The Fantasy 101 › Books Like

Books Like The Old Kingdom

Nix, 1995 · #24 on the Epic Fantasy 101 Booklist · 89/120

Sabriel, daughter of the Abhorsen, crosses the Wall from her English-style boarding school into a land where the dead will not stay dead. She must walk into Death itself.

Its strongest scores: mood and structure. The five books below have the closest scores across all eleven criteria.

If you liked The Old Kingdom, read:

1. The Chronicles of Amber

   Zelazny, 1970 · #31 on the list · 86/120

   Corwin wakes in a hospital on Earth with no memory and discovers he is a prince of Amber, the one true world. His siblings are fighting over the throne.

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

2. Heroes Die

   Stover, 1998 · #36 on the list · 85/120

   Caine, a celebrity assassin from a future Earth, is sent into a fantasy world as entertainment for viewers back home. He must rescue his wife from a god-emperor.

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

3. The Broken Empire

   Lawrence, 2011 · #37 on the list · 85/120

   Jorg Ancrath, a prince turned road-brigand at thirteen, fights his way back to a throne in a ruined future that was once our world.

   Close on mood, theme, structure, creative details.

4. Bartimaeus

   Stroud, 2003 · #41 on the list · 84/120

   In an alternative London run by magicians, a boy summons a sardonic five-thousand-year-old djinni to settle a grudge. He sets a revolution in motion.

   Close on theme, structure, creative details, real-world blend.

5. 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, structure, creative details, real-world blend.

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.