Series

Books like Once Upon a Time: 9 series to read next

Once Upon a Time is fairy tale retelling and fantasy, set in secondary world. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Once Upon a Time is 18 books, 2002–2010.

“Cursed at birth, Aurore is fated to prick her finger at the age of sixteen and sleep for one hundred years -- until a prince awakens her with a kiss.”
from the catalogue description of Beauty Sleep

The Once Upon a Time page →Narrow this list →

Folktales
Narnia
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Tolkien's legendarium
Kushiel's Legacy Universe
A Twisted Tale
Karou
Once Upon a Broken Heart
Russian / Jewish Fairy Tales Retold

FolktalesSeries

seriesRobin McKinley3 books1978

Fairy tale retelling and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Almost 20 years later, McKinley returned to the same material with her 1997 novel Rose Daughter.”
from the catalogue description of Beauty

Start with Beauty →

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 →

A Court of Thorns and RosesSeries

seriesSarah J. Maas6 books2015

Romantasy, about fae.

“There are currently five novels in the series, with the sixth scheduled to release on October 27, 2026, and the seventh on January 12, 2027.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with A Court of Thorns and Roses →

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 →

Kushiel's Legacy UniverseSeries

seriesJacqueline Carey13 books2001

About political intrigue.

“Since the series features a fictional version of medieval Western Europe, it can be considered historical fantasy or alternate history.”
from the catalogue description of Earth Begotten

Start with Earth Begotten →

A Twisted TaleSeries

seriesLiz Braswell, Elizabeth Lim, Jen Calonita, Farrah Rochon, Anika Fajardo, Keala Kendall & Marianne Mancusi19 books2015

Fairy tale retelling and fantasy.

“Like most, he's just trying to survive another day in impoverished Agrabah.”
from the catalogue description of A Whole New World

Start with A Whole New World →

KarouSeries

seriesLaini Taylor4 books2011

Fantasy, emotional in tone, set in secondary world.

“From copyright page: Seventeen year old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters - the chimerae who form the only family she has ever known.”
from the catalogue description of Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Daughter of Smoke & Bone →

Once Upon a Broken HeartSeries

seriesStephanie Garber4 books2021

Romantasy.

“Once Upon a Broken Heart and its sequels follow the fallout of that bargain across a fairy-tale-inflected world of curses and dangerous magic.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Once Upon a Broken Heart →

Russian / Jewish Fairy Tales RetoldSeries

seriesNaomi Novik4 books2015

Fairy tale retelling and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“The two books share no characters or setting, only Novik's method of building a novel around one inherited folk tale.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Excerpt from Uprooted →

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 Once Upon a Time?: Folktales — the closest match to Once Upon a Time on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Once Upon a Time?: Beauty Sleep. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Once Upon a Time.
How big is Once Upon a Time?: Once Upon a Time is 18 books, 2002–2010.

Books like Once Upon a Time: 9 series to read next

Read next in Once Upon a Time

Why these

Questions readers ask

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