If you like harry potter you might like

Temi Oyeyola

Whether you're a reader or an editor at a publishing house, everyone wants to find the next Harry Potter. "Sensation" isn't even a grand enough word to describe the effect that J.K. Rowling's 11-year-old wizard with a lightning-bolt scar had on the publishing industry—so many people's lives. "Movement" is more accurate; Harry Potter ignited an era.

In the wake of Harry Potter, the YA and children's literature genre grew exponentially, leading to an abundance of voices and sub-genres that can be found on today's shelves. Theme parks were built. Movies were made. Perhaps most importantly, the books also created a generation of readers forever invested in Harry Potter—and finding books just like them.

However, finding a follow-up to Harry Potteris deceptively hard. It's not as simple as heading to the Fantasy section of the bookstore or plucking a book set in a mysterious school. What people want when they're searching for "books like Harry Potter," is to find a reading experience similar to the one Rowling's series delivers.

In all likelihood, whenever a Muggle is searching for a book like Harry Potter, they really just want a read that feels like Harry Potter. Below, we've gathered the best books that combine Harry Potter's genre with its immersive quality. There are picks for all ages, beginning with middle grade and ending with adult. Play the Harry Potter soundtrack, and go forth.

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The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

From the author of the beloved How to Train Your Dragon series comes The Wizards of Once, a throwback to the mythology of ancient Britain. Xar, the son of a Wizard, and Wish, the daughter of a Warrior, are supposed to hate each other; Wizards and Warriors don't mix, in their world. But a quest through an enchanted forest to find a legendary witch unites them. For extra fun, listen to the audiobook narrated by David Tennant.

Age Range: 8 to 12

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Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Best known as a 2005 animated movie from Studio Ghibli, Howl's Moving Castle is an adaptation of the 1986 children's book. As her family's eldest daughter, it's Sophie's duty to remain at home forever. Then, the Witch of the Waste swoops in and turns Sophie into an old woman—which sends her on a journey away from her home, toward a castle on legs that's home to a mysterious wizard. Yep, it's as fun a read as it sounds. Next, delve into Diana Wynne Jones' trove of other acclaimed fantasy novels for children. 

Age Range: 8 and up

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Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Meggie lives every bookworm's dream: She finds herself pulled into the magical world within the book she's reading with her father. This utterly unforgettable story blurs the lines between fiction and reality, and is a reminder that the things we learn in books do impact our lives.

Age Range: 8-12 years

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The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva ibbotson

Three years before Harry Potter crossed through Platform 9 and 3/4 on his way to Hogwarts, the characters in Eva Ibbotson's novel passed through a railway platform in King's Cross Station to enter their own secret world: An enchanted island. Sounds familiar, right? The Secret of Platform 13 is as whimsical as Harry Potter, with a dash of Roald Dahl. 

Age Range:  8-12 years

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imusti

Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

When he's 10, Charlie Bone discovers he has the ability to "hear" people speaking—through photographs. Shipped off to Bloor's Academy, Charlie meets other children with similarly unique powers. With jaw-dropping cliffhangers and a richly rendered boarding school, readers will race through this series. 

Age Range: 8-12 years

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Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Everything's going according to plan—until twelve-year-old Aru Shah rubs an enchanted lamp and accidentally unleashes a monster. Luckily, Aru is in a position to stop the demonic Sleeper. After finding out she's a reincarnation of an ancient Hindu god, Aru must gather her far-flung (also reincarnated) siblings. Aru Shah and the End of Time takes a fascinating plunge into Hindu mythology.  

Age Range: 8 to 12 years

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Scholastic Press

The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Holly Black (The Cruel Prince) and Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments) are titans of YA fantasy. When they combine their collective world-building skills for this five-book fantasy series, the results are—dare we say it—magical. The Iron Trial, the series' first installment, follows 12-year-old Callum Hunt as he tries to master the elements during his quest to become a wizard. 

Age Range: 8-12

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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Would you rather discover that you're a wizard, or that you're descended from the gods of Mount Olympus? Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns that his ADHD and dyslexia are really the markers of his extraordinary heritage: His dad is Poseidon. In the series, Percy teams up with fellow demigods to plumb the depths of his powers. The Lightning Thief is the first of five novels, which also spurred a movie series.  

Age Range: 12 and up

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Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Famously, Christopher Paoloini wrote his bestselling Inheritance when he was just a teenager. The ridiculously detailed fantasy series begins when a farm boy finds an ordinary-looking egg and decides not to give it away. A dragon named Saphira is hatched, and Eragon's destiny as a dragon-rider is born.

Age Range: 12 and up

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The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is well-known for his excellent adult series, The Shadow of the Wind (another excellent read for all the Potterheads out there). However, his first book was this out-of-the-box middle grade thriller about a young boy whose new house has a ghostly past. 

Age Range: 12 and up

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Yearling

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Bold and brash, 11-year-old Lyra Belacqua of the His Dark Materials is a Gryffindor, through and through. Pullman's lofty, philosophical three-book series involves magic dust, inter-dimensional travel, talking animals, and evil adults. It's an obvious follow-up to Harry Potter.

Age Range: 12 and up

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The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

As Maggie Stiefvater's popular four-book series shows, magic isn't just located in schools in the Scottish highlands–it can be found in rural Virginia, too. In The Raven Boys, a non-psychic girl from a family of psychics becomes linked to four boys at a nearby private school. Out tumbles an adventure featuring magic, a dead king, and destinies of doom. Get ready to tear through this paranormal adventure as if you were 11 again. 

Age Range: 14 and up

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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Magic courses through 16-year-old Zelie Adebola's veins, but she can't access it. Decades ago, magic was eliminated from the land in a violent massacre that killed Zelie's mother and many of her people. In Tomi Adeyemi's Africa-inspired fantasy, the 16-year-old protagonist is the only person who can restore magic to the land.

Age Range: 14 and up

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I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

J.K. Rowling cites I Capture the Castle as one of her favorite books. Cassandra, the book's endearing 16-year-old narrator, writes about the summer that two Americans come to her sleepy British town and changed her and her older sister's lives. 

Age Range: 14 and up

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Flatiron Books

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

In her thrilling first novel written for adults, YA legend Leigh Bardugo reimagines Yale University's secret societies as hubs for dark magic. Galaxy "Alex" Stern can communicate with ghosts, and is plucked from her dour existence in California to join Yale's freshman class to monitor the secret societies' paranormal activity. 

Age Range: Adult

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A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Magic. Inter-dimensional travel. Strong women protagonists. A whodunit. Essentially, V. E. Schwab'sx famous novel has everything you could want in a page-turner fantasy novel. A Darker Shade of Magic is set across four versions of London, each with a differing degree of magic. A certain class of wizard, called Antari, can travel across them. Luckily, we can come along for the ride. 

Age Range: Adult

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Plume Books

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Think Hogwarts, but college. Lev Grossman's The Magicians trilogy kicks off with an acceptance letter—to a magical university. While there, Quentin discovers that the childhood fantasy books he once loved were actually set in a real place—and he can go there. 

Age Range: Adult

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, is for the romantics among us. Marco and Celia are in love. They're also pawns in someone else's battle, and only one of them can win. Morgenstern's debut novel is set in traveling 19th century circus called Le Cirque des Rêves, which enchants all who visit—including readers.  

Age Range: Adult

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Viking

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

It's ridiculous that, so often, we have to choose between reading a "witch" book or a "vampire" book. A Discovery of Witches eliminates that problem. In the Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy, Diana Phillips, a historian and witch, discovers a book in an Oxford library that unlocks a far more magical world. She teams up with a vampire to explore the depths of it. Like Harry Potter, the All Souls trilogy has a passionate fan following and an acclaimed screen adaptation.

Age Range: Adult

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Terry Pratchett

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Color of Magic is the first installment of Terry Pratchett's extraordinary, 41-book Discworld series. Following the travels of a  hapless wizard guide and the first tourist to Discworld, The Color of Magic is an introduction to the irreverent humor and genre-based jokes that define his other novels.

Age Range: Adult

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Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin

If Harry Potter made you hungry for more immersive, fully imagined series, look no further than Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Quartet, which explains how a boy named Sparrowhawk came to be a powerful wizard named Ged (it's more interesting than it sounds). As Le Guin said: “Great novels offer us not only a series of events, but a place, a landscape of the imagination which we can inhabit and return to."

Age Range: Middle school to adult

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Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Ivy Gamble is a Muggle, to borrow one of Rowling's terms. Her twin sister, however, was born with powers, and now teaches at the Osthorne Academy of Young Mages. After a teacher is murdered at the Academy, Ivy, a private investigator, is hired to find the truth, and not get in her sister's way. Think Harry Potter meets a murder mystery (with a splash of whimsy).  

Age Range: Adult

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Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Probationary Constable Peter Grant accidentally stumbles into a section of London that, logically, should not exist. A world where ancient river gods mingle with vampires and mortals and ghosts can be prime witnesses for cases. Former Doctor Who writer Ben Aaronovitch brings humor and detail to this urban fantasy series, set in a more-magical version of modern-day London. 

Age Range: Adult

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Crowley, John

Little, Big by John Crowley

John Crowney's four-generation epic begins when a young man named Smokey Barnable wanders to a place not found on a map and makes a home in an ever-expanding house. His wife, Daily Alice Drinkwater, comes from an unusual (read: magical) family. This was Smokey's destiny—and reading this wonder of a book can be yours.

Age Range: Adult 

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