Magic worlds for grown ups: Exploring magic fiction

How many of you read a certain wizarding world series in your youth, and have always longed to capture that feeling of being immersed in a world of magic again?  Never fear, there are plenty of amazing books and series available in adult fiction that weave magical worlds around the reader.  We have selected a handful of titles for you to try…

A deadly education : a novel / Novik, Naomi
“Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered: There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate . . . or die. The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The house in the Cerulean Sea / Klune, TJ
“A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place–and realizing that family is yours.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Plain bad heroines / Danforth, Emily M
“In 1902, at an all girl’s boarding school in Rhode Island, students Flo and Clara are madly in love with each other, as well as completely obsessed with The Story of Mary MacLane, the scandalous debut memoir by 19 year old MacLane. A copy of this book is found splayed in the woods near the two girls’ dead bodies after a horrific yellow jacket attack. Within five years The Brookhants School for Girls is closed. Its buildings left empty. But not before three more people died on the property, each in a troubling way…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Magic for liars / Gailey, Sarah
“Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life: her almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, an empty apartment in the rapidly gentrifying Bay Area, and a slight drinking problem. She doesn’t in any way wish she was like her estranged twin sister, magically gifted professor Tabitha. But when she’s hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages, Ivy begins to call into question everything she has ever believed.” (Catalogue)

Ninth house / Bardugo, Leigh
“Galaxy ‘Alex’ Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The starless sea / Morgenstern, Erin
“Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues–a bee, a key, and a sword — that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library, hidden far below the surface of the earth. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Senlin ascends / Bancroft, Josiah
“The 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. Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A secret history of witches / Morgan, Louisa
“From early 19th century Brittany to London during the Second World War, five generations of witches fight the battles of their time, deciding how far they are willing to go to protect their family, their heritage, and ultimately, all of our futures. After Grand-mère Ursule gives her life to save her tribe, her magic seems to dies with her. Even so, her family keeps the Old Faith, practicing the spells and rites that have been handed from mother to daughter for generations. Until one day, Ursule’s young granddaughter steps into the circle, and magic flows anew.” (Catalogue)

Borderline / Baker, Mishell
“Millie is a bit of a mess: she’s cynical, disabled, and self-destructive. And she has borderline personality disorder. So she’s a little confused as to why she’s been recruited for a top-secret agency that oversees deals between Hollywood icons and fairy muses. But when her first routine mission takes an unexpected and dangerous turn, Millie finds herself hip-deep in some of the scariest situations Fairyland has on offer – and she may not make it out in one piece…” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The final empire / Sanderson, Brandon
“A thousand years ago evil came to the land and has ruled with an iron hand ever since. The sun shines fitfully under clouds of ash that float down endlessly from the constant eruption of volcanoes. A dark lord rules through the aristocratic families and ordinary folk are condemned to lives in servitude, sold as goods, labouring in the ash fields. But now a troublemaker has arrived and there is rumour of revolt. A revolt that depends on criminal that no-one can trust and a young girl who must master Allomancy – the magic that lies in all metals.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Monstress. Volume one, Awakening / Liu, Marjorie M
“Set in an alternate world of art deco beauty and steampunk horror, Monstress tells the epic story of Maika Halfwolf, a teenage survivor of a cataclysmic war between humans and their hated enemies, the Arcanics. In the face of oppression and terrible danger, Maika is both hunter and hunted, searching for answers about her mysterious past as those who seek to use her remain just one step behind… and all the while, the monster within begins to awaken…” (Catalogue)