building. The main character, Cara, is a loveable outcast. She's a sort of anti-chosen-one who is forced into an adventure with her fellow remedial magic students, the nervous Gusto, and the talking, magical fox Zuki. But when she finds out she will also have to work with her rival, the seemingly too perfect Harlee Woo, who Cara thinks might be secretly behind the recent magical instabilities, the heat really turns up. Though Cara feels isolated and intentionally pushes others away, she ultimately has to learn to trust her companions and, more importantly, herself. 

Baker’s Magic is a lovely tale of adventure, magic, and baking. When orphan Bee tries to steal a bun from the village bakery, instead of harsh punishment, she’s given a chance to work off her debt. Through the kindness of the baker, Master Bout, she discovers she is much more than she thought she was and can do much more than she ever dreamed. This realization leads her to rescue a princess, save the land, and discover the importance of family. I adored this story more than cinnamon rolls! 

This is possibly the best known book on my list, yet it took me a long time to discover it.

This is a thriller-style adventure that follows Nathaniel, a young magician’s apprentice on a quest for revenge, who summons Bartimaeus, an all-powerful djinni. Nathaniel (unwittingly) and Bartimaeus (unwillingly) get caught up in a tangled plot of magic-fueled mayhem in which they have to work together to survive.

Bartimaeus’ sarcastic observations and side tangents add an element of humor that keep it from staying dark and somber, while also highlighting the underlying threads of slavery and social injustice in this fantasy world.

You know that smell, the one that reminds you of the happiest moments in your childhood? Mine is freshly mown grass. Whenever I smell it, I’m a little boy jumping over the water sprinkler in our front yard with my sister. This trilogy triggers something as poignant every time I read about the young farmer who has an uncanny talent for unraveling all riddles except one: why are there three stars on his forehead? Set in the age after the great wizards have disappeared from the world, Morgon must find the answer before the nameless ones find him.

This book is so underrated, it’s painful. A truly engrossing read. Han Alister must rise up from the slums of the city to embrace his magic, and find revenge for his innocent sister’s death. She was his heart, and when her life is extinguished, so is that part of himself. Or so he thought, until Raisa. A princess by birth, she’ll have to overcome her so-called privilege to have a chance at real happiness with someone less than a commoner—a reformed thief and gang leader. Or is he? Will revenge prove a more powerful conviction than love? Magical twists and surprises abound, and the depth of this world will suck you right in. If you’re not cheering for Han by the end, do you even like morally gray heroes?