Series

Books like Mainspring: 9 series to read next

Mainspring is steampunk. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Mainspring is 5 books, 2007–2010.

Tolkien's legendarium
Narnia
His Dark Materials
Peter Pan
Dragonslayer / The Chronicles of Kazam
Howl's Castle
World of Septimus Heap
The Princess and the Goblin
Wolves Chronicles

universe163 books1923

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 →

NarniaUniverse

universe38 books1950

Portal fantasy, set in secondary world.

“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

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 →

Peter PanUniverse

universe112 books1902

Fantasy.

“Second star to the right, and straight on till morning — and there it is, the island that every child dreams once and then, growing up, contrives to forget.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Peter Pan →

Dragonslayer / The Chronicles of KazamSeries

seriesJasper Fforde4 books2010

About dragons, set in british isles.

“Jasper Fforde's Chronicles of Kazam series follows Jennifer Strange, a fifteen-year-old foundling running a magical employment agency in an alternate Britain where magic is fading, who unexpectedly becomes the last Dragonslayer.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Last Dragonslayer →

Howl's CastleSeries

seriesDiana Wynne Jones3 books1986

Set in secondary world.

Start with Howl's Moving Castle →

World of Septimus HeapSeries

seriesAngie Sage12 books2005

Set in secondary world.

Reading order →

The Princess and the GoblinSeries

seriesGeorge MacDonald2 books1871

Set in secondary world.

“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 →

Wolves ChroniclesSeries

seriesJoan Aiken12 books1962

Adventure, set in british isles.

“The Wolves Chronicles is Joan Aiken's long-running alternate-history series for young readers, set in a nineteenth-century England ruled by the Stuart dynasty and beset by wolves that have migrated across a Channel land-bridge.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase →

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 Mainspring?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Mainspring on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Mainspring?: Mainspring. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Mainspring.
How big is Mainspring?: Mainspring is 5 books, 2007–2010.
Is Mainspring finished?: Yes — 5 books, 2007–2010.

Books like Mainspring: 9 series to read next

Read next in Mainspring

Why these

Questions readers ask

Other series like this one