Merlin-esque books?

[Arwen17]

We have a section for movies outside of topic on here, but not books?
Well here's some books. Feel free to add to the list!

So You Want to Be a Wizard?
currently consisting of nine books by Diane Duane, first book was published in 1982, ninth book was published last year. She says she will continue to write as long as she has ideas.


Just so you know, there are many excellent wizard stories written long before Harry Potter. These books are quite different from Harry Potter and amazingly epic. After reading these books that's the question "would you still want to be a wizard?" some will say yes, others will say no. The books also address heavy themes of good vs evil, the power of sacrifice, etc. using Diane's stunning and unique imagination.
The other book titles in order: Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, A Wizard Abroad, The Wizard's Dilemma, A Wizard Alone, Wizard's Holiday, Wizards at War, A Wizard of Mars.
Rating: I couldn't put these books down for a second. I devoured one book after another.


A Wizard of Earthsea
Can't speak as much for this series, considering I only so far been able to read the first book.
Rating: Good, but didn't keep me glued to my seat in a way that I couldn't wait to read the next one in the series.
**If you're interested, there is a really crappy movie version of this Earthsea (2004).
**The guy who plays Ged the wizard is also the guy who played Iceman from Xmen movies. I don't hate him, the movie is just crap.
**Isabella Rossellini who plays Nimue is in this movie as a priestess of the old order LOL!
Isabella Rossellini -> Nimue -> christian nun -> Merlin
Isabella Rossellini -> Thar -> head priestess -> Earthsea
Why do they always stick Isabella in a convent of religious women? heehee

There's also a much better rendition of this story in anime movie directed by the famous Miyazaki's son!
Tales from Earthsea (ゲド戦記 Gedo Senki, loosely Ged's War Chronicles) is a 2006 Japanese anime film.
It's not a more accurate telling, but this movie isn't total crap. You can actually enjoy it even if it doesn't follow the books any better.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Was the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz always wicked? how did she become wicked?
Rating: I love these books! I can't wait til the next one comes out.
Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and then we believe he will finish the series with a 4th book.
**It may be a bit too intellectual for some people's tastes, but I think its interesting to see the story from the Wicked Witch's point of view.
"The novel is a political, social, and ethical commentary on the nature of good and evil and takes place in The Land of Oz, in the years leading to Dorothy's arrival."


Tale of Camelot Series by Nancy Springer
Tells the story of camelot from the "bad guys" point of view.
I am Mordred

Rating: I liked this one already although I think she relied "on fate" a bit too much to explain why Mordred was evil.
I am Morgan le Fay

Rating: This was excellent. I think the author out did herself with this one. Morgan came alive as a real person that you can really sympathize with. (and its got faeries, squee!)


The Mists of Avalon
The movie is good.
The book is good, but really really long.
Unique retelling of King Arthur's days from a pagan, female point of view aka Morgan le fay again. (implied faeries, but don't actually get to see any. lol)

Sweep (US) or Wicca (UK) by Cate Tiernan
So what if you really could do magic in Wicca? What if there was such a thing as "blood witches"?
This series is based around the real religion of Wicca, but has tons of supernatural stuff that obviously would never happen in real life.
Total of 15 books in the series: Book of Shadows, The Coven, Blood Witch, Dark Magic, Awakening, Spellbound, The Calling, Changeling, Strife, Seeker, Origins, Eclipse, Reckoning, Full Circle, Night's Child.

Rating: Fantastic series, another one I couldn't bear to put down.

Balefire also by Cate Tiernan
I see this one as being set in the same universe as Sweep, just with different characters and locations.
Four books total: A Chalice of Wind, A Circle of Ashes, A Feather of Stone, A Necklace of Water.
Rating: Also excellent like Sweep


Other books/series in order of how much I like them:
Anything with J.R.R.Tolkien or C.S.Lewis as the author is a given
Hawksong, Snakecharm, Falcondance, Wolfcry, Wyvernhail by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
In the Forests of the Night, Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, Persistence of Memory, Token of Darkness, All Just Glass by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Song Quest, Crystal Mask, Dark Quetzal by Katherine Roberts
Spellfall by Katherine Roberts
The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix
Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
Witch Child by Celia Rees
Midnight for Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo

[Annette Claus]

Wow!! Thank you for taking the time to comprise such a fabulous list of novels!! I have not read most of them, I actually haven't even heard of many of them, but I love the Eragon series, and Wicked is just amazing! I also read some of the Midnight For Charlie Bone series years and years ago and I loved them! They are sort of like Harry Potter because Charlie goes to a boarding school for kids with special gifts, but that is basically as far as the comparisons go, there is much more to it than just wizardy and from what I remember they were good! I don't think I finished the series though so I can't account for all of them. Anything C.S. Lewis is just love for me! I could read the Chronicles of Narnia any day! The rest of the books you recommended sound great! I wish I had time to read them all but I think that would take me a while!!!

I personally love anything by Cornelia Funke, Inkheart has been one of my most favourite books ever since it came out and I loved the rest of the trilogy as well! I have read them all numerous times, especially the first one! They are pretty easy reads because even though they are big they are directed toward a young audience, but they are very good reads! You could say they are directed toward the same audience as Harry Potter, they aren't ridiculously complex but they aren't simple either.

[msshayxpear]

I love the Wicca, Keys to the Kingdom and Old Kingdom series.
They are all great! Have read all 3 multiple times

[himiko]

Awesome, a book topic I've not read a lot of these, though I remember reading the first 2/3 of the "So you want to be a wizard?" series way back- probably about 10 years ago, now.

Also, I'd like to throw my recommedation behind "The Mists of Avalon"- I've not finished watching the film yet (though it has a Loreena McKennitt song as part of the soundtrack, which makes me happy ^^), but I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Its a long one, indeed, but its an excellent retelling. A little less "Good vs. Evil", there's a lot of shades of grey in this, and a lot of the characters do "bad" things and use people to obtain their ends, and yet, remain somewhat sympathetic due to their struggles. Except for Guinevere (or Gwynhyfar, as I believe it is in the book), who needs slapping around the face. Repeatedly.

Also, pretty much everything I've read by Garth Nix has been win.

For some more books (apologies if I mention one already brought up):

Arthurian Legend Based

"The Once and Future King"- T H White: One of the most famous Arthurian legend retellings. Its comprised of 4 books (there's another, separate book called "The Book of Merlyn"), of which I've only read the first so far- "Sword in the Stone" (yes, its the one the Disney film is based on ). My boyfriend's read all of them, however, and enjoyed them immensely. The author apparently has a very descriptive and somewhat whimsical style, and likes to go off on tangents, apparently, so that may not be your cup of tea. Will report back once I have read further

"The Crystal Cave"- Mary Stewart: I'm partway through this atm, unfortunately keep getting delayed by uni work and such. I'm enjoying it thus far- it tells the story of Merlin's childhood, as the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess. The first book covers him learning he has the Sight, and learning various things (herbs, lore, maps, etc.) from a hermit in a cave, finding his father, being captured by Vortigern and having his "two dragons" vision, and the change of throne to Uther. I suspect Arthur's conception will occur before the book ends, too. There's a sequel, "The Hollow Hills", which presumably covers the period after, though how much it covers, I don't know. It has much less emphasis on magic- so far, Merlin's main power is the Sight, manifested in visions, the rest of what people believe to be magic is mostly based on luck, his knowledge gained earlier in the book, and quick wittedness. Whether this changes, I know not. Its a good retelling, however, but if you're looking for one that's more heavily based in magic, this might not be such a good one.

Many books by Marion Zimmer Bradley/ Diana L Paxson: As well as her "Mists of Avalon", MZB has written a rather large pile of other "... of Avalon" books, cowritten with Diana L Paxson (who has also written a few more ".. of Avalon" books herself). To my knowledge, all of them take place before the events of "Mists...", and very few of them involve characters from the Arthurian legend, (the exception is "Lady of Avalon", which contains three short stories about several Ladies (leaders) of Avalon through the ages, the last of which chronicles the early years of Viviane, the Lady of the Lake in Mists... It also features Vortigern, and his sons, none of whom make it to Mists...). I've read most, though not all of the books, the list of all I could find on Wikipedia are below, in rough chronological order:

Ancestors of Avalon
Sword of Avalon
Ravens of Avalon
The Forest House/ Forests of Avalon
Priestess of Avalon (I'm pretty sure this takes place after the first of the three stories in Lady of Avalon, but I could be wrong)
Lady of Avalon

Other Fantasy

"Wheel of Time"- Robert Jordan: There are no words for how much I fangirl this series. Its a mammoth of a thing- 13 books so far, with one more to go, and all the books are long. The shortest is around 500-600 pages, I believe, the longest ones are over 1,000. Sadly, Robert Jordan passed away 4 years ago, and since then, Brandon Sanderson has been completeing the books, based on written scenes and plot details left behind by Mr Jordan.

The world is hugely submersive, there is a massive amount of detail, we get to know fairly indepth workings of several nations' political systems, many have regional dialects, there's a bit of made up fantasy-language, naturally (The Old Tongue, in this case). I believe over 100 characters have had passages told from their points of view, there are several others that provide reasonably important roles that have not, there is a huge amount of characters. Lots of battle scenes. Love it.

OK, if I'm reviewing this, I've got to be honest, it has flaws. Quite a lot of them. For one thing, RJ does have a tendency to make his main characters extraordinarily superpowered. Seriously. SPOILERRRS, DON'T READ IF YOU WANT NO MAIN DETAILS BEFORE READING Of the three male leads, one turns out to be an extremely powerful channeler (wizard, basically), one later becomes an extraordinary general, one becomes a "Wolf Kin", and also becomes a powerful leader. Of the main female characters, you have Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne, all of whom are also stated to be 3 of the most powerful channelers in hundreds of years, Aviendha, who is a powerful channeler herself, though I can't remember if she's as strong as the aforementioned 3. You have Min, who has visions of people's futures that always come true. See what I mean?

Also, there are many fantasy cliches in place. The first book is a journey that ends at an evil place, hoping to destroy forces of darkness, undertaken by several wide-eyed, innocent village youths under the protection of a channeler and her bodyguard, a legendary swordsman, and king of a lost kingdom, and the followers they pick up along the way. I shit you not. Sound familiar? Thankfully, awesome though the first book is, and though it serves as a great intro to most of our major characters, the rest of the books are not a Lord of the Rings recreation, the story splits off as the characters go their separate ways and turn into superheros.

Oh, and Egwene is really, really annoying. Seriously. I hate her, almost beyond words. But there are other forums where I should probably discuss my reasons for that.

Despite everything above, I love the WoT series. So do many, many fantasy fans. I would thoroughly recommend it.

"Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen"- Stephen Erikson: Another series I love. Another very long one XD I believe the 10th book is/will be the last (I haven't completed the series yet, don't know if book 10 is actually out or not). Another very detailed and character-filled world. Its a lot more military based, not all the characters are superpowered, and there's a bit more variety, IMO, than in some of the WoT books. Another highly recommended series.

[Annette Claus]

I have never read the Mists of Avalon, but I saw the movie once and I think I liked it. It has a good cast and I liked the story! Maybe one day I will read the book as well! I have also never read The Crystal Cave, but one of my friends has read it and she really enjoyed it! Have fun reading the rest of it himiko!!

[sleepyqueenie]

oooooooooooh I don't know half of these books Great list!

I would love to read some more Arthurian novels, thanks for the suggestions!

A long time since I read Cate Tiernan's books. Can't really remember much about them... I did like them.

I love Cornelia Funke's Inkheart trilogy and the 'Mists of Avalon', book and film. I also read of few other books of Marion Zimmer Bradley: Ravens of Avalon, Priestess of Avalon and one non-Avalon book about Cassandra.

'The Once and Future King' T H White: Many have recommended this one to me. I haven't found it yet.

Earthsea: I totally agree, a bad film. Why do they always stick Isabella in a convent of religious women? I have asked myself the very same question! ;D

I bought Wicked some months ago. The beginning was fantastic! Somewhere in the middle I lost interest. I am planning on finishing it... some day, promise

What could I add?

Anything by Julliet Marilier: true love, evil magic, some excellent fairies! Heaven with soft music and a cup of tea

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series: a hero with a big magic sword, wizards, prophecies. quite lengthy though

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner: a poetic character study of the Fairy Queen. This book could make anyone fall in love with Faery! The author managed to keep the Queen nameless.

Beauty by Sheri S Tepper. Sleeping Beauty does not fall asleep. She travals through time, into the bleakest future imaginable, back to the middle ages, through fairytales, Faerie itself and even an unreal wold. Ending up in a battle between angels, fairies and devils. Warning: this book is so good the end could never live up to expectations. Also very few male characters. Those who are present, Beauty's true love and Oberon, are frustratingly hollow. Big plus point: though the Fairy Queen isn't in many scenes, her name is Queen Mab.

Monica Furlong's Wise Child trilogy: growing up with magic and pagan rituals Contains characters I deeply love. These were my favourite books for many years.

Amanda Hemingway/Jan Siegel's Children of Prospero trilogy: witches, quite dark with Arthur refences. The baddie is Morgus Le Fay, sister to Morgana. Despite being truly evil, she totally rocks! There is a wise old wizard, who claims to have been Tolkiens inspiration for Gandolf. The author also wrote a trilogy linked to this one: the Sangreal Trilogy. A 13 year old boy has to find the Holy Grail and other magic items in a parallel universe. Quite creepy at the end (a haunting fairy dance). The final book turned me from loving the song of Scarborough Fair into total obsession!

If you want to read some perfect fairy cunning: Cecilia Dart-Thornton's Bitterbynde trilogy.
A young maiden on a quest to retrive her memory and beauty. True love, magic, poems, fairy tales, selkies, all sorts of fairies and fairy creatures. This trilogy gets better with each book!

Maggie Furey's Artefacts of Power series. Magic, easy to read, very adventurous. I especially like the main character's mother. Her conversations with the evil fairy lord are yummy. Several loose threads troughout this series If I remember correctly Aurian saves the world at the end but they have totally forgotten about my beloved fairy folk by then. So I suspect they can now take over everything if they want -and they do-. Some characters die or almost die all the time. The last book is very rushed. Two baddies, who we have loved for several books, die on the same page. Each in only two sentences. Death becomes a deus ex machina. This scene probably should have been impressive, but I thought it funny. Still a very good series

Making this list made me want to reread all of these books!!! I do believe I am addicted to fairies...

[Annette Claus]

What an amazing list of faerie books!!! I really want to read Beauty! If you are really interested in those types of novels you might like The Iron King trilogy by Julie Kagawa. This is from the back of the book, but the brackets are me, I just summarized:

[Meghan Chase is about to turn 16 and she learns that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king, Oberon] and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face... and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.


Oh and Queen Mab is in it!!!!! Bonus!

[sleepyqueenie]

Sounds brilliant!!! *adding to my to-read-list*
very BIG bonus ;D

[Queen Mab]

All right fine you all win I have no excuse not to read any more as you have all put up maaaaaaaany books my library better get at least one of these.

[sleepyqueenie]

hihi yes that was exactly why this thread was started to get you to read

[msshayxpear]

No thread about faerie books would be complete without the Meredith Gentry series by Laurel K. Hamilton.
Love love this series. I know you do too SleepyQueenieMab as you agreed with me that Miranda would made a great Queen of Air and Darkness

[sleepyqueenie]

You are absolutely right! ;D
For murder, sex and fairies read the Meredith Gentry series.

[Arwen17]

ooo Lots of stuff I haven't heard of either. Thank you for the new material.
I just recently heard of "The Iron King" like you mentioned above, that one is definitely on my list.

[sleepyqueenie]

The Mammoth Book of Merlin: 24 short stories about Merlin from, among others, Jane Yolen, Marion Zimmer Bradley and -my all time favourite author- Tanith Lee. I have seen this book only today, but didn't have any money on me. I will buy it next week and review if you wish.