Books like 'The Secret Commonwealth'
Readers who enjoyed The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy action / adventure high fantasy mystery alternate history contemporary supernatural europe western-central-europe
-
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsFor Gaius Octavian, life has been one long battle. Now, the end of all he fought for is close at hand. The brutal, dreaded Vord are on the march against Alera. And perhaps for the final time, Gaius Octavian and his legions must stand against the enemies of his people. And it will take all his intelligence, ingenuity, and furycraft to save their world from eternal darkness...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book coming-of-age -
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsBy scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making.Then he drags a naive young guard into the center of the political maelstrom. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but his contempt for Eugenides slowly turns to grudging respect...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book children -
Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 55 ratingsIn his acclaimed Codex Alera novels, bestselling author Jim Butcher has created a fascinating world in which the powerful forces of nature take physical form. For millennia, the people of Alera have used their unique bond with these elementals for protection. Now, as enemies become allies, and friends become bitter foes, a danger beyond reckoning looms. . .Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book coming-of-age -
Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsThe power-hungry High Lord of Kalare has launched a rebellion against the aging First Lord, Gaius Sextus, who with the loyal forces of Alera must fight beside the unlikeliest of allies-the equally contentious High Lord of Aquitaine...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book coming-of-age -
-
The Silver Dwarf by Victor Kloss
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBen's double life continues at the Royal Institute of Magic. To most, he's a talented apprentice and an exceptional spellshooter, but Ben is also a Guardian, responsible for uniting Elizabeth's Armour, the only artefact powerful enough to overthrow the evil dark elves.With two pieces of the armour secure, finding the third may be Ben's toughest challenge yet...Categorized as:
magic action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book children children-books coming-of-age -
The Last Guardian by Victor Kloss
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTime is running out for Ben Greenwood – not as an apprentice for the Royal Institute of Magic, but as the Head Guardian, secretly responsible for uniting Queen Elizabeth's Armour. The dark elves are coming and the only chance of stopping them is to find the last Guardian and the final two pieces of the armour...Categorized as:
contemporary magic action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book children children-books -
The High Council by Victor Kloss
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTension is high at the Royal Institute of Magic, as the Directors of each of the Departments – Spellswords, Wardens, Traders, Scholars and Diplomats – work together with their allies to push back the dark elf invasion, led by King Suktar...Categorized as:
magic action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book children children-books coming-of-age -
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 56 ratingsMore than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles...Categorized as:
dystopia industrial-era magic paranormal steampunk supernatural action-adventure alternate-history -
Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe conclusion to the thrilling memoirs of Lady Isabella Trent and her legacy of dragon evolutionary research and anthropological adventures...Categorized as:
female-mc industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure alternate-history animals audiobook -
In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn the Labyrinth of Drakes, the thrilling new book in the acclaimed fantasy series from Marie Brennan, the glamorous Lady Trent takes her adventurous explorations to the deserts of Akhia.Even those who take no interest in the field of dragon naturalism have heard of Lady Trent's expedition to the inhospitable deserts of Akhia... -
The Protectors by Victor Kloss
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBen Greenwood is continuing his apprenticeship at the Royal Institute of Magic, hoping things will be slightly less complicated now that he has advanced to the second grade.Fat chance.Coupled with the sterner challenges that the second grade brings, there is also the small matter of the impending dark elf invasion, making life at the Institute even busier than usual...Categorized as:
magic action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book children children-books coming-of-age -
Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsMighty Kushiel, of rod and wealLate of the brazen portalsWith blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealedPricks the eyen of chosen mortalsThe land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.Phèdre nó Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child...Categorized as:
female-mc magic paranormal religion spirituality supernatural action-adventure alternate-history -
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsRevengeWhen Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eudenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered... she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book children -
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsWhen the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox sought a wiseman to save them. He found master Li Kao, a scholar with a slight flaw in his character. Together, they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism paranormal supernatural 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
-
The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsHis father and uncles are enchanters, his mother a powerful sorceress, yet nothing seems magical about Christopher Chant except his dreams. Night after night, he climbs through the formless Place Between and visits marvelous lands he calls the Almost Anywheres. Then Christopher discovers that he can bring real, solid things back from his dreams...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history animals audiobook -
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsImriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phèdre and the warrior-priest Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions.Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in art, beauty, and desire...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
The Golden Basilisk by Marie Andreas
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA long-lost elven kingdom, body-swapping ghosts, walking weapons of mass destruction... Archaeologist and part-time bounty hunter Taryn St. Giles has had a Very. Bad. Year. Ever since she and her trio of singing, drunken faeries started digging into the mysteries of a certain handsome elven lord, she's been up to her nose in explosions, slavering monsters, and assorted other dangers...Categorized as:
dystopia female-mc magic paranormal action-adventure adult alpha-mc alternate-history -
The Sapphire Manticore by Marie Andreas
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMurderous magic, vanished races, killer relics, and drunken faeries--who knew the end of the world would look like this? The story that began in The Glass Gargoyle, The Obsidian Chimera, and The Emerald Dragon continues...Taryn St. Giles thought she knew all about elves...Categorized as:
female-mc magic paranormal action-adventure adult alpha-mc alternate-history amateur-sleuth -
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 89 ratingsLost in a new world, Lyra finds Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power... -
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsMalcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy...Malcolm's father runs an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors...Categorized as:
contemporary europe industrial-era magic magical-realism paranormal religion spirituality -
Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe eagerly awaited second book of the critically acclaimed trilogy! Orphan Rossamund Bookchild has been sworn into the Emperor's service his duty is to light the lamps along the Emperor's highways and protect travelers from the ferocious bogles that live in the wild...Categorized as:
industrial-era magic paranormal steampunk action-adventure alternate-history audiobook biopunk -
The Silver Hand by Stephen R. Lawhead
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe great king, Meldryn Mawr, is dead, and his kingdom lies in ruins. Treachery and brutality rule the land, and Albion is the scene of an epic struggle for the throne. Lewis Gillies returns as Llew, seeking the true meaning behind a mysterious prophecy - the making of a true king and the revealing of a long awaited champion: Silver Hand...Categorized as:
magic paranormal spirituality action-adventure alternate-history arthurian audiobook book -
Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsI lean forward, pushing my body out past the battlements. The wind plucks at my cloak, buffets against me, as if it would carry me off in flight, just like the birds or the knight's soul. Let go, it cries, I will take you far, far away. I want to laugh at the exhilarating feeling, I will catch you, it whistles seductively.The convent has returned Sybella to a life that nearly drove her mad...Categorized as:
female-mc magic paranormal religion spirituality supernatural abuse action-adventure -
The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 30 ratings, may believe themselves already acquainted with the particulars of her historic voyage aboard the Royal Survey Ship Basilisk, but the true story of that illuminating, harrowing, and scandalous journey has never been revealed—until now... -
-
The Dragons of Winter by James A. Owen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Archipelago of Dreams is no more…but the battle to save it has just begun in the penultimate book in the acclaimed Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series.The Caretakers are at war. The Archipelago of Dreams has fallen to the Echthroi, and the link to the Summer Country has been lost...Categorized as:
magic paranormal action-adventure alternate-history animals anthropomorphism arthurian book -
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines...Categorized as:
dystopia industrial-era steampunk action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book -
Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsAs the renowned granddaughter of Isabella Camherst (Lady Trent, of the riveting and daring Draconic adventure memoirs) Audrey Camherst has always known she, too, would want to make her scholarly mark upon a chosen field of study...Categorized as:
female-mc industrial-era paranormal steampunk action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book -
The Celestial Globe by Marie Rutkoski
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter stealing her father’s eyes back from Prince Rodolfo, Petra Kronos lives in constant danger. She and her tin spider, Astrophil, end up hiding out in London, where she learns more about her magical abilities. London has its charms (like Petra’s attractive fencing master), but Petra needs to get back to Bohemia and her father...Categorized as:
female-mc industrial-era magic steampunk supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook -
The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsAfter spending the summer away from each other, Titus and Iolanthe (still disguised as Archer Fairfax) are eager to return to Eton College to resume their training to fight the Bane. Although no longer bound to Titus by a blood oath, Iolanthe is more committed than ever to fulfilling her destiny—especially with the agents of Atlantis quickly closing in...Categorized as:
dystopia female-mc magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-history -
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 81 ratingsWill is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel - by the command of his dying father.But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him... -
The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsKing Severn Argentine’s fearsome reputation precedes him: usurper of the throne, killer of rightful heirs, ruthless punisher of traitors. Attempting to depose him, the Duke of Kiskaddon gambles…and loses. Now the duke must atone by handing over his young son, Owen, as the king’s hostage. And should his loyalty falter again, the boy will pay with his life...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history assassins audiobook book -
The Scrying by Jaci Miller
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe compelling debut of author Jaci Miller and the first in an exciting fantasy trilogy, The Scrying is a dark, romantic tale of perseverance and self-sacrifice where one destiny is defined by both a forgotten past and the fate of the future. A modern witch, an ancient warrior, two worlds about to collide... -
Flora's Dare by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFlora Fyrdraaca wants nothing more than to be a ranger, and for that she must master the magickal—and dangerous—language of Gramatica. But before she can find the ideal teacher, her aspirations are put to the test... -
Grass for His Pillow by Lian Hearn
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsPraised for its epic scope and descriptive detail, Across the Nightingale Floor, the first book in the Tales of the Otori series, was an international bestseller and critical success, named by the London Times as "the most compelling novel to have been published this year... -
-
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsAnnith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent...Categorized as:
female-mc magic magical-realism paranormal supernatural action-adventure alpha-mc alternate-history -
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsIn his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Iida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard.The youth Takeo has been brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people who have taught him only the ways of peace...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism paranormal religion spirituality supernatural 21st-century action-adventure -
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsCat Chant and Marianne Pinhoe have discovered something exciting--something truly precious, very strange, and valuable. An egg.An egg that has been hidden away in an attic for who-knows-how-many years. An egg protected by some strong "Don't Notice" spells. An egg that Marianne gives to Cat, even though he lives at nearby Chrestomanci Castle... -
Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsSomeone at Stallery Mansion is changing the world. At first, only small details, but the changes get bigger and bigger. It's up to Conrad, a twelve-year-old with terrible karma who's just joined the mansion's staff, to find out who is behind it.But he's not the only one snooping around... -
Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsScarlet's true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet's love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood... -
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsThe land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good... and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye...Categorized as:
female-mc magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history angels audiobook -
Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsOnce again World Fantasy Award-winner Barry Hughart blends folklore and fantasy to create a work of enchantment set in an ancient China that never was…but should have been. Master Li and Number Ten Ox—heroes of Bridge of Birds and The Story of the Stone—return to solve the mystery of how and why respected mandarins are being mysteriously murdered...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history ancient-china -
Straken by Terry Brooks
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe High Druid of Shannara trilogy draws to a thrilling close as a young hero nears completion of his trial by fire, a banished ruler fights for her life in a wilderness of dread, and forces of darkness and light square off in a battle unto death for the right to absolute rule...Categorized as:
magic paranormal 21st-century action-adventure alternate-history anthologies audiobook epic -
The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe thrilling adventure of Lady Trent continues in Marie Brennan's The Tropic of Serpents . . . Attentive readers of Lady Trent’s earlier memoir, A Natural History of Dragons, are already familiar with how a bookish and determined young woman named Isabella first set out on the historic course that would one day lead her to becoming the world’s premier dragon naturalist... -
High Deryni by Katherine Kurtz
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsYoung Kelson Haldane has claimed his birthright and assumed the throne of Gwynedd. For the first time in centuries, a king of Deryni heritage, possessing extraordinary magical abilities, rules the realm.But the priesthood of the Eleven Kingdoms has held sway over the Crown for generations. They decried the Deryni as witches and heretics, drove them underground, and usurped control of the kingdom... -
-
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 102 ratingsLyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world...Categorized as:
contemporary dystopia female-mc industrial-era magic paranormal religion spirituality -
Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe first book in Stephen Lawhead's magnificent Pendragon Cycle. Taliesin tells the stirring tale of Britain's greatest bard, who envisioned the coming of the Summer Kingdom...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism paranormal religion spirituality action-adventure alternate-history arthurian -
The Palace of Lost Memories by C.J. Archer
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFrom the author of the USA Today bestselling GLASS AND STEELE series comes this captivating new fantasy. The king's magnificent palace was built in a matter of weeks. No one saw the builders, no villagers are allowed beyond the gilded gate, and only one servant has ever left...Categorized as:
magic paranormal supernatural action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book epic -
A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn a world where males are rarely born, they've become a commodity-traded and sold like property. Jerin Whistler has come of age for marriage and his handsome features have come to the attention of the royal princesses. But such attentions can be dangerous-especially as Jerin uncovers the dark mysteries the royal family is hiding... -
Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsFrom New York Times #1 bestselling author Patricia C. Wrede, the second in the series of magic on the western frontier.Eff is riding west, away from the safety of the frontier city she's always known.... Eff could be a powerful magician if she wanted to. Except she's not sure she wants that kind of responsibility... -
King Kelson's Bride by Katherine Kurtz
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Kurtz’s strengths lie in her patient accumulation of telling detail, well-articulated plots, and believable magics. Should bring the fans flocking, and attract newcomers too.”—Kirkus ReviewsSpeculation runs rampant throughout the kingdom of Gwynedd as to when, and to whom, King Kelson will finally be wed...Categorized as:
magic paranormal religion spirituality supernatural action-adventure adult alternate-history
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.