Series Like Harry Potter
All right, Harry Potter is done. Now what?
Harry Potter journeys down a very common path, that many heroes before him and after him will take. The heroes and heroines below are walking down that very same road:
In the hero’s journey, the boy grows up in the ordinary world, the countryside for King Arthur and Bilbo Baggins, the mundane world of muggles for Harry Potter. Then a mysterious herald appears summoning him to an adventure. You see he has…a destiny. The hero often rejects this call—it is too strange, too mysterious, but at last, he accepts. He adventures along the way, aided by his friends and companions, with sometimes a token female.
In the end, the hero descends into the realm of death and confronts the ultimate enemy—a shadow that represents his dark side, his evil and submerged half. This conflict also represents a war with the father figure and a struggle for dominance. This struggle is most apparent in works such as Star Wars (“Luke, I am your father”) and King Arthur where the son and opposite covets the father’s place. Having faced and conquered his dark side, absorbing its lessons into himself, the hero returns, far stronger than before.
This quest is the story behind Harry Potter, Star Wars, King Arthur...and thousands of other books, especially series for young adults.
Reading List:
The Heroine's Journey: For Grown Ups
For Children
The Hero's Journey: For Grown Ups
For Children
My Other Reading Lists:
Hero’s Journey Children’s Books
The Harry Potter Series (of course)
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Over Sea, Under Stone
Greenwitch
The Dark Is Rising
Silver on the Tree
The Grey King
*The Ender Saga Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant
The Tales of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card
Seventh Son
Red Prophet
Prentice Alvin
Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire
Crystal City
The Earthsea Quartet (and more)
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
The Farthest Shore
Tehanu
Tales from Earthsea
The Other Wind
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King
The Pit Dragon Chronicles by Jane Yolen
Dragon's Blood
Heart's Blood
A Sending of Dragons
The Young Wizards Series by Diane Duane
So You Want to be a Wizard
Deep Wizardry
High Wizardry
A Wizard Abroad
The Wizard's Dilemma
A Wizard Alone
Wizard's Holiday
Wizards at War
A Wizard of Mars
The Belgariad by David Eddings
Pawn of Prophecy
Queen of Sorcery
Magician's Gambit
Castle of Wizardry
Enchanter's End Game
Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
Eragon
Eldest
Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold! (Magic Kingdom of Landover) by Terry Brooks
*The
Princess Bride
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
The Neverending Story
Talking to Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles)
The Riddle-Master Trilogy by
Patricia McKillip
The Books of Merlin series by T. A. Barron
The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson
The Once and Future King + The Book of Merlyn by T. H. White
Heroine's Journey Children’s Books
The Wizard of Oz and The Oz Books
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
Dealing with Dragons
Searching for Dragons
Calling on Dragons
Talking to Dragons
The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
Immortals by Tamora Pierce
Wild Magic
Wolf Speaker
Emperor Mage
The Realms of the Gods
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
The Tiffany Aching Books by Terry Pratchett
The Wee Free Men
A Hat full of Sky
Wintersmith
The Young Wizards Series by Diane Duane
So You Want to be a Wizard
Deep Wizardry
High Wizardry
A Wizard Abroad
The Wizard's Dilemma
A Wizard Alone
Wizard's Holiday
Wizards at War
A Wizard of Mars
Sabriel, Lireal, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia Wrede
Tehanu
The Hero and the Crown
The Blue Sword
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Alice in Wonderland
Coraline
Inkheart
Abarat
The Last Unicorn
Movies, Musicals, and Television
The
Princess Bride
Star Wars Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien Animated Films Set (The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings/The Return
of the King)
The Last Unicorn
Labyrinth
Mirrormask
The Wizard of Oz
Return to Oz
The 10th Kingdom
Xena: Warrior Princess
Wicked the Musical
Tinman
Into the Woods
Cats
Stargate seasons 9-10
Pan’s Labyrinth
Ever After
Pretty Woman
The Snow Queen
Earthsea
A Wrinkle in Time
The Mists of Avalon
Shrek
*King Arthur (any version)
Harry Potter
Eragon
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion King
Pan's Labyrinth
Labyrinth
The Wizard of Oz
*The 10th Kingdom
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Flash Gordon
*Mirrormask
The Dark Crystal
The Spider-Man Trilogy
Superman
Babylon 5
The Shrek Trilogy (Shrek / Shrek 2 / Shrek the Third)
Pirates Of The Caribbean Trilogy
Grown Up Epic Series: The Hero's Journey
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
Grown Up Epic Trilogies: The Hero's Journey
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
The Outstretched Shadow
To Light a Candle
When Darkness Falls
The Troy Game by Sara Douglass
Hades' Daughter
Gods' Concubine
Darkwitch Rising
Druid's Sword
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Summer Tree
The Wandering Fire
The Darkest Road
The Secret Texts by Holly Lisle
The Bridei Chronicles by Juliet Marillier
The Well of Shades
(For many trilogies, book one is a perfect representation of the hero's journey, and the entire trilogy likewise follows such an arc. Also, many in this section are meant for mature audiences.)
Grown Up Epic Fantasy Novels: The Heroine's Journey
The Mists of Avalon
and The Fall of Atlantis
by
Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey
Kushiel’s Dart
Kushiel's Chosen
Kushiel's Avatar
The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
The Tir Alainn Series by Anne Bishop
The Pillars of the World
Shadows and Light
The House of Gaian
The Ephemera Series by Anne Bishop
Sebastian
Belladonna
The Troy Game by Sara Douglass
Hades' Daughter
Gods' Concubine
Darkwitch Rising
Druid's Sword
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Summer Tree
The Wandering Fire
The Darkest Road
The Secret Texts by Holly Lisle
The World Gates by Holly Lisle
Memory of Fire
The Wreck of Heaven
Gods Old and Dark
The Halfblood Chronicles by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Julliet Marillier
Daughter of the Forest
Son of the Shadows
Child of the Prophecy
The Bridei Chronicles by Juliet Marillier
The Well of Shades
The Great Alta Saga by Jane Yolen
Sister Light, Sister Dark
White Jenna
The One-Armed Queen
The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
The Outstretched Shadow
To Light a Candle
When Darkness Falls
The Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey
Arrows of the Queen
Arrow's Flight
Arrow's Fall
(For many trilogies, book one is a perfect representation of the heroine's journey, and the entire trilogy likewise follows such an arc. Also, many in this section are meant for mature audiences.)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka
The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka
Fractured Fairy Tales by A.J. Jacobs
Newfangled Fairy Tales by Bruce Lansky
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner
Once upon a More Enlightened Time by James Finn Garner
Politically Correct Holiday Stories by James Finn Garner
The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett
1
The Colour of Magic
2 The Light Fantastic
3 Equal Rites
4 Mort
5 Sourcery
6 Wyrd Sisters
7 Pyramids
8 Guards! Guards!
9 Eric [illustrated by Josh Kirby (save in a-format & mm p/bs)]
9a Eric [text-only (a-format & mm p/bs)]
10 Moving Pictures
11 Reaper Man
12 Witches Abroad
13 Small Gods
14 Lords and Ladies
15 Men At Arms
16 Soul Music
17 The Witches Trilogy (Omnibus of 3, 6 & 12)
18 Interesting Times
19 Maskerade
20 Feet of Clay
21 Hogfather
22 Jingo
23 The Last Continent
24 Death Trilogy (Omnibus of 4, 11 & 16)
25 Carpe Jugulum
26 The Colour of Magic: The Light Fantastic: The First Discworld Novels
[Omnibus of 1 & 2]
27 The Fifth Elephant
28 City Watch Trilogy (Omnibus of 8, 15 & 20)
29 Gods Trilogy (Omnibus of 7, 13 & 21)
30 The Truth
31 Thief of Time
32 The Rincewind Trilogy (Omnibus of 5, 9 & 18)
33 The Last Hero [illustrated by paul Kidby]
34 The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
35 The Nightwatch
36 The Wee Free Men
36a The Illustrated Wee Free Men
37 Monstrous Regiment
38 A Hat Full of Sky
39 Going Postal
40 Thud!
41 Where's My Cow? (child & adult picture book)
42 Wintersmith
43 Making Money
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
Dealing with Dragons
Searching for Dragons
Calling on Dragons
Talking to Dragons
Roald Dahl
The
Gremlins (1943)
James and the Giant Peach (1961)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
The Magic Finger (1966)
Fantastic Mr Fox (1970)
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1973)
Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1977)
The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
The Twits (1980)
George's Marvelous Medicine (1981)
The BFG (1982)
The Witches (1983)
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
Matilda (1988)
Esio Trot (1989)
The Minpins (1991)
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (1991)
Read Henry Potty and the Pet Rock: The Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody