FHS Fantasy Fiction for Upper School & Sixth Form by

White = Classics

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

These are the old favourites - the 'I can't believe you haven't read...'!

Purple = Epic High Fantasy

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

These are the epic fantasy series of empire, sword, and sorcery

Red = Standout Young Adult Fantasy

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Some of the most exciting and innovative fantasy is being written for young adults. Here are some to explore!

Green = Magic Schools

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Missing Hogwarts? Head back to school with these great reads...

Blue = Urban Fantasy

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Fantasy with a modern feel grounded in a city

Yellow = Standalone Novels

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Want a great one-off book rather than committing to a series? Here's where to start!

Refresh the page to shuffle the order!

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Will dark magic claim their home? Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her own heart and takes up his work in their village. Her success creates rumours she can turn silver into gold, which attract the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge - and if she fails, she'll die. Yet if she triumphs, it may mean a fate worse than death. And in her desperate efforts to succeed, Miryem unwittingly spins a web which draws in the unhappy daughter of a lord. Irina's father schemes to wed her to the tsar - he will pay any price to achieve this goal. However, the dashing tsar is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of mortals and winter alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and Irina embark on a quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power and love.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a strange book hidden in his university library it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Its pages entrance him with their tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities and nameless acolytes, but they also contain something impossible: a recollection from his own childhood. Determined to solve the puzzle of the book, Zachary follows the clues he finds on the cover - a bee, a key and a sword. They guide him to a masquerade ball, to a dangerous secret club, and finally through a magical doorway created by the fierce and mysterious Mirabel. This door leads to a subterranean labyrinth filled with stories, hidden far beneath the surface of the earth. When the labyrinth is threatened, Zachary must race with Mirabel, and Dorian, a handsome barefoot man with shifting alliances, through its twisting tunnels and crowded ballrooms, searching for the end of his story.

Alif the Unseen by G Willow Wilson

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and a convenient handle to hide behind. The aristocratic woman Alif loves has jilted him for a prince chosen by her parents, and his computer has just been breached by the State s electronic security force, putting his clients and his own neck on the line. Then it turns out his lover s new fiance is the head of State security, and his henchmen come after Alif, driving him underground. When Alif discovers "The Thousand and One Days," the secret book of the jinn, which both he and the Hand suspect may unleash a new level of information technology, the stakes are raised and Alif must struggle for life or death, aided by forces seen and unseen.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

A dark enchantment blights the land in the award-winning Uprooted - a enthralling, mythic fantasy by Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series. Agnieszka loves her village, set deep in a peaceful valley. But the nearby enchanted forest casts a shadow over her home. Many have been lost to the Wood and none return unchanged. The villagers depend on an ageless wizard, the Dragon, to protect them from the forest's dark magic. However, his help comes at a terrible price. One young village woman must serve him for ten years, leaving all they value behind. Agnieszka fears her dearest friend Kasia will be picked at the next choosing, for she's everything Agnieszka is not - beautiful, graceful and brave. Yet when the Dragon comes, it's not Kasia he takes.

Circe by Madeline Miller

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Yet, in the golden halls of gods and nymphs, Circe stands apart, as something separate, something new. With neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and scorned and rejected by her kin Circe is increasingly isolated. Turning to mortals for companionship, she risks defying her father for love, a path that leads her not to the marriage bed but to a discovery of a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft. Banished by Zeus to the remote island of Aiaia, Circe refines her craft, fate entwining her with legends: the messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home. As her power increases and her knowledge grows, so Circe must make the ultimate choice: to decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

Storm Front (Dresden Files 1) by Jim Butcher

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I.Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Harry's business as a private investigator has been quiet lately - so when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, he's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name.Magic - it can get a guy killed.

Rosemary and Rue (October Daye 1) by Seanan McGuire

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The world of Faerie never disappeared; it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival: but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Outsiders from birth, these children spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or in the case of October 'Toby' Daye, rejecting the fae completely. Toby has retreated into a 'normal' life - spending her nights stocking shelves at a San Francisco grocery store and her days asleep in her downtown apartment. But when Countess Evening Winterrose is murdered, Toby finds herself drawn abruptly back into the world she thought she'd left behind. It's going to take everything she's got just to stay alive, and the stakes are higher than anyone has guessed...

The City We Became by N K Jemisin

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Five New Yorkers must band together to defend their city in the first book of a stunning new series by Hugo award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N. K. Jemisin. Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She's got five. But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames... and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love. The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.

A Blade So Black by L L McKinney

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew. Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high maintenance best friend, and school. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she's ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head... literally.

Discount Armageddon (Incryptid 1) by Seanan McGuire

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity - and humanity from them. Meet Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan to pursue her dream career in professional ballroom dance. That is, until talking mice, telepathic mathematicians, and a tangle with the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George, get in her way...

Book of Night by Holly Black

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn't pick, a book she couldn't steal, or a bad decision she wouldn't make. She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie. Now, she's trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight isn't easy. Bartending at a dive, she's still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that her shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. Determined to survive, she's up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world - all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more.

A Deadly Education (Scholomance 1) by Naomi Novik

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered. There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die. El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school. Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it... that is, unless she has no other choice. Wry, witty, endlessly inventive, and mordantly funny - yet with a true depth and fierce justice at its heart - this enchanting novel reminds us that there are far more important things than mere survival.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Simon Snow just wants to relax and savour his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he'll be safe. Simon can't even enjoy the fact that his room-mate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can't stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you're the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savour anything.

House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

He expected nothing. But they gave him everything... Linus Baker leads a quiet life. At forty, he has a tiny house with a devious cat and his beloved records for company. And at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, he's spent many dull years monitoring their orphanages. Then one day, Linus is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment. He must travel to an orphanage where six dangerous children reside, including the Antichrist. There, Linus must somehow determine if they could bring on the end of days. But their guardian, charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, will do anything to protect his wards. As Arthur and Linus grow ever closer, Linus must choose between duty and his dreams.

Ninth House (Alex Stern 1) by Leigh Bardugo

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Galaxy 'Alex' Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. A dropout and the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved crime, Alex was hoping for a fresh start. But a free ride to one of the world's most prestigious universities was bound to come with a catch. Alex has been tasked with monitoring the mysterious activities of Yale's secret societies - well-known haunts of the rich and powerful. Now there's a dead girl on campus and Alex seems to be the only person who won't accept the neat answer the police and campus administration have come up with for her murder.

Because Alex knows the secret societies are far more sinister and extraordinary than anyone ever imagined. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And sometimes they prey on the living...

Sabriel by Garth Nix

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Who will guard the living when the dead arise? Sabriel is sent as a child across the Wall to the safety of a school in Ancelstierre. Away from magic; away from the Dead. After receiving a cryptic message from her father, 18-year-old Sabriel leaves her ordinary school and returns across the Wall into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands - for her father is none other than The Abhorson. His task is to lay the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him - and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father's title and duties - to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible challenges whilst discovering her own supernatural abilities - and her destiny.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - the world's only totally reliable guide to the future, written in 1655, before she exploded - the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea... People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it's only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons - well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel - would quite like the Rapture not to happen. Oh, and someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist...

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

When the beautiful Buttercup learns that her only love Westley’s ship has been captured by the terrible Dread Pirate Roberts, she is devastated. Around the corner, however, is heir to the throne Prince Humperdink, utterly smitten by Buttercup. Before their marriage can be consummated, however, Buttercup is kidnapped by a trio of masked men, pursued by a mysterious masked man in black. Who is this individual, and what may tie him to Buttercup’s heartbreak?

What follows is screenwriter William Goldman’s pitch-perfect comic fantasy, brimming with character, invention, and a twist of very sharp satire. Based on the time-honoured form of an abridgement of an existing (but entirely fictional) text by a certain ‘S. Morgenstern’, William Goldman’s The Princess Bride artfully folds high adventure, laughs, pathos and a brilliant meta-narrative into one of the great comic novels of the 20th century.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The Borderlands aren't like anywhere else. Don't try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border - unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and - best of all as far as Elliot is concerned - mermaids. Elliot is thirteen years old. He's smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands. It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there's Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there's her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There's even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world.

The Magician's Guild (Black Magician book 1) by Trudi Canavan

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Each year the magicians of Imardin gather together to purge the city streets of vagrants, urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe. Sonea, angry, frustrated and outraged by the treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who bear witness, the stone passes unhindered through the barrier and renders a magician unconscious. The guild's worst fear has been realised... There is an untrained magician loose on the streets. She must be found before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her, and the city that is her home.

Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer book 1) by Robin Hobb

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child's name is Fitz, and his is despised. Raised in the castle stables, only the company of the king's fool, the ragged children of the lower city and his unusual affinity with animals provide Fitz with any comfort. To be useful to the crown, Fitz is trained as an assassin; and to use the traditional magic of the Farseer family. But his tutor, allied to another political faction, is determined to discredit, even kill him. Fitz must survive: for he may be destined to save the kingdom. [Fantasy Spinner]

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard book 1) by Scott Lynch

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumour. And they are wrong on every count. Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards. Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city. But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming. A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora ...

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost book 1) by C. L. Clark

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought. Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale. In a political fantasy unlike any other, debut author C. L. Clark spins an epic tale of rebellion, espionage, and military might on the far outreaches of a crumbling desert empire.

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller chronicle book 1) by Patrick Rothfuss

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me. So begins the tale of Kvothe - currently known as Kote, the unassuming innkeeper - from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, through his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe the notorious magician, the accomplished thief, the masterful musician, the dragon-slayer, the legend-hunter, the lover, the thief and the infamous assassin.

The Grace of Kings (Dandelion dynasty book 1) by Ken Liu

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Emperor Mapidere was the first to unite the island kingdoms of Dara under a single banner. But now the emperor is on his deathbed, his people are exhausted by his vast, conscriptive engineering projects and his counsellors conspire only for their own gain. Even the gods themselves are restless. A wily, charismatic bandit and the vengeance-sworn son of a deposed duke cross paths as they each lead their own rebellion against the emperor's brutal regime. Together, they will journey to the heart of the empire; witnessing the clash of armies, fleets of silk-draped airships, magical books and shapeshifting gods. Their unlikely friendship will drastically change the balance of power in Dara... but at what price?

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy book 1) by N K Jemisin

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky - a palace above the clouds where gods' and mortals' lives are intertwined. There, to her shock, Yeine is named one of the potential heirs to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history. But it's not just mortals who have secrets worth hiding and Yeine will learn how perilous the world can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably.

The Poppy War by R F Kuang

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

A brilliantly imaginative epic fantasy debut, inspired by the bloody history of China's twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic. When Rin aced the Keju - the test to find the most talented students in the Empire - it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn't believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin's guardians, who had hoped to get rich by marrying her off; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free from a life of servitude. That she got into Sinegard - the most elite military school in Nikan - was even more surprising. But surprises aren't always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Fighting the prejudice of rival classmates, Rin discovers that she possesses a lethal, unearthly power - an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of psychoactive substances and a seemingly insane teacher, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive - and that mastering these powers could mean more than just surviving school.

Babel by R F Kuang

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Oxford, 1836. The city of dreaming spires. It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world. And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows. Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift. Until it became a prison... but can a student stand against an empire? An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams - but he can't pull it off alone. A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction - if they don't kill each other first.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Once an enchanted land, Orïsha’s magic vanished without trace, leaving those who wielded it enslaved to a ruthless king. But now magic is returning and one girl has the chance to turn the tide… The daughter of a great maji, Zélie Adebola remembers a time when magic flowed through the land and through the bones of the summoners. With her white hair, the mark of the gods, she is marked as one of the ibawi – the divine - those with the potential for power. When a chance encounter brings her face to face with a rogue princess escaping from the palace with an object of immense significance, Zélie finds herself on a mission to restore what was stolen from her people and claim her birth right. As Zélie journeys across Orïsha, she discovers a land full of unforeseen dangers: snow leoponaires, avenging spirits and the threat of the crown prince, who will stop at nothing to rid the land of enchantment once and for all.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

In this West African-inspired world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed...

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book. Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own. Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option - the nature of reality itself is at stake.

Legend by Marie Lu

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Los Angeles, California. Republic of America. He is Day. The boy who walks in the light. She is June. The girl who seeks her brother's killer. On the run and undercover, they meet by chance. Irresistably drawn together, neither knows the other's past. But Day murdered June's brother. And she has sworn to avenge his death.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal. As Jude grows older, she realises that she will need to take part in the dangerous deceptions of the fey to ever truly belong. But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan... Dramatic and thrilling fantasy blends seamlessly with enthralling storytelling to create a fully realised and seductive world, brimful of magic and romance.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is an ordinary teenager, who likes hanging out in Brooklyn with her friends. But everything changes the night she witnesses a murder, committed by a group of teens armed with medieval weaponry. The murderous group are Shadowhunters, secret warriors dedicated to driving demons out of this dimension and back into their own. Drawn inexorably into a terrifying world, Clary slowly begins to learn the truth about her family - and the battle for the fate of the world.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways; yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. A woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible attack by an enemy general wanders into the desert, hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the colour of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different - special - she names her Onyesonwu, which means `Who fears death?' in an ancient language. It doesn't take long for Onye to understand that she is physically and socially marked by the circumstances of her conception. She is Ewu - a child of rape who is expected to live a life of violence, a half-breed rejected by her community. But Onye is not the average Ewu. Even as a child, she manifests the beginnings of a remarkable and unique magic. As she grows, so do her abilities, and during an inadvertent visit to the spirit realm, she learns something terrifying: someone powerful is trying to kill her. Desperate to elude her would-be murderer and to understand her own nature, she embarks on a journey in which she grapples with nature, tradition, history, true love, and the spiritual mysteries of her culture, and ultimately learns why she was given the name she bears: Who Fears Death.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The dream chooses the dreamer. Since he was five years old, Lazlo Strange has been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to go in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself - in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever. What happened in Weep to cut it off from the world? What did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving? The answers await in Weep, but so do many more mysteries - including the blue-skinned goddess who visits Lazlo's dreams...

Burn by Patrick Ness

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

"On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron Gas Station for the dragon he'd hired to help on the farm." This dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye. Sarah can't help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn't have a soul but is seemingly intent on keeping her safe from the brutal attentions of Deputy Sheriff Emmett Kelby. Kazimir knows something she doesn't. He has arrived at the farm because of a prophecy. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents - and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself.

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

This is the story of a great love - a love that will threaten worlds and anger Gods. This is a story that will change history. Simidele is one of the Mami Wata, mermaids duty-bound to collect the souls of those who die at sea and bless their journeys back home to the Supreme Creator. But when a living boy is thrown overboard a slave ship, Simi saves his life, going against an ancient decree and bringing terrible danger to the mami wata. Now Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends - a journey of vengeful gods, treacherous lands and legendary creatures. If she fails, she risks not just the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

It begins with a girl and her daemon. The girl is Lyra Belacqua, an orphan who lives in a place like, and yet unlike, Oxford in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Yet for Lyra, her world is about climbing the rooftops of the Oxford colleges with her friend Roger, enthralling the neighbourhood children with her tales and keeping out of the way of the scholars of Jordan College. Then children start to go missing, snatched mysteriously by a group the children call ‘The Gobblers’. When Roger is taken, Lyra founds herself bound up in a dangerous chase, a daring game of cat-and-mouse that sees her on the run from the highest authorities. It is a hunt that will take her far from Oxford, to high-society London and the home of the mysterious and beautiful Mrs Coulter and beyond, to the home of the witches and the kingdom of the ice bears where the aurora awaits. Here Lyra’s quest for answers becomes a mission to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust and there are secrets too, about her own family, about a prophecy, about betrayal and about the universe; secrets that come at a deadly cost.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K LeGuin

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The first book of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows. The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him - with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J R R Tolkien

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power - the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring - the ring that rules them all - which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

In the beginning there was...a turtle. Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. Particularly as it's carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc's very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world's first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. Unfortunately, the person charged with maintaining that survival in the face of robbers, mercenaries and, well, Death, is a spectacularly inept wizard... [Pratchett Spinner]

Terry Pratchett Guide

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Wondering how to begin reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels? Here's our guide! (Click to enlarge)

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived. Zafira is the Hunter. Forced to disguise herself as a man, she risks everything to provide for her people.
Nasir is the Prince of Death. A feared assassin who is forever bound to the command of his father, the sultan.

Both are legends in their kingdom - but neither wants to be. And when Zafira embarks on a dangerous quest to return magic to their suffering land, Nasir is sent on a similar mission. But as their journey unfolds, an anvient evil begins to stir...

A Master of Djinn by P Djèlí Clark

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha'arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she's certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer. So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, Al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world fifty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be Al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage. Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city - or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems...

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death.

When Laia's grandparents are brutally murdered and her brother arrested for treason by the empire, the only people she has left to turn to are the rebels. But in exchange for their help in saving her brother, they demand that Laia spy on the ruthless Commandant of Blackcliff, the Empire's greatest military academy. Should she fail it's more than her brother's freedom at risk... Laia's very life is at stake. There, she meets Elias, the academy's finest soldier. But Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he's being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined - and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

The rich and the privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways -- farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother. She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Magids look after all worlds, steer them towards magic, and keep history happening. But Rupert Venables' mentor has just died, and as the junior magid on earth he has to find a replacement while also trying to find the lost heir of a collapsing empire, worlds away. Rupert interweaves the fate lines to get all the candidates together at a sci-fi fantasy convention, and havoc ensues as they all converge on a very strange hotel, where everything is always linked, the walls keep moving, people are trying to kill him, and nothing is as it seems... a magical, epic story from the Godmother of fantasy.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Only the most powerful and honorable will be chosen. Teo, the seventeen-year-old trans son of the goddess of birds, isn’t worried. As a Jade, it’s unlikely he’ll be chosen to compete in the Trials, and even if his best friend Niya competes, she’s a born-and-bred Gold semidiós with unparalleled abilities. But for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses not one, but two Jade competitors: Teo – and Xio, the thirteen-year-old child of the god of bad luck. With the odds stacked against them, Teo is determined to get himself and his friends through the trials unscathed – for fame, glory, and their own survival

A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab

FHS_Library — 2025-04-23 07:21:38 UTC

Most people only know one London; but what if there were several? Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel Londons. There's Grey London, dirty and crowded and without magic, home to the mad king George III. There's Red London, where life and magic are revered. Then, White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. But once upon a time, there was Black London...