netter wrote:

What to read after Harry Potter

Once the shock of reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the fifth time in a row wears off, some readers may be wondering what they can read next. So why not start a meme of suggestions?

Here are the rules:

1. You must copy and paste the directions, rules, and the list so far into your blog and then add three (and only three) books to the list.
   
   
2. These three book must NOT already be on the list so far. They must be fantasy or science fictional in nature that those who enjoyed Harry Potter may also enjoy. You must provide your name and a link to your blog and/or website so that people may contact you to ask for more information about the books, if they want. They must be books that you have actually read yourself.
   
   
3. You cannot recommend a series; instead, recommend the first book in the series. Terry Pratchett's Discworld would NOT be considered a series; but Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time would. Use your best judgment about whether you're recommending a series or not.
   
   
4. You must label the books as either YA (young adult, suitable for the younger fans of Harry Potter) or A (adult, suitable for the not-so-younger fans of Harry Potter). Please be clear about this. It will be understood that anything labelled YA is also recommended for A.
   
   
5. If you are an author, you CANNOT recommend your own books. (You can however hound your friends into recommending your books.)
   
   
6. Providing a link to information about the books you are recommending is optional.

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Patricia Bray pbray recommends:

1. Diana Wynne Jones's Charmed Life (YA)
   
   
2. Susan Cooper's Over Sea, Under Stone (YA)
   
   
3. Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three (YA)

Patricia's picks are books that are marketed as YA, but that she first read and enjoyed as an adult. Much like the Harry Potter books, come to think of it.

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Janni Lee Simner janni recommends:

1. Lene Kaaberbol's The Shamer's Daughter (YA)
   
   
2. Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword (YA)
   
   
3. Tamora Pierce's The Magic in the Weaving (Circle of Magic, Book 1) (YA)

(All books that are, one way or another, about learning magic.)

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Joshua Palmatier jpsorrow recommends:

1. S.C. Butler's Reiffen's Choice (YA)
   
   
2. Jim Hines' Goblin Quest (YA)
   
   
3. Patricia Bray's The First Betrayal (A)

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Alex Jay Berman alexjay recommends:

1. Alma Alexander's Worldweavers (YA)--about learning magic despite yourself; despite being a bust at being he seventh child of a seventh child, and what a Potterhead would call a "Muggle".
   
   
2. Diane Duane's So You Want to be a Wizard (YA)--a very up-to-date, very American take on the schooling of new wizards and their first clashes with Evil. Perhaps even better than the Potter books for young adults, as it offers a very good reason why Evil exists and continues to exist. (first in a trilogy)
   
   
3. Either Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow or Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (very much A)--we've already got them hooked on the drug of reading with Potter; now it's time for them to start mainlining the hard stuff ...

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Maggie's suggestions:

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Adult, but can be YA depending on the YA.)
   
   
2. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (The first in a series -- all ages.)
   
   
3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (All ages. A classic, and about a different kind of magic. Also, another first in a series.)
   
   And, of course, since this is me and I can't stick to the rules EVER, evidently, I will also point you to
   
   
4. Neil Gaiman's Stardust, which isn't exactly along the same lines, like L'Engle's book, but is certainly close enough and enjoyable enough to fit in. (YA and Adult.)

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netter's choices:

1. Shadow Castle by Marian Cockrell (YA.) for years, this book was out of print, but it's back. it was my favorite book when i was eight to ten years old (and to this very day, actually.) it was written in 1945, and there such a wistfulness about the story that still tugs at me.
   
   this may very well be my most favorite opening sentence to a book:
   
   "If she hadn't gone exploring in the deep, dark forest, Lucy might never have met the little dog at all."
   
   
2. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (YA) by Eleanor Cameron. this is a first book in a series (but it stands on its own) written in 1954. it's cute, charming, imaginative, and i loved it -- love it still.
   
   
3. Spirits of Flux and Anchor (A) by Jack Chalker. this is also a first in a series, again it stands on its own. the juxtaposition of magic/science and the power dynamics involved just blew my mind when i first read this. throw in religious overtones, the struggle between genders and planetary economics and it is a unique and thought- provoking reading experience.
   
   and since Maggie doesn't have to follow the rules, i don't see where i do, either:
   
   
4. Black House (A) by Stephen King and Peter Straub. i fell in love with Jack Sawyer in The Talisman, but BH is a stand-alone book and better than the first.

my suggestions are:

1. Jim Butcher's Storm Front (http://tinyurl.com/2gwx8x), the first of his Dresden Files series. Contemporary fantasy. Another wizard named Harry, but this one crossed with a self-mocking private eye. I want to say PG13 ("13 and up, parental guidance suggested" for those not of these shores) but, given the nature of some of the later books, I'll start at 15. Violence, theme, some minor sexual content, minor language.
   
   
2. Steve Perry's The Man Who Never Missed (http://tinyurl.com/2ghdqg), the first of his Matador Trilogy (though, with sequels and prequel, it spans at least eight books...) Space opera science fiction. Most people know of Joseph Campbell's vision embodied as Star Wars Episode 4-6, but the Matador Trilogy do it justice as well. 15 and up. Minor sexual content, minor violence.
   
   
3. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (http://tinyurl.com/23qwde), another child prodigy at school away from home. 'Hard' science-fiction. I'd recommend this for any child labeled 'gifted' aged 11 on up, though with parental guidance. It's a harsh book about alienation and the burden of being "too smart." Minor violence.

Those who carry on this meme, please post a comment linking to your list.