The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like The Chronicles of Narnia

Lewis, 1950 · #10 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 97/120 · adapted for screen

Children step through a wardrobe and other doors into Narnia. There the lion Aslan calls them into its battles from creation to last days.

Its strongest scores: divine influence and theme. The five books below have the closest scores across all eleven criteria.

If you liked The Chronicles of Narnia, read:

1. His Dark Materials

   Pullman, 1995 · #4 on the list · 101/120

   Lyra Belacqua follows stolen children north into a mystery about Dust. It ends in a war against the Authority itself.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

2. Thomas Covenant

   Donaldson, 1977 · #7 on the list · 100/120

   A leper from our world is pulled into the Land, where his illness is cured and the people hail him as a saviour. He refuses to believe any of it is real.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

3. Watership Down

   Adams, 1972 · #6 on the list · 100/120

   A handful of rabbits flee a doomed warren on a seer's warning and cross the Berkshire downs to found a new home. They must outwit the tyrant General Woundwort to survive.

   Close on mood, theme, further reading, creative details.

4. The Magicians

   Grossman, 2009 · #38 on the list · 85/120

   A brilliant, unhappy Brooklyn teenager is admitted to a secret college of magic. He then finds that the land from his favorite childhood books is real.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, further reading.

5. The Dark Tower

   King, 1982 · #16 on the list · 94/120

   Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger of a dying world, crosses deserts, cities and our own reality in pursuit of the Tower at the center of everything.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, creative details.

How the scores work: each book is rated 1 to 10 on eleven criteria; real-world blend and climax and fights count double, for a maximum of 120. See the full Fantasy 101.