So on our Discord, we’re able to discuss our favorite books, authors, and other written works in our #library channel. However, I wanted to open up this prompt to everyone, whether you’ve been here on our forums for 2 years or 2 days!
So, without further ado, what books do you think are like those in the Magiqverse? Or are there authors who you feel whose work resonates well with the Magiqverse? Finally, why do you feel that way about these books or authors?
Thanks in advance for all your help! The Leadership, as well as CJ and Catherine, are thrilled to hear your responses .
Hmm, this is tricky for me. I don’t think I’ve ever had any books that made me feel quite like the MAGIQverse does. But I can break down some elements of this universe and make suggestions based on that?
Mystery/Book Related:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: An older book, about censorship of books.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: Another oldie but goodie. About a girl who can bring things out of books, in exchange for putting something into them.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: A bit gloomy, but has many of the same elements as TMP (forgotten books and forced censorship in particular)
Books About Magical Societies:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke: Focuses on magical societies, and what happens when real magicians arrive. Really love the conception of magic in this one and overall it’s an extremely well written book.
Makes Me Feel a Sense of Wonder:
The Wicked + the Divine: This is actually a comic series, but it’s one of the few worlds that makes me as excited as the MAGIQverse. Very thoughtful plot, lots of queer rep, a modern fantasy setting, and issues of powers and suppressing it.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin: I mean, anything by Ursula Le Guin honestly.
Books with LGBTQ+ Rep:
To Summon Nightmares by J.K. Pendragon: Paranormal mystery with a trans main character, it’s kind of dark but I like the book and Pendragon’s work in general a lot
The Diviners by Libba Bray: 1920s paranormal mystery book with some prominent queer characters
Brew: A Novel by Dane Figueroa Edidi: A witchy novel, a bit hard to get your hands on, but still quite good.
In terms of genre, I would have to say the Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman. Some other contenders would include the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. In terms of the urban element, with NYC being so integral to the TMP narrative, Kate Griffin’s A Madness of Angels, the Midnight Mayor and The Neon Court. Lastly, with a more subtle approach to magic like TMP would be Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay (I haven’t read any of the other Sarantine Mosaic books yet though, TBH). Also, I second Rev’s Wizard of Earthsea selection.
The plot twists in TMP remind me of the TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow as his books were full of them. The deep rich lore gives me throw backs to R A Salvatore’s Legends of Drizzt. The places like Neithernor makes me think of Inkhearts Magiqal world and finally the characters are as fantastical and complex as Rick Riordan’s. Also just gonna recommend that your also read michelle paver’s Spirit Walker series
The Night Circus, by Erin Morganstern. It’s got that sense of like, secret magic that some people know about kind of thing going on. And I think it has some of the same sense of urgency and wonder to it. 100/10 do recommend.
so, after a day of thinking, one other book i really ended up thinking of as a bit of a dark horse is “Armada” by earnest Cline. So, normally itd be a bit of a weird choice, but… while it isnt about magic, it is related to the whole “my entire world is a lie and i suddenly have to take part in something way bigger than myself” mentality of writing. its… above average writing, but for our younger audience its probably worth picking up if you have some cash to spare. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16278318-armada
for those who are thinking “I know of a cline, who IS that?”, he wrote ready player one and armada and then disappeared for a while.
There are a couple of webcomics that come to mind re: representation.
Namesake (namesakecomic.com) is very good, been going for years. Involves stories and magic, and has a pretty diverse cast. Lots of ships to hop on, too.
Messenger is a newer comic I found through the webtoons app. Has magic and a huge pantheon of deities (and gets diversity points too).
YES! My favourite series was the voyage of the Jerle Shannara, tbh, but the word and the void is THE definitive fantasy post apoc series, imo. I quite liked isle witch and High Druids Blade, too.
A recent series I have enjoyed quite a bit is “The Ancient Magnus Bride”. I want to say there are 13-14 books currently out, with 3 of them being books and the other 10/11 being manga. It’s all about living in a world where you can see the myths but heavily focuses on Celtic myths.
Time catcher has a similar old timey to modern day hidden fantasy vibe, as does Carbonel and Kingdom of Carbonel (which are about cats!).
Somehow I also get a similar vibe to Endymion Spring, which is a fantastic book about the past and the present mingling through hidden magic and bloodlines.
there is another sort of short story multi author thing that kind of reminds me of this place, but I’ve only read "welcome to bordertown. Its this book of short stories of where there is this town of run aways and misfits thats on the border of the magic realm. So it has like punk artists and elves and spotty magic…its just really good.
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