Mary-Jean Harris' favourite fantasy books that blend mysticism and history

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The best books where magic feels dangerous, wild, and weirdly intimate

Book cover of The Golden Compass (The Northern Lights) Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Book cover of The Vorrh Book cover of The Blacktongue Thief

The best fantasy novels about supernature – magic, alchemy and enchantment

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The best philosophical fantasy novels

Book cover of The Fifth Season Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of The Darkness That Comes Before Book cover of Life of Pi Book cover of Gardens of the Moon

The best spellbinding novels with threads of magic woven in their core

Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of The Binding Book cover of Midnight's Children Book cover of Circe Book cover of Babel

The best books to shatter the myth of modernity

Book cover of We Have Never Been Modern Book cover of Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of A Secular Age Book cover of Dialectic of Enlightenment

The best historical fantasies for transporting yourself to an alternate reality

Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of Black Leopard, Red Wolf Book cover of The Poppy War Book cover of Gods of Jade and Shadow Book cover of Spinning Silver

The best speculative fiction that connect amazing world - building with carefully controlled prose style

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The best books that make you feel like you’re living inside their folklore

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The best books that capture the power of myth

Book cover of The Bear and the Nightingale Book cover of Gossip from the Forest: The Tangled Roots of Our Forests and Fairytales Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of Imagination of an Insurrection: Dublin, Easter 1916 Book cover of Small Gods

The best books I wish I never read so that I can read them again for the first time

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The best gaslamp fantasy books to read by the dragon-fire

Book cover of The Golden Compass (The Northern Lights) Book cover of Stardust Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of Ella Enchanted Book cover of The Paper Magician

The best historical fiction novels with a twist of myth and magic

Book cover of Baudolino Book cover of His Majesty's Dragon Book cover of Sarum: The Novel of England Book cover of The Egyptian Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

The best fantasy novels full of real-world magic

Book cover of The Lord of the Rings Book cover of Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of Old Nathan Book cover of The Old Gods Waken

The best historical fantasy books with captivating natural magic

Book cover of The Rose Demon: A Terrifying Tale of Medieval England Book cover of The Crown's Game Book cover of Wildwood Dancing Book cover of The Merlin Trilogy Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

The best books on the fantastic of magical realism

Book cover of The Night Circus Book cover of The Book of Three Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of Howl's Moving Castle Book cover of Fire and Hemlock

The best novels that use a book-within-a-book format

Book cover of Fahrenheit 451 Book cover of Pale Fire Book cover of Erasure Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha

The best historical books to incorporate magic

Book cover of The White Forest Book cover of A Darker Shade of Magic Book cover of The Lie Tree Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Book cover of The Toymakers

The best fantasy novels about learning magic (that don’t feature Harry Potter)

Book cover of The Once and Future Witches Book cover of Unbecoming Book cover of A Wizard of Earthsea Book cover of All the Birds in the Sky Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

The best novels that retell classic stories (with a fantasy twist)

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Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.

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