Series

Books like Unicorn: 9 series to read next

Unicorn is fantasy and portal fantasy, about identity, set in secondary world, adventurous in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Unicorn is 3 books, 1991–1997.

“Nobody knew where it had come from, or what it wanted.”
from the catalogue description of Black Unicorn
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

The Unicorn page →Narrow this list →

Narnia
Tolkien's legendarium
Howl's Castle
Abarat
The Princess and the Goblin
Fairyland
Mordant's Need
Tortall
His Dark Materials

NarniaUniverse

universe38 books1950

“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 →

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 →

Howl's CastleSeries

seriesDiana Wynne Jones3 books1986

Fantasy, adventurous and whimsical in tone, set in secondary world.

Start with Howl's Moving Castle →

AbaratSeries

seriesClive Barker3 books2002

Set in islands.

“The Books of Abarat are a series of young adult fantasy novels written and illustrated by English writer and visual artist Clive Barker.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Abarat →

The Princess and the GoblinSeries

seriesGeorge MacDonald2 books1871

Fantasy, adventurous in tone, about coming of age and quests, 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 →

FairylandSeries

seriesCatherynne M. Valente7 books2009

“The novels follow a 12-year-old girl named September as she is spirited away from her average life to Fairyland.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making →

Mordant's NeedSeries

seriesStephen R. Donaldson2 books1986

About political intrigue.

Start with The Mirror of Her Dreams →

TortallUniverse

universe25 books1983

Fantasy, adventurous in tone, about coming of age, set in secondary world.

“In Tortall she does it anyway — and earns the right the hard way, through bruises, cold mornings in the training yard, and the slow winning-over of people who swore she'd fail.”
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 →

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 Unicorn?: Narnia — the closest match to Unicorn on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Unicorn?: Black Unicorn. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Unicorn.
How big is Unicorn?: Unicorn is 3 books, 1991–1997.
Is Unicorn finished?: Yes — 3 books, 1991–1997.

Books like Unicorn: 9 series to read next

Read next in Unicorn

Why these

Questions readers ask

Other series like this one