Universe

Books like Valdemar: 9 series to read next

Valdemar is fantasy and science fiction, about wizards and forbidden love, set in secondary world. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Valdemar is 428 books across 19 series, 1985–2025.

“There is a kingdom where the horses choose the rulers — or near enough.”
from the catalogue description

The Valdemar page →Narrow this list →

Imperial Galaxy
Tolkien's legendarium
Tortall
Grishaverse
The Tainted Blood Duology
Earthsea
The Codex Alera
The Riftwar
An Ember in the Ashes

Imperial GalaxySeries

seriesGarth Nix2 books2012

Space opera, set in other star systems.

“Garth Nix's A Confusion of Princes follows Khemri through the empire's ruthless military, its secret intelligence service, and a deadly, decades-long competition to determine who might one day take the throne.”
from the catalogue description

Start with A Confusion of Princes →

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 →

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 →

GrishaverseUniverse

universe19 books2012

Fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Saints are canonized here the way soldiers are buried elsewhere — quietly, and too often.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

The Tainted Blood DuologySeries

seriesEhigbor Okosun2 books2023

About rebellion and revolution.

Start with Forged by Blood →

EarthseaUniverse

universe19 books1964

Reflective in tone.

“There is a lesson every wizard of Earthsea learns young: to know a thing's true name is to hold its whole being, and to speak it is to move the balance of the world.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

The Codex AleraSeries

seriesJim Butcher6 books2004

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

“Jim Butcher's six-book series, continuing through Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury, Captain's Fury, Princeps' Fury, and First Lord's Fury, builds from small-scale political maneuvering into full-scale war.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Furies of Calderon →

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 →

An Ember in the AshesSeries

seriesSabaa Tahir4 books2015

About rebellion and revolution.

“Sabaa Tahir's quartet, continuing through A Torch Against the Night, A Reaper at the Gates, and A Sky Beyond the Storm, follows the two toward a reckoning with the empire that trained one of them to enforce it.”
from the catalogue description

Start with An Ember in the Ashes →

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 Valdemar?: Imperial Galaxy — the closest match to Valdemar on what it is about, not on what sells.
How big is Valdemar?: Valdemar is 428 books across 19 series, 1985–2025.

Books like Valdemar: 9 series to read next

Read next in Valdemar

Why these

Questions readers ask

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