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Books like Memory, Sorrow & Thorn: 9 series to read next

Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is epic fantasy, about dragons, set in secondary world. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is 14 books across 4 series, 1988–2026.

“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

The Memory, Sorrow & Thorn page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
World of Ice and Fire
Dragon Trilogies
Sword of Truth
The Riftwar
Dragonlance
Forgotten Realms
Shannara
Cosmere

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 →

World of Ice and FireUniverse

universe19 books1980

Epic fantasy and fantasy, dark in tone, about war and political intrigue, set in secondary world.

“Winter is coming, and the men who forget it die first.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Dragon TrilogiesSeries

seriesMelanie Rawn6 books1988

Epic fantasy and fantasy, tense in tone, about dragons and political intrigue, set in secondary world.

“The Dragon Prince trilogy focuses on Prince Rohan of the Desert and his Sunrunner wife, Sioned, while the Dragon Star trilogy focuses on their son, Pol.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

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 →

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 →

DragonlanceUniverse

universe436 books1984

Epic fantasy and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“The gods have kept their silence over Krynn for three hundred years, and the world has learned to make do without them: the dragons are a nursery tale, the old clerics gone, faith worn down to superstition.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight →

Forgotten RealmsUniverse

universe526 books1987

Epic fantasy and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Come in from the cold and mind the door — the wind off the Sword Coast has teeth.”
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 →

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 →

Read next in Memory, Sorrow & Thorn

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 Memory, Sorrow & Thorn?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Memory, Sorrow & Thorn on what it is about, not on what sells.
How big is Memory, Sorrow & Thorn?: Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is 14 books across 4 series, 1988–2026.

Other series like this one

Books like Memory, Sorrow & Thorn — 9 series to read next · Loreful