Series

Books like Balanced Sword: 9 series to read next

Balanced Sword is epic fantasy, set in secondary world. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Balanced Sword is 5 books, 2012–2016.

“Kyri: a highborn young woman whose life is shattered by the murder of her kin.”
from the catalogue description of Phoenix Rising

The Balanced Sword page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
Shannara
The Riftwar
Memory, Sorrow & Thorn
Sparhawk
Cosmere
Narnia
Sword of Truth
Lord of the Isles

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 →

ShannaraUniverse

universe50 books1977

Epic fantasy and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Long after the world we know has burned itself to slag in the Great Wars, the Four Lands rise green over the bones of the old age.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

The RiftwarUniverse

universe44 books1982

Epic fantasy and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“On the world of Midkemia a tear opens in the air itself, a rift hung between stars, and through it march the armies of an empire from another world entirely.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Memory, Sorrow & ThornUniverse

universe14 books1988

Epic fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Winter comes to Osten Ard out of its season, and behind the cold rides something older than the kingdoms of men.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

SparhawkUniverse

universe6 books1989

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

“Sir Sparhawk is not a young man, and he has little patience for the pageantry his order pretends to.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

CosmereUniverse

universe54 books2005

Epic fantasy and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Before the worlds, there was Adonalsium, and then there was not.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Final Empire →

NarniaUniverse

universe38 books1950

Portal fantasy.

“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 →

Sword of TruthUniverse

universe27 books1994

Epic fantasy and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Truth is a blade, and it cuts the hand that grips it carelessly.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Lord of the IslesSeries

seriesDavid Drake10 books1997

Epic fantasy, adventurous in tone, about quests, set in secondary world.

“In 1997, Drake began his largest fantasy series, Lord of the Isles, using elements of Sumerian religion and medieval-era technology.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Lord of the Isles →

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 Balanced Sword?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Balanced Sword on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Balanced Sword?: Phoenix Rising. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Balanced Sword.
How big is Balanced Sword?: Balanced Sword is 5 books, 2012–2016.

Books like Balanced Sword: 9 series to read next

Read next in Balanced Sword

Why these

Questions readers ask

Other series like this one