Series

Books like Blackbird: 9 series to read next

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

Blackbird is 5 books, 1986–1991.

The Blackbird page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
Shannara
Narnia
His Dark Materials
The Quest of the Riddle-Master
The Riftwar
Earthsea
Howl's Castle
Alliance-Union

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

Fantasy and epic 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 →

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 →

His Dark MaterialsUniverse

universe13 books1995

About coming of age, set in parallel universe.

“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 →

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 →

The RiftwarUniverse

universe44 books1982

Fantasy and epic 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 →

EarthseaUniverse

universe19 books1964

Reflective in tone, about wizards.

“There is a lesson every wizard of Earthsea learns young: to know a thing's true name is to hold its whole being, and to speak it is to move the balance of the world.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Howl's CastleSeries

seriesDiana Wynne Jones3 books1986

Whimsical in tone.

Start with Howl's Moving Castle →

Alliance-UnionUniverse

universe173 books1976

Science fiction, set in far future.

“Around that spine cluster the merchanter novels of trader Families, the Faded Sun trilogy of human envoys among the martial alien Mri, and the Chanur books, narrated from the hierarchical, whiskered viewpoint of the hani.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

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 Blackbird?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Blackbird on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Blackbird?: A Blackbird in Silver. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Blackbird.
How big is Blackbird?: Blackbird is 5 books, 1986–1991.

Books like Blackbird: 9 series to read next

Read next in Blackbird

Why these

Questions readers ask

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