I have been obsessed with the Harry Potter series. I read the entire series twice and am now listening to the audio books. I have watched all the movies that have come out so far. I have read the Lord of the Rings series, the Dune Series, the Ringworld series, and other series that for some reason are escaping my memory at the moment. I need another series. I need something to replace my Harry Potter obsession. Is there a book series that you are obsessed with? My favorite series was Dune. My second was Ringworld. I can't figure out why the Harry Potter series are the only fiction books that I have ever reread. I usually oppose ever rereading fiction books because there are too many great books out there that I will never have time to read. I can't explain why I needed to reread the Harry Potter Series. I really enjoyed it too. I have in the past accidentally started rereading a fiction book...realized it then become annoyed.
What series should I start reading? I usually prefer science fiction over magical fiction which is why I am surprised that I liked the Harry Potter series.

Try Jim Butcher's "Harry Dresden" series. A darker edge that Harry Potter, but good stories all the same.

I liked Anne Bishop's Jewel's trilogy. It is magical fiction though.

If you haven't read them before, I would also recommend HP Lovecraft or Clive Barker. They are more horror genre, but very good.

Hello whichone,

How about The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin? It's magical fiction - more wizards.

moa

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What age / content range are you looking for?

I know a couple of fantasy series you might like, but due to the content most of them aren't fit for anyone under 16 or so.

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix.

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The books would be for me. I am 43 years old which is another reason that I am so surprised that I like the Harry Potter books.

Then you have a few options.

Vision of Escaflowne. Imagine, if you will, what it would be like if Tolkien wrote about giant robots.

There's three different versions of the story (the anime, the theatrical movie, and the manga done by Katsu Aki), but they all focus on the same concept: a seemingly normal teenage girl named Hitomi is transported against her will to an alternate version of Earth, in the process gaining a limited ability to see the future.

I'd recommend the anime, as it's the best of the three versions; a boxed set containing all 26 episodes has an MSRP of around $70 US. The animation and music are absolutely stunning, and the writing is so well done that it could easily *beat* an American drama in terms of quality.

For the manga, Katsu Aki took a number of early drafts and concepts that had been *rejected* and wove them all together just to see what would happen. There's 8 volumes at an MSRP of $10 US each. I'd suggest getting these last, as not only are they hard to hunt down, but when you get to reading it you'll discover that some of the concepts were rejected for a reason. Note that the manga contains a good deal of cursing, as well as nudity (Hitomi is nude at least once a volume) and blood (more blood than the anime, but less than the movie).

Record of Lodoss War

The original six-part direct-to-video series is considered a classic of anime. The base concept is that a young knight-in-training known as Parn finds himself and five companions caught in the middle of a war for control of a continent, a war secretly being influenced by a malevolent diety. The writing is pretty good, but the animation is starting to show its age; you can tell that the original series is at least a good 20 years old.

A sequel anime series was done about 10 years later. This sequel series wraps up some of the loose ends left by the first series, and then hands the action off to a new generation, including the daughter of one of Parn's companions. The writing is equally good, but the last 2 -3 minutes of each episode is given over to a sequence parodying the series; you might wish to skip that unless you enjoy hijinx - based comedy.

A manga series providing background for Deedlit, Parn's elven girlfriend, was released in Japan as a side-story collection, but due to financial difficulties on the part of publisher Central Park only the first volume was translated into English. This was one of several manga titles that were abruptly cancelled when CP was forced to shut down its manga wing, something that has made several anime fans (myself included) somewhat irate as these series were only half completed.

The Slayers

This is a multi-media franchise (novels, manga, anime, movies, and even soundtracks) covering the exploits of Lina Inverse, a 16-year-old girl and one of the most powerful spellcasters in the known world. The series frequently goes from slapstick comedy to drama, often without warning. Despite only being about 10 years old, the franchise is considered an anime classic.

Note, however, that the series sometimes employs crude humor (IE, a running gag involves Lina's small bust size in comparison to other female characters) and oddball situations (such as everyone having to dress in drag at least once during each of the anime's three seasons).

Also, "Slayers: The Motion Picture" just fails as far as writing goes; even though it was intended to serve as a prequel to the anime, it wasn't written until *after* the anime had completed its run and so there's a number of plot holes as a result.

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy aren't bad. Much better than the overrated Eragon, IMO, which read like it was written by a fifteen-year-old--a talented one, but a fifteen-year-old whose writing style needed some depth and maturity.

For sheer cleverness, the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is excellent. It's a bit overdone with the pseudo-scholarly format, so unless you're at least a bit of an English-geek, you might not like it that much. Terrific plot and characterizations, IMO, although definitely not sweetness and light as far as subject goes. Highly recommended if the complexity of the final HP's appeals to you.