10 Books Like Harry Potter For Adults That Will Have You Saying, "Boredom Managed"

Lev Grossman's The Magicians (which is part of a trilogy) revolves around Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant, bored fantasy-lover who decides to skip his Princeton University interview in order to interview for the prestigious and incredibly selective Brakebills College For Magical Pedagogy — and amazingly, he gets in. However, unlike Harry, Quentin finds that learning magic is actually pretty tedious, so he decides to make his own fun.

Believe it or not, Nicholas Flamel was a real-life French alchemist in search of the legendary philosopher's stone, and Michael Scott's The Alchemyst is just the first installment in the six-book series about what would happen if Flamel actually had discovered immortality. When the book that hides his secret to eternal life falls into the wrong hands, it's up to 15-year-old twins Sophie and Josh to protect it.

Set in early 1960s Alabama during the Civil Right's Movement, Robert R. McCammon's Boy's Life revolves around 12-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson, whose life is changed forever after he and his dad witness the sinking of a car carrying a brutally murdered man in the town lake. Over the next year, Cory discovers mystical secrets hidden in plain sight in his idyllic-seeming hometown, as well as all the darkness that comes with it.

V. E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book in a trilogy following the story of Kell, one of the last living magicians with the ability to travel between the four parallel Londons — though only three of those worlds still exist. His rare ability makes him a useful resource for the London rulers who need him to move between worlds, but his reluctant sense of duty is challenged when he meets a sassy pickpocket named Delilah, who demands that Kell use his abilities to take her on an adventure.

Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown revolves around London's Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, which is in charge of maintaining the magic within His Majesty's kingdom. Once powerful and honorable, the society has gradually fallen into disgrace — though that all changes when England's Sorcerer Royal Sir Stephen Wythe mysteriously dies and his adopted son, Zacharias Wythe, takes over. Zacharias then dedicates himself to figuring out why England's magical stocks have dried up, and here's the best part: this book is just the first in a series.

Rachel Caine's Ink and Bone (which is the first in a series) imagines a world where the Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, instead becoming a supremely powerful storehouse of knowledge with a presence in cities around the world. Though personal ownership of books is forbidden, Jess Brightwell is forced by his family of book smugglers to train at the Great Library and act as a spy, where he learns that knowledge is valued above everything — even human life.

Neil Gaiman's debut novel, Neverwhere, tells the story of Richard Mayhew, a young businessman living in London whose life is changed after he stumbles upon a mysterious girl bleeding in the street who calls herself Door. After Richard rescues her, Door introduces him to the world of London Below, where Door is a powerful noblewoman and magic exists — though in return, he's forced to give up his life in the London Above.

Set in Victorian London, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus tells the story of a magical traveling circus where, behind the scenes, two young magicians keep up the illusions and captivate audiences while locked in a fierce competition neither of them understands. Eventually, the two realize the only way to win the competition is to kill the other, but by that point, they've already fallen in love. We guarantee that Celia will give you major Hermione vibes.

Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind (the first book in the The Kingkiller Chronicle series) takes place in the mortal world of Temerant, which coexists alongside the realm of The Fae, a parallel universe inhabited by magical creatures who can move between the two worlds when the moon is full. Narrated by the notorious Kvothe (who lives in secret as an innkeeper named Kote), the novel tells the hero's epic story between the worlds, as told to a traveling scribe known as Chronicler.

The first book in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series, Sabriel tells the story of two neighboring countries: Ancelstierre (which resembles early-20th-century Australia) to the south, and the Old Kingdom (where magic and the undead exist) to the north. After 18-year-old Sabriel's father, the Abhorson, goes missing, she's forced to cross the world from Ancelstierre to the Old Kingdom in order to find him.