Step into a world where fairy tales come to life, and every turn of the page leads to a new adventure! If “The Land of Stories” series by Chris Colfer captured your imagination with its enchanting blend of familiar fairy-tale characters and original, thrilling plots, then your magical journey doesn’t have to end there. In this post, we’re exploring a collection of books that will transport you to similar realms of wonder and whimsy.
These stories are woven with the magic of fairy tales, the excitement of new worlds, and the timeless battle between good and evil. From mystical lands ruled by queens and kings to quests that test the heart and spirit, these books promise to fill your reading time with enchantment and adventure. So, grab your magical map and a sprinkle of fairy dust as we embark on a journey to discover lands where every chapter is a new escapade!
10 Books Like The Land Of Stories Series
The Land of Stories series features a diverse cast of characters, allowing readers to connect with a variety of personalities and backgrounds, which promotes empathy and understanding. Many books in this series convey important life lessons and values, such as friendship, courage, and the power of believing in yourself. They provide subtle moral messages that can be valuable for young readers. Do you want to read more? I will discuss 10 magic/fairy-tale books similar to The Land Of Stories. Let’s fly!
| Name | Key Focus | Tropes |
|---|---|---|
| The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter | A collection of dark, feminist reimaginings of traditional fairy tales and folklore, infused with gothic elements and exploring themes of sexuality, gender, and power. | Fairy tale retellings, gothic atmosphere, feminist perspective, dark fantasy, sexual themes, power dynamics, subverted narratives, lyrical prose, psychological depth, symbolic imagery. |
| Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik | Three young women use their wits and courage to overcome challenges posed by otherworldly forces, set against a backdrop of a wintry kingdom. | Fairy tale retelling, strong female protagonists, magical realism, fantastical creatures, winter setting, cultural depth, financial savvy, family ties, interwoven narratives, empowerment. |
| The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro | An elderly couple on a journey to find their son, navigating a landscape shrouded in mist that causes collective amnesia, exploring themes of memory, love, and war. | Quest narrative, historical fantasy, memory loss, Arthurian legend, old age protagonists, moral ambiguity, mythical creatures, allegorical tale, societal forgetfulness, emotional depth. |
| The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente | A Ship of Her Own Making” by Catherynne M. Valente is a whimsical fantasy novel about a young girl named September who is whisked away to Fairyland. | Magical journey, fairyland adventure, strong young heroine, whimsical creatures, quest narrative, imaginative world-building, coming-of-age, charming storytelling, mythical beings, self-discovery. |
| Tolkien On Fairy-stories by Flieger Verlyn | An extended edition of Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy-Stories,” which explores the nature, purpose, and form of fantasy literature, offering insights into Tolkien’s approach to myth-making and storytelling. | Literary criticism, fantasy genre analysis, mythopoeia, storytelling philosophy, narrative theory, authorial insight, Tolkien’s worldview, imaginative fiction, folklore and mythology, creative writing. |
| House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig | A dark fantasy novel that reimagines the fairy tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” which follows Annaleigh, who becomes suspicious of the mysterious deaths of her sisters and uncovers disturbing secrets in her family’s manor by the sea. | Fairy tale retelling, Gothic atmosphere, family curse, supernatural mystery, haunted setting, psychological suspense, sibling dynamics, romance, dark secrets, eerie tone. |
| Cinder by Marissa Meyer | A futuristic retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale, set in a world where Earth is plagued by a deadly pandemic and political unrest. | Science fiction retelling, dystopian society, cyborg protagonist, forbidden love, plague backdrop, interplanetary conflict, fairy tale elements, identity and discrimination themes, political intrigue, technological advancements. |
| Uprooted by Naomi Novik | A young woman named Agnieszka is chosen by a powerful wizard known as the Dragon to serve him, leading her into a battle against an encroaching, corrupted forest that threatens her home. | Dark fantasy, magical mentorship, enchanted forest, folklore inspiration, strong female protagonist, magical battles, village life, friendship and loyalty, transformation and growth, mystical forces. |
| Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim | Maia is a talented seamstress who disguises herself as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor, embarking on an epic journey that involves magical tasks and forbidden romance. | Gender disguise, magical quest, imperial court setting, tailor protagonist, forbidden love, adventure and challenges, Asian-inspired fantasy world, family loyalty, craftsmanship, mythical elements. |
| Fables by Bill Willingham | A graphic novel series that brings together characters from various fairy tales and folklore, who live in exile in our modern world. | Fairy tale characters, modern setting, secret society, urban fantasy, political intrigue, character crossovers, moral complexity, detective elements, magical realism, folklore adaptation. |
1. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
This novel was published in 1974, and it is the book that Angela Carter is well known for. It is effectively a compilation of short stories, and often, it gets called a retelling or a modernization of older fairy stories. These are entirely new stories, but they’re grounded in the fairy tale archetypes. The author is so strong in short stories, and she can paint a small picture into a big one.
The Bloody Chamba is a retelling of Bluebeard. It’s quite large compared to this book. Then there are a couple of retellings of Red Riding Hood, The Land of Stories, and Beauty And The Beast. Moreover, there’s a funny one about Puss in Boots and the Old King. If you’re into gothic fairy tales or things that are a bit darker, then this book is for you.
Author: Angela Carter
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Fantasy Anthologies
Number Of Pages: 128
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
2. Spinning Silver
This is a story set in Magical Poland. It’s a fairy tale world which is beautifully constructed and inspired by the Polish fairy tale author Naomi Novik’s childhood. There’s a fairy king who’s called Staryk. It’s a beautiful fantasy story reminiscent of fairy tales and feels very fairy tale-esque to me after The Land Of Stories. Also, it’s based loosely on the tale of Rumpelstiltskin.
The main character in the story is named Miryem, and she is the daughter of a very unsuccessful moneylender. There are two more major points of view characters in this as well. Then there’s also Irina, who is betrothed to the Staryk of this land, and he’s a very dark, scary man. So, this is an excellent story to read at Christmas time or to read as you’re going into the winter.
Author: Naomi Novik
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Mythology & Folk Tales
Number Of Pages: 465
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
3. The Buried Giant
This book was published in 2015, two years before author Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Ishiguro is an amazing author, and he has written a lot of brilliant books. The Buried Giant is the unique thing he’s written, a literary fantasy story. Also, it’s very much inspired by myth and pre-medieval English history. So it’s got these lovely little fairy tale-esque bits where you could sit in two different camps of being inspired by fairy tale and myth.
The book is not a fast-paced plot, but it’s about two older people named Axl and Beatrice, who live in a closed-off community in Britain in premedieval post-Arthurian times. It’s a period when the Saxons and Britons are fighting, and a literal giant is buried in the ground.
So, they live in this situation where there’s this collective forgetfulness. Axl and Beatrice remember that they had a son at some point and go on this journey to find their son. Kazuo Ishiguro is amazing at these plots where you can’t say too much without giving it away. It’s the most unique fantasy story I’ve ever read after “The Land of Stories.”
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Average Rating: 4.1/5
Category: Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction
Number Of Pages: 317
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Spiral-bound
4. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland)
This is related to fairy tales like The Land of Stories, but this is a lovely, beautiful, absurd, whimsical middle-grade story. The story is about a young girl named September. She’s 12, and she’s washing dishes in her kitchen at home. Her dad is off in the war, and her mother is a mechanical engineer who is spirited off to fairyland.
September meets a wyvern whose father thinks it is a library, so he considers himself a cross between the library and the wyvern. His name is A-Through-L because those are the books he represents in the library. It’s like Alice in Wonderland. So that’s what this feels like, but it’s very colorful and magical.
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Action & Adventure
Number Of Pages: 247
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
5. Tolkien On Fairy-stories
This is a non-fiction book/essay, depending on how it’s published. This is essentially Tolkien diving into fairy stories as a literary form and looking at how we use these fairy stories. He spells it inconsistently. The title is on fairy stories, and then he calls it very odd. That is an interesting way to look at the genre. In addition, he looks at how we use fairy stories to hold up a mirror to society.
Reading this particular essay is enlightening for looking into Tolkien’s works because you see his perspective and opinions on fantasy in this league. I enjoyed reading this for my research. This particular essay came out of a presentation he was going to do. It was published in the late nineteen-thirties. If you’re interested in Tolkien and like non-fiction, I recommend checking this out.
Author: Douglas A. Flieger Verlyn
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Science Fiction History & Criticism
Number Of Pages: 128
Available: Paperback | Hardcover
6. House of Salt and Sorrows
This is a retelling that gets creepy. So, it took a classic story and then made it scary, which is great for Halloween. We follow 12 Dancing Princesses, a particularly familiar story, but apparently, there was a Barbie movie about the 12 Dancing Princesses. This is nothing like the Barbie movie, but I can guarantee you they’re very different.
This book has a lot of tropes in it, and there are so many different things that make it almost chaotic. I felt it contributed to its creepiness because it is a family with 12 people, many daughters, and the main character. A bunch of her sisters keep dying. The family, everyone thinks they’re cursed.
So everybody avoids them out of respect. They’re supposed to be this mourning period that lasts a long time, but they all keep on dying. Is there a curse on them? One of her youngest sisters starts seeing creepy stuff and then talks about it. So, there are a lot of atmospheres similar to The Land of Stories.
Author: Erin A. Craig
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Fairy Tales & Folklore Adaptations
Number Of Pages: 406
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
7. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles)
This is a story that is a science fiction retelling within each book. So the first one is Cinder, a retelling of Cinderella, but sci-fi. Then you have characters like Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Alex, and Conner. They pop up throughout the series. Cinder adds on top of the previous book for this one arc throughout the story. These are great for people who enjoy young adults and in general.
If you have a sibling, a child, or somebody in your life who is younger and they’re transitioning into the young adult age range, this one feels like a great transition out of middle grade. It is slightly more youthful, like The Land Of Stories, but the stakes are pretty high. That is how Marissa Mayer takes some of these traditional fairy tales and then makes them science fiction. She does it in a way that’s creative and fun.
Author: Marissa Meyer
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Literature & Fiction & Folklore Adaptations
Number Of Pages: 448
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
8. Uprooted
This one is good for fall because it’s very atmospheric and has a creepy forest setting. It is Eastern European folklore. Also, you’re dealing with this forest. It takes a lot for me to find a scary forest, like what I saw in The Land Of Stories. But this forest was legitimately scary because I usually love trees. Also, there’s weird stuff in the forest that affects people. Then those people try to kill other people.
The setup is a wizard, a magic-user who lives in a tower, and he protects this little village from the scary forest. To pay him back, he gets to have one of the village girls live with him in the tower, which is weird, and nobody knows what happens. But the girls came out of it eventually, and everything was fine.
Then they dip, and the main character is somebody who gets selected because she’s not the usual pretty face that tends to get selected, and the guy is mean to her. You follow her around as they’re trying to figure out how to deal with this forest and some political things that are affected by what happens in this forest.
Author: Naomi Novik
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Mythology & Folk Tales
Number Of Pages: 438
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
9. Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars)
This is a completed duology, and it is very loosely based on a folklore story. Also, it is a traveling love story. When I heard it spoken of in the past, I didn’t realize how much romance would be at the forefront. So, it’s not a steamy superstar romance. This character witnesses a lot of very whimsical things. If you’re a fan of The Land of Stories, you’ll like this story.
The main character has a mole on a setup where her dad is supposed to be selected for something. He’s not able to do it. So, she describes herself as a boy because only boys can fulfill this particular role. Then she disguised herself as a boy and went in his place, and she had to keep up this image as a boy the entire time she was competing in this particular competition. Moreover, she’s competing to become the emperor’s tailor, airy, fairy tale-esque, very whimsical.
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Fantasy Romance
Number Of Pages: 392
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
10. Fables: Legends in Exile
Fables is a comic book series that has a fun setup. The story takes a bunch of fairy tale characters. So, it’s not a direct retelling, but it takes many traditional fairy tale characters. Then something is going on in the homeland, which is where they’re from their fantasy worlds, and it forces them to live in our world, glamour to look like people.
The main character would be Big B, the big bad wolf. He’s their sheriff, and then there’s snow from Snow White. She has an administrative type of position. They often work together like Alex and Conner, the main characters of The Land of Stories. So, it’s also a little dark at times, which is very reminiscent of the Grimm fairy tale feel.
Author: Bill Willingham
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Mystery Graphic Novels
Number Of Pages: 144
Available: Kindle & Comixology | School & Library Binding | Paperback | Comics
Each story we’ve ventured through is a door to a world where imagination knows no bounds, and every twist and turn brings a fresh wave of excitement and wonder. These tales remind us of the enduring power and charm of fairy tales, reimagined and retold in ways that captivate the hearts of the young and the young at heart.
So, as you set forth on your next reading adventure, may your path be filled with the magic of storytelling, the joy of discovery, and the wonder of fairy tales reborn. Until our next fantastical foray, happy reading, and may your adventures be as boundless as the stories you love!
Read More Children’s Fantasy Books:
7 Sci-Fi Fantasy Books Like Cradle
Children’s Mystery Books Like The Westing Game
Children Adventure Books Like The City Of Ember
Children Fantasy Books Like The Phantom Tollbooth
Children’s Dystopian Books Like Last Kids On Earth
7 Children Realistic Fiction Books Like The Penderwicks
10 Classic Fantasy Books Like Alice In Wonderland
Children Fantasy Books Like The Phantom Tollbooth
Table of Contents
