Series

Books like Talisman: 9 series to read next

Talisman is fantasy and portal fantasy, set in contemporary and north america. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Talisman is 4 books, 1984–2026.

“Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman follows twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer as he crosses between our world and the Territories, a parallel realm, on a cross-country quest to save his dying mother.”
from the catalogue description

The Talisman page →Narrow this list →

Coraline
The Mayfair Witches Saga
Stephen King multiverse
Modern Tale of Faerie
Jerusalem's Lot
Europa Suite
Alderley
His Dark Materials
Lewis Barnavelt

CoralineSeries

seriesNeil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell2 books2002

Gothic, tense in tone.

“The Guardian ranked Coraline #82 in its list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Coraline →

The Mayfair Witches SagaSeries

seriesAnne Rice3 books1990

Gothic, about witches and family secrets.

Start with The Witching Hour →

Stephen King multiverseUniverse

universe46 books1967

Dark in tone.

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Gunslinger →

Modern Tale of FaerieSeries

seriesHolly Black4 books2002

Urban fantasy, about fae.

Start with Tithe →

Jerusalem's LotSeries

seriesStephen King3 books1975

Tense in tone, about vampires and grief and loss.

“Stephen King's 1975 novel 'Salem's Lot follows writer Ben Mears as he returns to his childhood town of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine, only to discover that its residents are being turned into vampires by a newly arrived stranger.”
from the catalogue description

Start with 'Salem's Lot →

Europa SuiteSeries

seriesKim Wilkins2 books2003

Fantasy and horror, dark and eerie in tone, set in contemporary and our world.

“Giants of the Frost continues the loosely linked suite in the same vein.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Autumn Castle →

AlderleySeries

seriesAlan Garner4 books1960

Mythic fantasy, set in british isles.

“The three books span most of Garner's writing life rather than forming one continuous trilogy.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Weirdstone of Brisingamen →

His Dark MaterialsUniverse

universe13 books1995

“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 →

Lewis BarnaveltSeries

seriesBrad Strickland & John Bellairs12 books1973

“Lewis Barnavelt is a lonely orphan who moves in with his uncle Jonathan, an amateur wizard, in a rambling old house that turns out to hide a doomsday clock built into its walls by a previous, malevolent owner.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The House with a Clock in Its Walls →

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 Talisman?: Coraline — the closest match to Talisman on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Talisman?: The Talisman. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Talisman.
How big is Talisman?: Talisman is 4 books, 1984–2026.

Books like Talisman: 9 series to read next

Read next in Talisman

Why these

Questions readers ask

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