The 10 Best Fantasy Magic Book Series to Disappear Into
December 31, 2019
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A Winter's Promise
- By: Christelle Dabos
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall851
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Performance750
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Story747
Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima, and, what’s more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations....
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Extraordinary
- By Eliza on 08-11-19
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A Winter's Promise
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney
- Series: The Mirror Visitor Quartet, Book 1
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Release date: 05-22-19
- Language: English
- Ophelia is quiet and mousy on the outside; but on the inside, she has nerves of steel. She is content to live a quiet life on Anima, reading objects’s pasts and traveling through mirrors, until her family betroths her to a man from the distant Poles. Unable to refuse, she travels with her brooding fiancé to his home, which is full of danger, political intrigue, and people who use magic to inflict torture without lifting a finger. As Ophelia navigates her hostile new home, she discovers she plays a much bigger role in a larger conspiracy than she could have ever imagined—and she must learn to assert her power to survive. This is an exciting new series that mashes fantasy and steampunk, translated from the French!
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Jade City
- The Green Bone Saga, Book 1
- By: Fonda Lee
- Narrated by: Andrew Kishino
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4,112
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Performance3,589
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Story3,589
In this World Fantasy Award-winning novel of magic and kungfu, four siblings battle rival clans for honor and power in an Asia-inspired fantasy metropolis. *Named one of TIME's Top 100 Fantasy Books Of All Time* Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and...
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The Truth about the Godfather Connection
- By Harvey on 05-13-20
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Jade City
- The Green Bone Saga, Book 1
- Narrated by: Andrew Kishino
- Series: The Green Bone Saga, Book 1
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Release date: 11-07-17
- Language: English
- Fonda Lee has created a fantastic world, inspired by Asia’s history and mythology, where jade is the ultimate currency. Not only is it valuable, but it’s also used by warriors to augment their magical abilities and protect their homeland of the island Kekon. That all changes when a powerful drug allows anyone—even foreigners—to wield jade and magic, and Kekon becomes a dangerous place of rivalries, shifting loyalties, and betrayals.
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Every Heart a Doorway
- By: Seanan McGuire
- Narrated by: Cynthia Hopkins
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2,598
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Performance2,339
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Story2,336
Winner of the Hugo Award, Hugo Award for Best Series, Alex Award, Locus Award, and Nebula Award Nominated for the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Tiptree Honor List "A mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy — a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll's and C...
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Utterly Moving
- By tm on 07-12-16
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Every Heart a Doorway
- Narrated by: Cynthia Hopkins
- Series: Wayward Children, Book 1
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Release date: 04-05-16
- Language: English
- Seanan McGuire’s novella series is centered on Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, an unusual refuge for children of our world who slip through portals to fantasy worlds, and then come back...but need a little help readjusting. They are told that there is no chance of ever returning to their beloved fantasy worlds, but that’s not always true, as these novellas prove! This is a great series with a different protagonist for each story, but a lot of character overlap! Some books are narrated by the author, and one, Beneath the Sugar Sky, is narrated by Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey fame.
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Children of Blood and Bone
- By: Tomi Adeyemi
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall17,088
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Performance15,564
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Story15,534
*Winner of the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year* *This program is narrated by acclaimed reader Bahni Turpin, whose past work includes The Hate U Give and The Underground Railroad* "Bahni Turpin's breathtaking narration of this exhilarating novel will keep listeners rooted to their seats...
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Beautifully Written
- By Samantha on 03-09-18
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Children of Blood and Bone
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Series: Legacy of Orïsha, Book 1
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Release date: 03-06-18
- Language: English
- Building on West African mythology, Tomi Adeyemi’s Audie Award-winning series conjures up a vibrant, amazing fantasy world in which magic once thrived, a segment of the population is grievously oppressed, and a young woman becomes the leader she was meant to be. Bahni Turpin’s mastery of the accents expertly brings the wide array of characters to life, carrying you with the young rebel and her crew across the physical and emotional landscapes that make this listen so special.
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The Bear and the Nightingale
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Arden
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall8,496
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Performance7,692
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Story7,680
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A wild and willful young woman finds herself at the center of a tale of spirits, ancient evils, and the mysterious winter-king Frost—in the lyrical first novel of the Winternight Trilogy. “A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges...
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Culture-Rich, Unusual, Captivating
- By Jan on 01-28-17
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The Bear and the Nightingale
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Series: Winternight Trilogy, Book 1
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Release date: 01-10-17
- Language: English
- Set in the provincial woods of Imperial Russia, this series stars Vasilisa, the youngest daughter of an influential landowner who grows up on the stories of magical beings who live in harmony with the family on the edge of wilderness. She is brought up learning the old ways, which keep their lives in balance. But when her father returns from Moscow with a new, God-fearing wife who forbids Vasilisa from using magic, a darkness creeps in that only she can fight off.
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The Poppy War
- A Novel
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5,377
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Performance4,638
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Story4,628
An AudioFile Magazine Best Audiobook of 2018! A Library Journal, Paste Magazine, and ENTROPY Best Books of 2018 pick! Washington Post ""5 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel of 2018"" pick! A Bustle ""30 Best Fiction Books of 2018"" pick! “I have no doubt this will end up being the best...
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Wow. Just... wow.
- By superstardrifter on 07-01-18
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The Poppy War
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Series: The Poppy War, Book 1
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Release date: 05-01-18
- Language: English
- When Rin unexpectedly aces an empire-wide test to determine eligibility to an elite military academy, no one can believe that she actually achieved such a high score without cheating. But it is no trick or mistake, and no one is more shocked than Rin when she finds herself the newest student at the academy. There, she is bullied and ostracized for being poor, dark-skinned, and an orphan...until she discovers she has an incredible aptitude for magic. But she better learn to control her newfound power fast, because war is brewing.
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Shadow and Bone
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall15,182
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Performance13,126
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Story13,107
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh....
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People are dumb; this book was not
- By Tony Anderson on 03-02-21
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Shadow and Bone
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Series: Grisha, Book 1
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Release date: 11-30-12
- Language: English
- Ravka has long been marred by a swath of darkness that runs straight down the entire length of the country. There, monsters and demons lurk, making passage dangerous. Alina and Mal are orphans and best friends, and lately conscripts in the army. When forced to cross the shadow fold one day, Alina saves Mal from death by summoning light—a rare power she never knew she possessed, and one that immediately makes her a pawn in a deadly power struggle across Ravka for freedom and light! With each title performed by beloved narrator Lauren Fortgang, the Grisha series is a must-listen!
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The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2,972
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Performance2,672
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Story2,673
After her mother's mysterious death, a young woman is summoned to the floating city of Sky in order to claim a royal inheritance she never knew existed in the first book in this award-winning fantasy trilogy from the NYT bestselling author of The Fifth Season. Yeine Darr is an outcast from the...
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Read, don't listen, to this book
- By Kaylee on 02-24-19
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The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
- Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman
- Series: The Inheritance Trilogy, Book 1
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Release date: 10-16-18
- Language: English
- N.K. Jemisin exploded in popularity when her Broken Earth trilogy, winning a Hugo Award three years in a row. But don’t skip her first trilogy, about a woman named Yeine Darr who is shocked to find that she, a distant northerner, has been summoned to the capital city and named an heir to the throne. But nothing is guaranteed, and as she is plunged into a dangerous game for the kingdom, she learns more and more about the powers at play and her mother’s secret past.
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Sabriel
- By: Garth Nix
- Narrated by: Tim Curry
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall8,612
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Performance7,310
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Story7,301
A tale of dark secrets, deep love, and dangerous magic! Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him...
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Enraptured
- By T. HICKS on 06-20-09
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Sabriel
- Narrated by: Tim Curry
- Series: Abhorsen/The Old Kingdom, Book 1
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Release date: 12-29-02
- Language: English
- Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom is a place without technology, where magic flourishes unpredictably, demons take animal forms, necromancers raise the dead, and the Abhorsen sends them back. Sabriel has grown up at a boarding school outside of the Old Kingdom. When her father, the Abhorsen, disappears, she must travel through her unfamiliar birthplace to discover her own powers and banish an evil that has held onto the kingdom for centuries.
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Tirzah Price is a writer and contributing editor at Book Riot.
She fell in love with fantasy at age 11 when she discovered Tamora Pierce.
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