Universe
Books like Cosmere: 9 series to read next
Cosmere is fantasy and epic fantasy, about quests, set in secondary world, tense in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.
Cosmere is 54 books across 12 series, 2005–2025.
“Before the worlds, there was Adonalsium, and then there was not.”
from the catalogue description
- Malazan Book of the Fallen
- The Wheel of Time
- The Powder Mage
- The Faithful and the Fallen
- The Licanius Trilogy
- Tolkien's legendarium
- Narnia
- World of Ice and Fire
- The Princess and the Goblin
seriesSteven Erikson20 books1999
Loreful pick
The other single-author mega-world where magic has rules and continents have history — far less forgiving.
matchedepic fantasyfantasysecondary worldmultiple povgodswardark fantasydark
- The Wheel of TimeUniverse
universe24 books1990
Loreful pick
The long-haul epic Sanderson finished; the shared DNA is not a coincidence.
matchedepic fantasysecondary worldmultiple povadventurous
- The Powder MageUniverse
universe19 books2013
Loreful pick
A hard magic system with an economy and a body count, from a writer Sanderson taught.
matchedepic fantasyfantasytensesecondary worldpolitical intriguewar
- The Faithful and the FallenUniverse
universe9 books2012
Loreful pick
Straight-ahead multi-book epic fantasy with a clear cosmology and an actual ending.
matchedepic fantasysecondary world
- The Licanius TrilogySeries
seriesJames Islington3 books2014
Loreful pick
Engineered plotting and a magic system that pays every debt it takes on.
matchedepic fantasysecondary worldpolitical intrigue
- Tolkien's legendariumUniverse
universe163 books1923
Fantasy, set in secondary world.
matchedfantasysecondary world
- World of Ice and FireUniverse
universe19 books1980
Epic fantasy and fantasy, dark in tone, about political intrigue and war, set in secondary world.
matchedepic fantasyfantasysecondary worldpolitical intriguewardark
seriesGeorge MacDonald2 books1871
Fantasy, adventurous in tone, about quests and coming of age, set in secondary world.
matchedfantasyadventuroussecondary worldquestscoming of age
Read next in Cosmere
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 Cosmere?
- Malazan Book of the Fallen. The other single-author mega-world where magic has rules and continents have history — far less forgiving.
- Where do I start with Cosmere?
- The Final Empire. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Cosmere, which is a whole world rather than one run.
- How big is Cosmere?
- Cosmere is 54 books across 12 series, 2005–2025.