Series

Books like What If...: 9 series to read next

What If... is superhero, set in contemporary. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

What If... is 5 books, 2024–2026.

The What If... page →Narrow this list →

His Dark Materials
Marvel
DC
Renegades (Marissa Meyer)
The Merchant Princes
Villain.net
Kairos
Stephen King multiverse
The Mortal Instruments

His Dark MaterialsUniverse

universe13 books1995

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

MarvelUniverse

universe492 books1967

Superhero, set in contemporary.

“Somewhere over the rooftops a kid in red-and-blue is swinging late to a job he can't afford to lose, an old soldier is arguing with a billionaire in a flying suit, and a team of the hunted are teaching frightened children how not to hate.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Venom Factor →

DCUniverse

universe542 books1942

Superhero, set in contemporary.

“Above Metropolis a figure holds the sun at his back; across the bay, Gotham keeps its secrets in the dark.”
from the catalogue description

Start with It's Superman! →

Renegades (Marissa Meyer)Series

seriesMarissa Meyer3 books2017

Set in big city and near future.

“Marissa Meyer's trilogy, continuing through Archenemies and Supernova, plays the two factions' history against the leads' divided loyalties; Meyer has said she doesn't plan to extend the series further.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Renegades →

The Merchant PrincesSeries

seriesCharles Stross14 books2004

Science fantasy, about political intrigue.

“In the series, there exist a number of parallel worlds, all of which are on the same geographical Earth but with different societies at different points of development.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Family Trade →

Villain.netSeries

seriesAndy Briggs4 books2008

Superhero, set in contemporary and our world.

“Fourteen-year-old Jake Hunter goes from average bully to villain after finding a website that lets him download superpowers, but when he joins forces with the supervillain Basilisk, he may be in over his head.”
from the catalogue description of Council of Evil

Start with Council of Evil →

KairosSeries

seriesMadeleine L'Engle11 books1962

Science fiction.

Reading order →

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 →

The Mortal InstrumentsUniverse

universe70 books2007

Urban fantasy.

“There is a world laid over your own like a second skin, and you have been trained since birth not to see it.”
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 What If...?: His Dark Materials — the closest match to What If... on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with What If...?: What If... Loki Was Worthy?. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for What If....
How big is What If...?: What If... is 5 books, 2024–2026.

Books like What If...: 9 series to read next

Read next in What If...

Why these

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