Where to go after Harry Potter

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by s1mp13m4n

Now to switch things up a bit, I also liked Lawrence Block the Bernie Rhodenbarr series and the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series, so any ideas based on those as well?

Well, I've never read Lawrence Block and have only vague acquaintance with Janet Evanovich, but Wikipedia says these are semi-humorous mystery series about a burglar and a bounty hunter respectively?

In which case you'll be wanting humorous caper-type fantasy, perhaps, which redoubles the recs for Terry Pratchett's Discworld (I think you'll especially enjoy Pyramids).

John Moore also does good humorous adventure-type fantasy which satirizes fairy tale tropes. He's got a free novel in PDF format on his website that you can try, although it's not quite like his regular work.

Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series is excellent, with a low-key, sardonic humour provided by the narrator, who well appreciates the absurdity of life (he's an assassin, by the way).

I've never read them myself, but Robert Asprin & Lynn Abbey's Thieves' World series is supposed to be semi-classic. Asprin is well known as a humour writer and there's been some kind of push in recent years to reprint his books, though not necessarily these ones.

For a lighter read, Anne Logston did some fairly nice breezy action-adventure novels with her Shadow series about a elven thief in a mixed elven-human city. Available DRM-free via Fictionwise, which occasionally has 40%+ discount coupons.

If you want capers set in "our" world and are willing to have a dose of supernatural horror in them, Nick Pollotta's written a few humorous novels, also available via Fictionwise. I liked the Bureau 13 series about a government agency tasked with dealing with supernatural incursions (they're an RPG spin-off, in case you like to avoid those), and he's also got one with Victorian British explorers on the trail of Cthulhu which I'm partway through. The writing is very much on the non-serious side.

For fantasy mysteries, Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series is generally well thought-of (I keep meaning to read them myself, but haven't got around to it yet) and available DRM-free via Baen.

Also, there's any number of hard-bitten urban fantasy series which you might enjoy. From what I know of them, it seems that Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kim Harrison's The Hollows series sound pretty close to Stephanie Plum in character and flavour.

[David Munch]

Lots of interesting series here.. I'm going to get some of them!

[s1mp13m4n]

Wow, thank you all for this great help. I think there is plenty here to look in to. This a great forum.

[Namekuseijin]

Never read any HP, but have seen some of the early movies when occasionally zapping through TV.

I'm sure you've heard of The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia?

And count another vote for Terry Pratchett's books. The man is a native from the land of storytellers. Be cautious though that he intermixes lots of humor with lyricism. Don't go expecting another dark and dramatic fantasy magnum opus.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Nicholas Flamel Series by Michael Scott. It's about teenage twins who discover they have magical powers and must fulfill a prophecy to save the world.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by s1mp13m4n

Hello everyone. I am currently reading the Harry Potter series by J. K Rowling. I like the books because of the friendships, fun, not too serious, not too "out there", etc. What should I try after Harry Potter? I love the books and movies but do not read other books on magic in general....my wife got me in to HP.

Try the new "Lost Gate" by Orson Scott Card -- a wonderful YA fantasy novel, first in a new series.

Lee

[beespeckled]

Latinandgreek said:"The Magicians by Lev Grossman was also hailed as the grown-up HP, and that's not an exaggeration at all. It did have it's flaws, but it's still a good read."

I read the Magicians also, I had high hopes at the beginning but ended up disliking the characters by the end. I will probably pass on the sequel. A book can be so personal, hard to be objective. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I forgot to mention Cornelia Funke's InkHeart, Inkspell & Inkdeath. I very much enjoyed Inkheart!

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

Latinandgreek said:"The Magicians by Lev Grossman was also hailed as the grown-up HP, and that's not an exaggeration at all. It did have it's flaws, but it's still a good read."

I read the Magicians also, I had high hopes at the beginning but ended up disliking the characters by the end. I will probably pass on the sequel. A book can be so personal, hard to be objective. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I forgot to mention Cornelia Funke's InkHeart, Inkspell & Inkdeath. I very much enjoyed Inkheart!

I did dislike some of the characters by the end, too, to be honest. I did like the book's setting and world-building, and despite me disliking some of the characters (in particular, the main character), I did think them realistic, so I'd be interested to see what the sequel makes of them. I'll be sure to check out Inkheart!

[mpd123]

hi

i would recommend the Dresden Files by jim butcher.

modern day wizard/private investigator.

[Anke Wehner]

I'd recommend the Bartimaeus trilogy by Johnathan Stroud. It takes place in an England ruled by magicians, and the main characters are an appentice wizard, and a powerful demon he summons. The viewpoint alternates between them, and the demon is wonderfully snarky, very entertaining to read.

Also seconding the Vlad Taltos series recommendation, and adding one for Discworld.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

"Hidden" magic secretly practiced by children discovering they're wizards amidst the mundanes of our "own" world: Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard.

Let me second this suggestion. The "Young Wizards" series are all available as ebooks to US/Canadian readers from the usual retailers. International readers can get some (and more soon) directly from Diane Duane's web site, in ePub or Mobi/Kindle or from Amazon in Kindle format.

[tponzo]

Since Brian Jaques has just passed away, and I really think that his books are great, while not in the same style as Harry Potter, but Redwall is a really great read!

So sad to hear about Brian Jacques. Yes Redwall is really good.


A lot of what I would recommend is already been done but can't say enough about Terry Pratchett, C.S. Lewis and Lloyd Alexander. Also you might want to try Eragon and it's sequels by Christopher Paolini, it's about a boy who finds a dragon and turns out to be a dragon knight who must save the world. (Chris' story is almost as interesting at Rowling's, he wrote Eragon when he was 15 and self published it with his parents help. It became so popular it got picked up by a publishing house - forget which one - and became a best seller. Kid became a best selling author before he was 19 years old.) Also enjoyed Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, if you like Greek Mythology those are pretty entertaining. New series by Riordan takes on Egyptian mythology. Also pretty good even though kind of light weight - Septimus Heap by Angie Sage (definitely YA in tone and style). You also might want to give The Obsidian Mountain and The Enduring Flame trilogies by Mercedes Lackey and James Malloy a try. Darker than HP but really good.

[Serena]

I second the recommendation for Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. Reminded me very much of Harry Potter, just with adults.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Serena

I second the recommendation for Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. Reminded me very much of Harry Potter, just with adults.

I third this suggestion! The Hollows is a great Fantasy/Supernatural series!

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I third this suggestion! The Hollows is a great Fantasy/Supernatural series!

I will definitely be checking it out!