Universe

Books like Amber: 9 series to read next

Amber is fantasy, about political intrigue and family secrets, set in secondary world, adventurous in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Amber is 26 books across 5 series, 1970–2019.

“Every other world — yours included — is only a Shadow it casts, a rumor of the real thing flung out across the dark.”
from the catalogue description

The Amber page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
Tortall
His Dark Materials
Mordant's Need
Queen's Thief
World of Ice and Fire
Kyralia series
Narnia
The Quest of the Riddle-Master

Tolkien's legendariumUniverse

universe163 books1923

Fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Before the seas were bent and the mountains raised, there was Music — and from that Music came Arda, and in the west of Middle-earth the long defeat and stubborn hope of those who dwell there.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

TortallUniverse

universe25 books1983

About coming of age.

“In Tortall she does it anyway — and earns the right the hard way, through bruises, cold mornings in the training yard, and the slow winning-over of people who swore she'd fail.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

His Dark MaterialsUniverse

universe13 books1995

About coming of age.

“In a world like ours and unlike it, every human soul walks outside the body in the shape of an animal — a daemon, who speaks, who cannot be lied to, and who settles into one fixed form only when childhood ends.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Mordant's NeedSeries

seriesStephen R. Donaldson2 books1986

Fantasy and portal fantasy, adventurous in tone, about political intrigue, set in secondary world.

Start with The Mirror of Her Dreams →

Queen's ThiefSeries

seriesMegan Whalen Turner41 books1996

“Megan Whalen Turner's series expands from that single heist into court intrigue and small-scale warfare among a set of Mediterranean-flavored kingdoms, with later books often shifting whose perspective the reader trusts.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Thief →

World of Ice and FireUniverse

universe19 books1980

Dark in tone.

“Winter is coming, and the men who forget it die first.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Kyralia seriesUniverse

universe8 books2001

About wizards.

“Once a year the magicians of Kyralia sweep the beggars out of the capital, and once a year the beggars throw stones.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

NarniaUniverse

universe38 books1950

“Once there is a wardrobe at the back of a spare room, and behind the fur coats the wood gives way to snow, and a lamp-post burns alone among the trees.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

The Quest of the Riddle-MasterSeries

seriesPatricia A. McKillip3 books1976

Fantasy and epic fantasy, adventurous in tone, about quests, set in secondary world.

“Drawing on Celtic myth, the three books are prized for their lyrical prose and riddle-based magic, and are often cited among the best high fantasy of the 1970s.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Riddle-Master of Hed →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after Amber?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Amber on what it is about, not on what sells.
How big is Amber?: Amber is 26 books across 5 series, 1970–2019.

Books like Amber: 9 series to read next

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Why these

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