Series

Books like RuneScape: 9 series to read next

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

RuneScape is 6 books, 2008–2025.

“Church set out to write a novel that appealed to gamers, as well as those who had never played RuneScape.”
from the catalogue description of Betrayal at Falador

The RuneScape page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
Cosmere
World of Ice and Fire
Sword of Truth
Paksenarrion
The Riftwar
Shannara
Malazan
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

PaksenarrionUniverse

universe31 books1988

Epic fantasy, set in secondary world.

“A sheepfarmer's daughter refuses the marriage her father arranged, walks off the farm with nothing but a good knife, and signs her name to a mercenary company's roll.”
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 →

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 →

MalazanUniverse

universe36 books1999

“Pity the historian who tries to map this world; pity more the god who thinks he rules it.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

The Kingdoms of Thorn and BoneSeries

seriesGreg Keyes4 books2003

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

“In doing so, she freed the race of humans - once taken from their distant homes and forced to wear the bitter yoke of slavery.”
from the catalogue description of The Briar King
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Briar King →

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 RuneScape?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to RuneScape on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with RuneScape?: Betrayal at Falador. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for RuneScape.
How big is RuneScape?: RuneScape is 6 books, 2008–2025.

Books like RuneScape: 9 series to read next

Read next in RuneScape

Why these

Questions readers ask

Other series like this one