Recommended Fantasy Series & Sequels

ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Cofler
Ages: 9-12
Set in two sharply contrasting realms --- the aboveground world that humans inhabit and the imaginative underground netherworld where "the People" (otherwise known as fairies, gnomes, goblins and trolls) reside --- the Artemis Fowl series is an interspecies fantasy thrill ride that will keep readers alternately holding their breath in suspense and laughing out loud during many comic moments.

THE BARTIMAUES TRIOLOGY by Jonathon Stroud
Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master, Arthur Underwood.. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny." Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.

THE CHILDREN OF THE LAMP by P.B. Kerr
John and Philippa Gaunt, two twelve-year-old not-very-identical twins, live a privileged life on the Upper East of Manhattan with their wealthy parents and two curiously-mannered Rottweilers named Alan and Neil. The twins realize there's something amiss with their world when a string of strange things begin to happen after their wisdom teeth are extracted--they dream the same dreams, become stronger, their zits clear up, and wishes wished in their presence inexplicably come true.

CHILDREN OF THE RED KING by Jenny Nimmo
Grade 4-6
When he is 10 years old, Charlie discovers that he is able to look at photographs and hear conversations and even thoughts that were taking place at the time the photo was taken, a legacy of his ancestor the Red King, whose descendants all have different magical abilities. Charlie hears one conversation that sets him on a search for a girl who has been missing for years, and when he begins attending Bloor's Academy, an elite boarding school for the rich and the endowed (as the Red King's descendants are called), his life becomes full of intrigue and danger.

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C.S. Lewis
Young siblings discover that a wardrobe in an old country house is a portal to the magical land of Narnia. There, Edmund meets the evil White Witch and is lured into betraying his siblings, but the plot fails.The lion Aslan, lord of Narnia, returns to the land, heralding the end of a long, joyless winter, and the children, who continue to elude the witch's grasp, meet with him.The witch demands an audience with Aslan and announces that Edmund, exposed as a traitor, must die. Unknown to the others, Aslan agrees to take Edmund's place and submits to execution.

THE DIVIDE by Elizabeth Kay
Gr. 4-8
While visiting Costa Rica with his parents, 13-year-old Felix, who has a life-threatening heart condition, passes out. When he comes to, he finds himself in a magical world populated by griffins, unicorns, dragons, pixies, and elves. Humans, their science, and their culture are considered mythical, totally nonexistent. When he meets Betony, an elf about his age, Felix proves that he's human by showing her his flashlight, ballpoint pen, and compass. With the help of some unicorns, Felix and Betony journey toward the city where Betony's brother and sister are, but the travelers soon find themselves sought by evil pixie Snakeweed and his vicious shadow-beasts.

ERAGON by Christoperh Paolini
Soon after the strange stone he found in the forest hatches a dragon, Eragon finds that his life has changed forever; his home is destroyed, the uncle who raised him is killed, and he and the dragon, Saphira, are forced to flee the minions of Galbatorix's evil Empire. Accompanied by Brom the storyteller, Eragon discovers that he is the last of the Riders, who once kept the peace and were wiped out by Galbatorix. While pursuing revenge against those who killed his uncle, Eragon learns to communicate telepathically with Saphira, and Brom begins teaching him the skills of fighting and magic. But soon Eragon realizes he is a pawn in a vast power struggle that is tearing the Empire apart, and that he and his dragon may be the ones to change the balance of power -- if only they can find out whom to trust.

THE GUARDIANS OF GA'HOOLE by Kathryn Lasky
Grade 4-8
A young Barn Owl named Soren lives peacefully with his family, participating in rituals like the First Meat ceremony, and enjoying legends about the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, knightly owls "who would rise each night into the blackness and perform noble deeds." After he falls from his nest, his idyllic world transforms into one of confusion and danger, as he is captured by evil chick-snatching owls and taken to the St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. Soren and his new friend Gylfie work to develop strategies for withstanding "moon blinking" (brainwashing), while secretly striving to learn how to fly.

GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins
When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it -- until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.

HARRY POTTER by J.K. Rowling
Harry is a nobody, treated like dirt by the aunt and uncle who begrudgingly inherited him when his parents were killed by the evil Voldemort. But in the world of wizards, small, skinny Harry is famous as a survivor of the wizard who tried to kill him. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS by Rick Riordin
Percy Jackson is a trouble-prone teenager with attention deficit disorder and dyslexia. He's also the half-blood son of Poseidon (yes, that Poseidon!), one of 12 Olympian gods making mischief right here in 21st-century America.

REDWALL by Brian Jacques
Ages: 9-12
Can't get enough of the mice, ferrets, badgers and other assorted woodland creatures that inhabit the magical land of Redwall? We have the scoop on all the heroes and villains for you!

SEPTIMUS HEAP by Angie Sage
Ages: 9-12
Calling all Harry Potter fans! If the bespectacled wizard has you yearning for more fantasy stories, then you're going to love the Septimus Heap series, with its wild adventures and quirky characters, imaginative spells and bizarre contraptions --- not to mention wizards (including an ExtraOrdinary Wizard), witches, evil schemes, hidden royalty, dragons, spell charms, human-munching trees, vicious beasts, ghosts and much more. These books sparkle with laugh-out-loud humor and, thanks to the characters' close-knit family ties, warm the heart as well.

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
Ages: 7-up
Jared Grace, his twin brother Simon, and their older sister Mallory have a legitimate reason to worry. Their lives are being turned upside down by faeries. These small, mischievous creatures cause quite a ruckus in the Grace's new house. In this feature, you'll learn more about the Spiderwick books (in what will be a five-book series) from Kidsreads reviewer Marya Jansen-Gruber, meet the two people who have written them, take a fun quiz, and much more!

WARRIORS: THE NEW PROPHECY by Erin Hunter
Ages 10-up
Have you ever looked into the dignified, intelligent eyes of your cat and wondered about her secret life? In this second series of books following the original hit series Warriors, an exciting fantasy adventure unfolds featuring cats living in Clans. These feisty felines undertake exciting quests and attend to prophecies. They seek friendship, family connections, and romance. They also suffer unbearable tragedies and ponder spiritual beliefs. In fact, although they would shudder to be compared to the dreaded "Twolegs" (my apologies, Clan cats!), the furry warriors and their kin experience feelings that are very human. In this feature, you will learn more about these books of mighty furred warriors, the authors who have written them, and more.

WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle
Meg's father, an eminent physicist, has been missing for two years. One night a strange old woman, Mrs. Whatsit, appears, "blown off course" while she, along with Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, was tessering, or taking a shorcut through time and space.They take Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin, to rescue Dr. Murray, who is a prisoner on a planet ruled by IT, a giant pulsating brain that controls the minds of everyone on the planet. Charles Wallace also falls under IT's control, and when Meg finds her father, she discovers that he is not the invincible protector she thought he was. She must not only come to terms with this realization, but find a way to rescue them both.