Formative series that I actually finished and influenced my taste and personality. There is no order to the list as they all have a different impact and you aren’t supposed to have favorites among your children.
The chronicles of narnia
“Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.”
-C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia showcase some of the best aspects of young fantasy, relatable kids in a beautiful new world with rich characters and enough danger to keep the reader invested. Plus Santa makes an appearance with swords and daggers and such.
In a large house owned by a solitary professor, separated from their parents during an uncertain time, the Pevensie children discover a gateway to the magical world of Narnia through a wardrobe hidden in the bowels of the house. Together, they must find a way to save the magical land from the curse of the White Witch.
The Dark is rising
“When the dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;
Three from the circle, three from the track;
Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;
Five will return, and one go alone.”
-Susan Cooper
The Dark Is rising
A dive into a familiar world with unfamiliar nuances. The dark tone to a Christmas backdrop was a wonderful sort of jarring into a different way to view a snowy landscape and the people we can take for granted in the backdrop.
Will must find his place before the Dark can gather enough strength to snuff the Light out from the world.
The Lord of the Rings
“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the rings
It hardly needs an introduction but I am going to do it anyway. This series was a major turning point in my nine year old brain and what books had to offer. I don’t think I was even supposed to be paying attention to it, but my dad had the notoriously bad radio version audio book playing when he would take us to school and the Balrog changed my whole life.
The world’s introduction to fantasy, Tolkien gave us so much of his world we have been spoiled from the beginning.
The Song of the Lioness
“Your place in life you can always change, whether you have the gift or not. But you cannot change what the gods have made you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.”
-Tamora Pierce
The song of the lioness
Deserves more attention than she gets, Alanna was before her time. With a rich world and incredible characters, this series kickstarted a new love for fantasy worlds with lady knights.
Set in the fantasy kingdom of Tortall, the story follows Alanna of Trebond, a girl who would rather train as a knight than become a magic-wielding lady. In order to fulfil her dream she swaps places with her twin brother Thom and travels to the palace to train as a page, renaming herself Alan.
The inheritance Cycle
“Eragon looked back at him, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t,” said Brom impatiently. “That’s why I’m teaching you and not the other way around.”
-Christopher Paolini
The inheritance Cycle
Dragons. I just want a dragon. There was something so accessible about Eragon and the way the Palancar valley was described and even the way Eragon himself was proven not to be the sharpest sword in the bunch.
A simple farm boy finds a dragon egg and finds himself enmeshed in affairs of a world he knows very little about. He must learn his way through while not losing sight of what is good in this world.
Cirque Du Freak
“I don’t like it, but my hands are tied. I just want you to know this: if I ever get the chance to betray you, I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I’ll take it. You’ll never be able to trust me.”
– Darren Shan
The Saga of darren shan
It all started on a toilet. An intro like that has to be life changing (especially when you’re eleven). I used to hate horror and gore and I refused to read any material on it until a friend of mine forced this in my hands on a road trip and it changed EVERYTHING. It changed my opinions on vampires, what could be done with them and how they could be perceived by outside characters.
Darren was a kid I could relate to, he made mistakes, went through different emotions, and had to learn some things the hard way. The characters he came across were colorful and unique and impacted the plot past just adding dialogue.
pendragon
“Whenever you look back and say, “If,” you know you’re in trouble. There’s no such thing as “if.” The only thing that counts is what really happened.”
– D.J. MacHale
Pendragon
Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn’t quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution.
A series that made me laugh, harder than I probably should have. The worlds were engaging and imaginative and the characters made me love them on impact.
Artemis fowl
“Let us proceed under the assumption that the fairy folk do exist, and that I am not a gibbering moron.”
– Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl
The fairies I knew before ACOTAR and Cruel Prince. Boy genius and the misadventures with the fair folk all wrapped up in a beautiful heist-like story. So many good moments layered in humor and crazy antics that still manages to pull off sentimental moments when you least expect them.
Twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has discovered a world below ground of armed and dangerous—and extremely high-tech—fairies. He kidnaps one of them, Holly Short, and holds her for ransom in an effort to restore his family’s fortune. But he may have underestimated the fairies’ powers.
Harry Potter
“The truth.” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”
– J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter
The Boy Who Lived. A phenomena in more than one world. Layered in complex feelings and its fair share of controversy, Harry Potter was many people’s first book love and to this day still holds a place in readers’ hearts.
A boy who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. He is summoned from his life as an unwanted child to become a student at Hogwarts, an English boarding school for wizards. There, he meets several friends who become his closest allies and help him discover the truth about his parents’ mysterious deaths.
Animorphs
“Tobias: They’ll come. The Andalites will come. And until then…
Jake: Yeah. Until then, we fight.”
– K.A. Applegate
Animorphs
“Don’t look,” Rachel said to her. She put her arm around Cassie’s shoulder and held her close. Then she reached for Tobias and took his hand. I guess you never really know someone till you see them scared. And even scared to death, with tears running down her face, Rachel had strength to spare.”
-K.A. Applegate
Rachel is my soul. Down to the bear morph. Down to the aggressive blunt way she tries her beast. i mean best.
A group of teenagers learn about a parasitic alien race, the Yeerks, secretly taking over the earth and simultaneously gain the ability to ‘morph’ from a different alien race, the Andalites, who are at war with the Yeerks.
Honorable Mentions
These are the ones that still get the gooey nostalgia feelings but I didn’t finish until I was older or they weren’t the same sort of series (more episodic) but had a huge impact on me reading the way I do (aggressively) today.
