Based on classic Russian folklore, this well-written three-part epic follows the bucolic young noblewoman Vasilisa Petrovna. One of the few people who can see and talk to the Russian household spirits (such as the domovoy and the vazila), Vasya is both feared and revered by her community. Vasya’s gift grows more complicated by her increasingly entangled relationship with the forces of winter.

In Mare Barrow’s world, there are two types of people: silver-blooded, and red. Silvers are aristocrats with amazing abilities to command the elements, and all the wealth and power they’ve acquired with these abilities. Reds are the proletariat class – supposedly without these abilities – until red-blooded Mare finds out she has the power to command electricity. Suddenly, a Red from the slums is thrust straight into the center of palace intrigue and politics, and that’s only the beginning.

David Baldacci is better known for his political thrillers – but don’t skip this delightful YA series. It follows Vega Jane – a Finisher (skilled craftsperson) and orphan who has been told all her life not to leave her hometown of Wormwood. Outside the wall protecting their village is the Quag. It’s a nasty, impenetrable place they know very little about, save that it houses savage beasts. But one day, another Finisher goes over the wall. And leaves behind a map of the Quag.

If you didn’t see this beauty buzzed about all over bookstagram, now is the time to read it! It starts a bit slow, but once you make it through the first hundred pages, you will almost CERTAINLY stay up all night to finish it. When Alex Stern, a high school dropout, is offered a full-ride scholarship to Yale if she investigates their secret societies, the offer is too good to pass up. Little does she know the occult practices of the societies are more than just fun and games.

A beautiful epic trilogy, these books are short, but still action-packed. 12 kings have ruled the majestic desert metropolis of Sharakhai for centuries, and their ruthless tactics ensure it stays that way. Çeda (pronounced CHAY-da) may be just a scrappy orphan, but when she dares venture out on the holy night of Beht Zha’ir, what she discovers threatens their entire way of life.

This incredible series is full of rich lore, stunning characters, and ancient magic. A pickpocket living in Cairo in the 18th century, Nahri assumes she is a nothing, a nobody, and doomed to stay that way. Until one day, she accidentally calls forth a djinn. Nahri discovers that not only is she, too, a djinn, but she is the last surviving member of the most powerful djinn dynasty. Then, she’s whisked away to the secret magical city of Daevabad.

A series set in the gleaming world of beaux arts Paris, the imagery and world-building will stay with you long after you’ve finished. Magic shimmers on the surface of the most elite aristocratic families in France. Severin Montagnet-Alarie knows that better than anyone. The mysterious Order of Babel proposes an alliance that could help Severin regain his rightful inheritance. So, he teams up with a colorful crew to enter the dangerous world of high society.

A new classic, this sweeping fantasy-romance series has been turned into a hit TV show on Starz. Practical, yet curious Claire Randall is happy to accompany her husband on a trip to Scotland in 1945. Fresh off of duty as a combat nurse in WWII, Claire is ready to finally have the life she wants with her husband. Until an ancient druidic ritual transports her back in time to the 1700s. Everything is further complicated by the introduction of the handsome outlaw noble, James Fraser.

Full of possibility and hope, Neverwhere tells a tale of intrigue, magic, secrets, and belonging in a masterful way. Packed with the folklore Gaiman trades in so fluently, the reader’s attention is turned not to ancient gods, but to something far more ordinary: the London tube. It’s there that a mysterious girl named Door comes tumbling out into the direct path of the highly common Richard Mayhew, and sends him into a world more dangerous and awe-inspiring than he could ever imagine.

Arrogant Quentin Coldwater’s ego is inflated when he’s admitted to a magical school – one he never even knew existed. Someone has finally seen his genius, and his destiny will fall into place. He and his fellow students embark on a four-year celebration of their talents, enormously pleased with themselves. But in a surprising twist, he realizes the Fillory, the magical kingdom he loved as a child, is real. Not only but, it’s not so innocent as he’d imagined.

Strong-willed, independent Diana Bishop is something of an anomaly: an American graduate student at Oxford University. She feels comfortably at home amongst the gothic spires and winding canals of Oxford, and no more so than in the library. One day, Diana discovers an ancient text titled Ashmole 782, and her world is thrown in a new direction, one she would doubt if she weren’t seeing it with her own eyes.

This book is about exactly what it sounds like: a night circus. Only, it’s less Barnum and Bailey and more magic and intrigue. The political underpinnings of Le Cirque des Reves follow two young, talented magicians, Celia and Marco, each vying for a top spot. But everything goes to pot when they fall in love with each other, and their world that was already hanging by a thread is now thrown into chaos.

This one-off fantasy masterpiece explores what lies at the heart of a dark Wood.  It is the time for all the 17-year-old girls in the village to line up and for one of them to be chosen by the powerful wizard that rules and protects their land to choose his favorite, as he does every 10 years. The awkward, clumsy, unbecoming Agnieszka knows it will not be her. But then, it is. And she may just be the key to unlocking the secrets of the Wood.

Tamora Pierce is a legendary author with a fantastic track record – and this series is no exception. At the Imperial University of Carthak, 3 students form a close friendship: Arram, the troublemaking superstar, Varice, a smart girl who seems to always be overlooked, and Ozborne, a prince, but not an heir. As their talents and power grow, a triangle appears – though not in the way you’d expect.

Riddled with falling ash, its people barely struggling to survive, the tight-fisted, mysterious Lord Ruler is the only thing keeping the Final Empire, and the literal world, together. Except, the slave class Skaa don’t see it that way. Desperate to use the potential of the Mistborn, people blessed with extraordinary power, to upend their world, half-Skaa Kelsior takes it upon himself to set things right.

There are four parallel Londons: Grey, Red, White, and Black, and only a few people know about them: the monarch of each world, and the Antari, those with the ability to travel between worlds. Kell, an Antari smuggler from Red London gets more than he bargained for when a non-magical cutpurse from Grey London named Delilah Bard hitches a ride back, and throws his world into sharp relief.

The matriarchal society of Inys has a problem: the queen is without a daughter. This long epic follows 3 women, each capable in their own way, in their struggle to both maintain and improve the places they love. There’s Tan, a trained dragon rider from across the dark sea. There’s Ead, a lady-in-waiting whose alliances with shifty mages are what’s keeping the queen alive and protected. And there’s the powerful and vulnerable Queen Sabran.