Series

Books like Balumnia: 9 series to read next

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

Balumnia is 4 books, 1982–2002.

“Scientific explanation depends on such tongue-in-cheek concepts as The Five Standard Shapes, The Three Major Urges, and The Six Links of Bestial Sciences.”
from the catalogue description of The Elfin Ship

The Balumnia page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
Howl's Castle
Discworld
Narnia
The Princess and the Goblin
Enchanted Forest
Dying Earth
Magic Kingdom of Landover
Spellsinger

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 →

Howl's CastleSeries

seriesDiana Wynne Jones3 books1986

Fantasy, whimsical and adventurous in tone, set in secondary world.

Start with Howl's Moving Castle →

DiscworldUniverse

universe84 books1983

Fantasy, funny in tone, set in secondary world.

“Death speaks IN SMALL CAPITALS and rides a horse called Binky.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Guards! Guards! →

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 →

The Princess and the GoblinSeries

seriesGeorge MacDonald2 books1871

About coming of age.

“Strahan had published the story and illustrations as a serial in the monthly magazine Good Words for the Young, beginning November 1870.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Princess and the Goblin →

Enchanted ForestSeries

seriesPatricia C. Wrede7 books1985

About dragons.

“Patricia Collins Wrede is an American author of fantasy literature.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Dealing with Dragons →

Dying EarthSeries

seriesJack Vance, Jeff VanderMeer, Dan Simmons, Lucius Shepard & Michael Shea27 books1950

Fantasy, about wizards, set in secondary world.

“Vance returned to the setting in 1965 and thereafter, making it the first book in the Dying Earth series.”
from the catalogue description of The Dying Earth
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Dying Earth →

Magic Kingdom of LandoverSeries

seriesTerry Brooks8 books1986

Fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Written in 1986, it tells the story of how Ben Holiday, a talented but depressed Chicago trial lawyer, comes to be king of Landover, an otherworldly magical kingdom.”
from the catalogue description of Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold! →

SpellsingerSeries

seriesAlan Dean Foster9 books1983

Portal fantasy, about transported to another world and music.

“Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series follows Jon-Tom, a UCLA law student pulled into a fantasy world by the wizard Clothahump, where he discovers he can cast spells by singing along with his guitar.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Spellsinger →

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 Balumnia?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Balumnia on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Balumnia?: The Elfin Ship. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Balumnia.
How big is Balumnia?: Balumnia is 4 books, 1982–2002.

Books like Balumnia: 9 series to read next

Read next in Balumnia

Why these

Questions readers ask

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