Items25The creator’s order
  1. 1Piranesi (2020)Piranesi (2020) 8.7/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2020A careful journal keeper explores a vast House of statues, halls and tides. Clarke lets you learn its routines through his affectionate attention, while a mystery develops around what he understands. Start here if curiosity and a strong voice attract you more than battles or elaborate systems of…0
  2. 2The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013)The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2013A return to a childhood home opens onto a remembered encounter with terrifying, protective and impossible forces. The familiar setting gives the magic its emotional scale: a child's fear of what adults can do matters before any explanation of the supernatural. Choose it for a short, dark route into…0
  3. 3The Last Unicorn (1968)The Last Unicorn (1968) 8.6/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1968A unicorn leaves her forest to discover what has happened to the others of her kind. Beagle gives the quest wit and a melancholy interest in love, age and the limits of wanting. The fairy-tale shape is easy to recognise, while the characters keep complicating it. Read this if you want to meet…0
  4. 4The bird king [large print] (2019)The bird king [large print] (2019) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2019At the end of Muslim rule in Granada, Fatima and a mapmaker whose drawings can alter space face a threat to their freedom. The Bird King makes its magic part of an escape story driven by friendship and unequal power. The historical setting offers a foothold if you usually read about real places and…0
  5. 5Golem and the Jinni (2013)Golem and the Jinni (2013) 8.1/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2013Two magical newcomers try to live among immigrant communities in turn-of-the-century New York. Work, friendship and the difficulty of controlling their own natures make the fantastic elements understandable through everyday choices. This is a patient, substantial option for historical-fiction…0
  6. 6Howl's Moving Castle (1986)Howl's Moving Castle (1986) 8.8/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1986Sophie responds to a curse that makes her old by moving into a wizard's household and making herself useful, troublesome and hard to ignore. The comedy of domestic habits gives you an immediate way into the enchantment. Jones's novel has its own intricate resolution, with later companion adventures…0
  7. 7The Emperor's Soul (2012)The Emperor's Soul (2012) 8.6/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2012An imprisoned forger must use her talent for altering the histories of objects to attempt something much more dangerous: reconstructing a ruler's soul. The deadline and confined situation give the magic a clear purpose from the outset. This self-contained novella makes the work of understanding a…0
  8. 8The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019)The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019) 8.4/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2019January's discovery of a book about doors into other worlds challenges the life arranged for her by a wealthy guardian. Harrow uses an adventure of reading, belonging and escape to reveal the larger possibilities gradually. It suits readers who like historical atmosphere and stories inside stories.…0
  9. 9Invisible Life of Addie LaRueInvisible Life of Addie LaRueAddie's bargain gives her centuries of life while making other people forget her. One clear magical condition opens questions about intimacy, art and leaving a trace, rather than requiring a new world's institutions to be learnt. Choose it if you enjoy romantic melancholy and a narrative moving…0
  10. 10Circe (2018)Circe (2018) 8.3/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2018Miller gives the sorceress a life shaped by family rejection, solitude, craft and difficult attachments. Her first-person account introduces the encounters that matter, so the route in is a character's changing understanding of herself. Familiarity with Greek myth adds connections, but this novel…0