Have you found yourself fantasizing about days we could all roam freely, or longing for an escape to a magical land far, far away? We’re right there with you. It’s hard finding healthy and productive ways to cope with stress and take a step back from our new reality. That’s why we’ve rounded up 15 fantastical book series for you to get lost in—and perhaps kickstart a virtual book club with your closest friends. Getty Images 
Now that you’re stuck at home, you might find yourself talking to inanimate objects around the house more often. ”Why are you so LOUD?” you may ask the radiator in the living room. ”Why did you melt when I placed you next to an open flame on the stove?” you might question the plastic spatula in your kitchen. None of the objects are talking back (yet), which is probably a good sign. But the ships in Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders Trilogy have personalities as fleshed out and fully realized as the families they carry. Amazon 
Patricia A. McKillip combines all the juiciest parts of the reality television show you’ve been bingeing on Netflix—love, competition—with shapeshifting magic. Oh, and Celtic mythology! You’ll be turning pages of the Riddle-Master trilogy long into the night to find out who will win the heart of Raederle, a warrior who, although she comes from royal blood, is never reduced to the dainty title “princess.” Amazon 
It’s the end of the world as we know it…and we don’t feel fine. But we can try to prepare ourselves for end times with Octavia E. Butler’s thrilling trilogy, Lilith’s Brood. The series begins in outer space, where the few survivors of a nuclear war learn survival skills from an alien species known as the Oankali. The series follows the cross-breeding and power struggles between the two populations, as some humans resist learning from the Oankali and others recognize the value of adapting to their new surroundings. Butler was one of the few black female science fiction writers, and one of the most prominent authors in the genre, period. In 1995, she became the first sci-fi writer to receive a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Amazon 
Philip Pullman’s fantasy epic His Dark Materials inspired a thrilling TV series by the same name. Follow along in the trilogy as characters traverse between parallel universes and watch as Lyra, a young student, fights to find her kidnapped friend—and ends up discovering an entire underworld of children who need to be saved. Amazon 
Before there was Hogwarts, there was the island of Roke, where a student named Ged expanded his wizarding prowess until pride got the best of him—and he unleashed the wrath of “the shadow.” In Ursula K. Le Guin’s groundbreaking series, Earthsea, we follow the young wizard on his journey to balance light with dark magic, reign in his pride and his skills, and conquer a world-weary dragon. Le Guin wrote the six Earthsea tales between 1968 and 2001, in addition to four short stories related to but not included in the series. You can find an audio version of each story if you’re newly acquainted to the series—but if you’re already a Le Guin diehard, spring for the beautifully illustrated tome containing all 10 volumes. Amazon 
A good fantasy novel will pull you out of your own world and then set you back with a new way of observing the familiar—and that’s exactly what Terry Pratchett does in Discworld, a hilarious 41-volume romp written between 1983 and 2015. The first book in the series, The Color of Magic, introduces us to Rincewind, a woefully inept wizard who leads a tourist around Discworld, a flat, disc-like planet balanced on the backs of four elephants, who are themselves balanced on top of a giant turtle. Amazon 
If you’re having a hard time focusing, try losing yourself in short stories rather than committing to a full series. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell examines human issues like long-term relationships, poor labor conditions and gendered power dynamics through the lenses of tortured girls who turn themselves into silkworms and a vampire couple attempting to satiate themselves with lemon juice rather than blood. Wild. Amazon 
Now that you’ve finished bingeing every season of Game of Thrones, work backwards by reading the series that started it all, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Your virtual book club will love comparing chapters to stand-out scenes from the show. And just like its TV counterpart, A Song of Ice and Fire will keep you on the edge of your seat—only five of the seven books in the series have been published. Amazon 
Lev Grossman’s trilogy, The Magicians, is “a shot of whiskey” compared to the “weak glass of tea” that is the Harry Potter series—at least according to George R.R. Martin, the author of A Game of Thrones. The series follows high school mathematician Quentin Coldwater’s hidden obsession with a children’s fantasy series set in a mystical utopia called Fillory and his admittance into a secret university of magic—where he uncovers Fillory’s dark underworld. Amazon 
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s debut short story collection, Friday Black, offers a dystopian look at the real injustices black people in the U.S. face today. Both funny and chillingly relatable, these stories poke holes in consumerist values, examine systemic racism in the criminal justice system and take everyday scenarios in malls and schools into the realm of the extraordinary. Amazon 
Anne McCaffrey started writing the sci-fi series Dragonriders of Pern in 1967; then in 2003, her son, Todd McCaffrey, started adding novels to the series, both solo and with his mother. The tales focus on the epic bond between human and dragon, and the human colonization of the planet Pern. There are 24 books, including accompanying short stories, that span over two and a half millennia—so you’re covered on reading material for long after quarantine ends. Amazon 
If you never got the chance to read this wondrous series as a child, now’s the perfect time to lose yourself among the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. The books are intended for younger readers, so they’ll be easy to breeze through before bed. And when you’re done, you’ll have an excuse to snuggle up and rewatch all the movies. Amazon 
Another YA favorite, the Protector of the Small quartet makes perfect reading material for a mother-daughter duo. The badass heroine, Kel, takes on a curmudgeonly trainer in her quest to become the first female knight in all the land. She is put on probation during her first year, an isolating and harrowing experience that only the strong-willed and brave can survive. Amazon 
If you prefer bouncing around to reading books in a more linear fashion, The Sword of Truth series is for you. Each of the 21 fantasy epics can be read as standalone novels (except for the final three, which are a traditional trilogy). Follow along as characters make bitter sacrifices for the greater good (sound familiar?), grapple with grief and loss and fight mysterious dark forces. Amazon 
Fans rave about N.K. Jemison’s stunning Broken Earth trilogy for its fluid blend of reality and otherworldliness. “I like to write about ordinary people in extraordinary situations, preferably in non-Earth worlds which nevertheless reflect our own,” Jamison, a two-time recipient of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, has said. In this series, disasters strike the earth with debilitating, long-lasting effects. The survivors must be resourceful and draw upon the forces of the earth (and each other) to rebuild their communities. Amazon
Coronavirus Read-a-Thon: Fans of Harry Potter Will Love These 15 Other Magical Book Series
Already burned through everything on Netflix? Lose yourself in the pages of these supernatural worlds and sci-fi epics.
