• Genre Guide
  • Staff-Created List

Fantasy - Teens

Fancy being transported to another world? Or to discover new mysteries or secrets in our own? Are you worried about the old gods rising? Then come and peruse some of our recommendations of what to read. This list is loosely ordered from ‘light’ to ‘gritty’ reads. A Christchurch City Libraries’ list.

Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi

23 items

  • A quirky adventure set in a faraway-yet-familiar land, 'Howl's Moving Castle' draws you in with sensible protagonist Sophie, who has been cursed to look as old as she behaves. With plenty of twists and turns, this story is sure to delight.…
    BookNew York : Greenwillow Books, c1986. — OLDER FICTION
  • A classic fantasy adventure. Will has been chosen to train to become a Ranger - a mysterious guild proficient in fighting and surveillance. He has to use his hard-won abilities and dry wit to survive the dark forces that are afoot. Fans of…
    BookRandom House Australia, 2004. — OLDER FICTION
  • With ten, chunky books in the series, this is a fantasy packed with world-building and characters you'll fall in love with. Twelve-year old Sophie Foster has kept her telepahy a secret, that is until she meets Fitz. Sophie's memory holds a…
    BookAladdin, 2013, c2012. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • This fantasy staple is heavily based in storytelling from 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars' (minus the sci-fi). When Eragon finds a dragon egg, and causes it to hatch, he is thrown into a world of wonder - and danger. With his new best…
    BookNew York : Alfred A. Knopf, c2003. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • What if the contents of Jacob's grandfather's book is real? Filled with creative characters and gripping plot twists, this fantasy read is X-Men meets post-war history. A win for anyone who is a fan of interesting characters and action. …
    BookPhiladelphia : Quirk Books, c2011. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • Fantasy, adventure, interesting characters. Sabriel is on an epic quest to find her father who has mysteriously disappeared while trying to do his job as an Abhorson, a necromancer who's job it is to put the dead to rest. There's epic…
    BookCrows Nest, New South Wales : Allen & Unwin, 2021. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • Discover the Grishaverse with the first in this action-packed series. During an ill-fated military crossing of the Fold, Alina saves her childhood friend, Mal, from the Fold's monsters and discovers she's a Grisha. The lives of the Grisha…
    BookNew York : Henry Holt, 2012. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • A fantasy staple for everyone! Fitz is - to put it literally - a royal bastard. But when the royal family decide to adopt him in he's thrown into a world of lessons on manners, writing and assassination. Hobb excels at weaving plotlines…
    BookLondon : Harper Voyager, [2013] — FANTASY
  • For fans of 'The Golden Compass', this fantasy epic tells the story of Malcolm and his daemon Asta, who are thrown into a deep and dark plot involving theocratic extremists, unlikely friendships, and a baby called Lyra. With lots of twists…
    BookLondon : David Fickling Books in association with Penguin, 2017. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • Yelena is given a choice: become the poison taster for Commander Ambrose, or face execution. This fantasy novel offers excellent writing, hilarious and lovable side characters, and (outlawed) magic! Also available as an eBook.
    BookSydney : Harlequin Mira, 2011. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • Join Worstley (like the sauce, and that hero from 'The Princess Bride') on his rather humourous and not quite straight-forward adventure as the Chosen One. If you're after a laugh, a varied cast of genre-parodying characters and a goat…
    BookNew York : Del Rey, [2018] — FANTASY
  • The Way of Kings

    Book One of The Stormlight Archive. Part One

    Sanderson, Brandon, 1975-
    Brandon Sanderson writes multiple in-depth characters in beautifully crafted worlds, and 'The Way of Kings' is no different. Follow the stories of Dalinar, Kaladin and Shallan as their lives unfold and interweave, despite their drastically…
    BookLondon : Gollancz, 2010. — FANTASY
  • A wonderful historical fantasy, set at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, and her chief weapon is, in fact, surprise. Royal concubine Fatima is friends with Hassan - the palace mapmaker, who holds an awe-inspiring gift: his maps can…
    BookNew York : Grove Press, 2019. — FANTASY
  • Mulan meets Project Runway in this duology inspired by Chinese mythology. When Maia's ailing father is summoned to court to tailor, she goes in his stead, knowing that being discovered pretending to be a boy is a death-sentence. What…
    BookAlfred A. Knopf, c2019. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • Raybearer' is packed with warring powers, betrayal, and heart-wrenching relationships. If Tarisai gains a place on the Crown Prince Council's of 11, she'll finally have the family she's longed for when she's bound to the Council members…
    BookLondon : Hot Key Books, 2020. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • A lyrical fantasy novel set in historical roots. Nannerl is the unsung prodigy, sitting in the shadow of her brother, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Her father has made it clear she's only allowed to perform until she's of marriageable age, and…
    BookNew York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, [2020] — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • This is the perfect fantasy series for readers of 'The Hunger Games' and 'Divergent'. There are elements of dystopia as the world is divided into Reds and Silvers, with Silvers possessing special powers. here's a strong female lead, Mare,…
    BookLondon : Orion, 2015. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • This is a vibrant and fresh fantasy series inspired by ancient Arabia. Zafira the Hunter and Nasir, the Prince of Death, find themselves on the same quest across the desert in search for a magical artefact for opposing reasons. These…
    BookNew York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • The Court of Faeries is a dark and dangerous place, especially for humans. Despite being shunned for her mortality, Jude wants nothing more than to live as one of them, ever since she was brought there when she was seven years old.…
    BookLondon : Hotkey Books, 2018. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • In an alternate future earth that has magic, Noam survives a terribly spell gone wrong and becomes a technopath, someone who can control technology. Transported from unwanted refugee to magical elite, Noam is taught by the minister of…
    BookSkyscape, c2019. — YOUNG ADULT FICTION