If we’re talking ‘young adult’ (which I think is a silly book classification group), the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede always gets my top pick—shorter, sassy, fun, with well-written female protagonists. (All her books are pretty good, really.)
Another of my top choices in the Fantasy YA category are the Tiffany Aching books by Sir Terry Pratchett. Great fun and Sir Terry’s wonderful brand of biting wisdom.
If you like the ‘kids go to boarding school, have magical adventures, save the world’ formula, Mercedes Lackey did a pretty good series called the Shadow Grail. Although the kids are older (and more sensible) than the Harry Potter protagonists.
The Castle Books by John DeChancie are another fun romp of a series. Younger me loved the idea of a castle filled with 144,000 portals to adventure. Although the technology in it is a bit dated—at this point in time, rather humorously so.
Gail Carriger’s book series are all a good read; my favorite she’s done so far is the Finishing Series. Not as much magic as other books on this list, but still a well-thought-out system. Her books are really more steampunk-fantasy with a sprinkling of magic on top.
China Mievelle doesn’t really write series, per se, but all his books are fun and well-written, with interesting twists and ideas. I’d say they are the very definition of whimsical.
If your requirements are ‘good books by authors as awful as JK Rowling’, well, that’s tougher, but fortunately David and Leigh Eddings decided to throw their hats in the ring! Horrible child abusers, but their writings are genuinely good, way better than what Rowling writes.
There are some great recommendations in other replies already!
IMO the best YA content right now is actually coming out of Japan (where they’re called Light Novels)
Some series worth checking out:
Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World from Zero
Spice & Wolf
Ascendance of a Bookworm
World End - What Will You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Don’t let the titles fool you (especially that last one). A silly title will often lead to a deep and complex story only loosely related to the title.
The first three I named are some of my absolute favorites.
And this is just the fantasy stuff. If you’re looking for sci-fi or rom-com, or something a bit heavier/darker, there are plenty more recommendations I can provide :)
IMO there isn’t a whole lot in the kids/young adult space but The Magicians by Lev Grossman is good (and one of the few cases where the TV show is better than the book)
Not books, but the Misfits and Magic TTRPG show from Dimension 20 is everything that HP isn’t. It’s fun and whimsical and the characters are lovable and the writing is great and the world building is astounding and it never misses a chance to take the piss at the many problematic aspects of HP it’s satirically lampooning. I think the first episode is free on YouTube.
Which ones can you recommend? I mean, my reading list is already too long but…
If we’re talking ‘young adult’ (which I think is a silly book classification group), the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede always gets my top pick—shorter, sassy, fun, with well-written female protagonists. (All her books are pretty good, really.)
Another of my top choices in the Fantasy YA category are the Tiffany Aching books by Sir Terry Pratchett. Great fun and Sir Terry’s wonderful brand of biting wisdom.
If you like the ‘kids go to boarding school, have magical adventures, save the world’ formula, Mercedes Lackey did a pretty good series called the Shadow Grail. Although the kids are older (and more sensible) than the Harry Potter protagonists.
The Castle Books by John DeChancie are another fun romp of a series. Younger me loved the idea of a castle filled with 144,000 portals to adventure. Although the technology in it is a bit dated—at this point in time, rather humorously so.
Gail Carriger’s book series are all a good read; my favorite she’s done so far is the Finishing Series. Not as much magic as other books on this list, but still a well-thought-out system. Her books are really more steampunk-fantasy with a sprinkling of magic on top.
China Mievelle doesn’t really write series, per se, but all his books are fun and well-written, with interesting twists and ideas. I’d say they are the very definition of whimsical.
If your requirements are ‘good books by authors as awful as JK Rowling’, well, that’s tougher, but fortunately David and Leigh Eddings decided to throw their hats in the ring! Horrible child abusers, but their writings are genuinely good, way better than what Rowling writes.
There are some great recommendations in other replies already!
IMO the best YA content right now is actually coming out of Japan (where they’re called Light Novels)
Some series worth checking out:
Don’t let the titles fool you (especially that last one). A silly title will often lead to a deep and complex story only loosely related to the title.
The first three I named are some of my absolute favorites.
And this is just the fantasy stuff. If you’re looking for sci-fi or rom-com, or something a bit heavier/darker, there are plenty more recommendations I can provide :)
Discworld
IMO there isn’t a whole lot in the kids/young adult space but The Magicians by Lev Grossman is good (and one of the few cases where the TV show is better than the book)
Not books, but the Misfits and Magic TTRPG show from Dimension 20 is everything that HP isn’t. It’s fun and whimsical and the characters are lovable and the writing is great and the world building is astounding and it never misses a chance to take the piss at the many problematic aspects of HP it’s satirically lampooning. I think the first episode is free on YouTube.