Fantasy · Similar reads
Books like The Magicians
The best books like The Magicians are Homage to Catalonia, The Power of Myth, and Big Magic. The Magicians by Lev Grossman is about disillusionment, depression and brilliance, wish fulfillment and its costs. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Homage to Catalonia
01
George Orwell · Memoir
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's firsthand account of fighting in the Spanish Civil War, which he joined in late 1936 as a volunteer with the POUM militia — a Trotskyist revolutionary organization that was later suppressed by the Soviet-backed Stalinist wing of the Republican forces.
Both dig into disillusionment.
Read the summary → - The Power of Myth
02
Joseph Campbell · Philosophy
The Power of Myth is the transcript of six hours of conversations between Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers, filmed at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in 1985 and 1986 and broadcast on PBS in 1988, shortly after Campbell's death.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - Big Magic
03
Elizabeth Gilbert · Self-help
Big Magic is Elizabeth Gilbert's manifesto for living a creative life — not as a professional artistic career but as an orientation toward existence.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary →
- Bird by Bird
04
Anne Lamott · Self-help
Bird by Bird is Anne Lamott's guide to writing and the creative life, grown from a course she taught at UC Davis and developed over years of writing novels, essays, and journalism.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - American Pastoral
05
Philip Roth · Literary fiction
American Pastoral opens with a narrator, Nathan Zuckerman, learning at a high school reunion about the life and death of Seymour "the Swede" Levov — a man who embodied postwar American success so completely he seemed almost allegorical.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - All Quiet on the Western Front
06
All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque · History
All Quiet on the Western Front follows Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier who enlists with his classmates during the First World War after being swept up in patriotic speeches.
Both dig into disillusionment.
Read the summary → - Père Goriot
07
Honoré de Balzac · Classics
Père Goriot is the novel where Balzac's Human Comedy — his vast project of interlocking stories about French society — finds its moral and architectural center.
Both dig into disillusionment.
Read the summary → - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
08
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John le Carré · Thriller
Alec Leamas is a burnt-out British intelligence officer who has just watched his last agent shot dead at the Berlin Wall.
Both dig into disillusionment.
Read the summary → - The Sun Also Rises
09
Ernest Hemingway · Literary fiction
The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's first novel, published in 1926, and it remains the sharpest portrait of the "Lost Generation" — the young Americans and British expatriates who drifted through Paris and Spain in the years after World War I, drinking heavily and searching for something they couldn't name.
Both dig into disillusionment.
Read the summary → - A Court of Mist and Fury
10
Sarah J. Maas · Fantasy
A Court of Mist and Fury begins where A Court of Thorns and Roses ended: Feyre is back in the Spring Court with Tamlin, but she is not the same person who left.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - A Court of Thorns and Roses
11
Sarah J. Maas · Fantasy
Feyre Archeron is nineteen, hunting in winter to feed her family, when she kills a wolf in the forest and is taken by a creature from Prythian — the land of the fae — as payment for a life.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - A Darker Shade of Magic
12
V.E. Schwab · Fantasy
A Darker Shade of Magic is set across four parallel versions of London — Red, Grey, White, and the long-destroyed Black — each existing in the same location but separated by the barriers between worlds.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary →
Books like The Magicians: quick answers
What are the best books like The Magicians?
The best books like The Magicians by Lev Grossman are Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Magicians, such as disillusionment, depression and brilliance, wish fulfillment and its costs.
What should I read after The Magicians?
A natural next read after The Magicians is Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. Both dig into disillusionment. Other strong choices are The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
What books are similar to The Magicians by Lev Grossman?
The Magicians centers on disillusionment, depression and brilliance, wish fulfillment and its costs. Books with a similar feel include Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
