I once saw a reviewer downgrade a historical fantasy novel because they said, “history would be different if there was really magic”. They argued that we wouldn’t have had things like the Industrial Revolution or the Victorian era if magic existed. Obviously. Reviews like this, I think, miss the point of historical fantasy. At its best, historical fantasy takes some element of our past, holds it up to the light, and asks, “How would this be affected if certain people had magic?”, and so we get stories where the existence of dragons makes us question the standard narrative of British imperialism at the beginning of the nineteenth century, or where the re-emergence of old magic changes the center of global power at the end of the nineteenth century. We also get a lot of fun and interesting stories with fascinating characters. So if you’re curious about our alternate magical pasts, here are ten novels that let you explore some strange old worlds.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (The Winternight Trilogy #1) In medieval Russia, in the forests far north of Moscow, the winters last most of the year and the snow piles up as high as the rooftops. Vasilisa and her siblings grow up with their nurse’s old stories like the one of Frost, the blue-eyed demon of winter who appears in the night and takes away the unwary. Wise people take heed to the warnings in the old stories, but as a new religion creeps into the forests the people begin to turn away from them. Especially Vasilisa’s new step-mother and the priest sent to preach in the church. Vasilisa knows it is perilous to ignore the old ways, and her concerns are proven true when crops begin to fail and the village is threatened by strange creatures from legend. To save her people, Vasilisa must defy the ones she loves best and trust the gifts she has been concealing to save her family from the monsters from her nurse’s stories.
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #1) Captain Will Laurence has served with honor in His Majesty’s Navy during the wars against Napoleon, but when he and the crew of his ship capture a French frigate carrying a rare dragon’s egg that begins to hatch soon after it is brought on board. The baby dragon, Temerarie, bonds with Laurence, and he must leave his naval career and join England’s Aerial Corps where he is trained to fight with dragons– a dangerous prospect that puts him in company with the outcasts of the British military. Fending off Napoleon’s army is hard enough, but Laurence’s problems are compounded when the Chinese government learns that their Imperial dragon— Temeraire himself, who was meant for Napoleon— ended up in British hands. Laurence and Temeraire are summoned to China to face the emperor and explain what happened in order to defend their country and their friendship from forces that would tear them apart.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Once upon a time, English magicians were the most powerful in the world, with the ability to command the weather, shape the earth itself, and summon fairies as servants. But by the dawn of the 1800s, the power of English magicians is a faded memory. At Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, however, the reclusive Mr. Norrell believes he has found the secrets of England’s magic in the library he has collected. Rumor of his powers makes him the talk of the peerage as he comes to London and displays incredible magic by raising a young woman from the dead and creating ghostly fleets to aid England against the French. Everything is great for Mr. Norrell until the charismatic Jonathan Strange appears and shows off his own ability to perform wild and incredible magic. Reluctantly, Mr. Norrell takes Strange on as a student, but it soon becomes clear that the two have wildly different ideas about the direction English magic should take. Mr. Norrell is reserved and wants magic to be limited, while Strange is attracted to the wildest powers. Soon, he finds himself entranced by the mysterious Raven King, whose power is vast and motives unknown. If Mr. Norrell cannot find a way to pull Strange back from the brink, the powers they unleash could destroy everything they hold dear.
Gorse by Sam K. Horton (The Eythin Legacy #1) In the late eighteenth century, the people of the Cornish village of Mirecoombe have long followed the advice of their Keeper, the ancient and battle-scarred Pelagius Hunt who has protected them from the dangerous fae folk who lurk in the moors. But times are changing, and the villagers are starting to turn away from Pel and look instead to Reverend Cleaver’s fiery sermons in the little church. But far from the church, Pel’s assistant Nancy Bligh is struggling to maintain the balance between the human and fae worlds even as she struggles with the natural power in her blood. As matters fall further out of balance, death begins to stalk the moors and darkness begins to fall over Mirecoombe.
Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce Phee St. Margaret is the daughter of wealthy parents in the Reconstruction Era city of New Charleston. She longs to live life on her own terms, away from her mother, who coddles Phee but won’t allow her to go out and experience the world. When a message arrives informing the family of the death of their estranged Aunt Cleo, Phee decides that she will pomp for her aunt and arrange the funeral service on her own. Despite her mother’s objections, Phee travels hours away to the little town of Horizon where Aunt Cleo lived. There, she discovers that Aunt Cleo had a lovely home and was beloved by members of the community. Despite the coziness of the house, though, Phee discovers that not all is as it seems, and restless spirits have plenty to say when their lives have been cut short.
As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow brought into being by reckless people who bit off more than they could chew. As the decades of her life stretch into centuries, she makes bargains with desperate people in order to devour the souls she lives on. Then, in 1592, she comes across the brilliant soul of Sybil Harding, the daughter of a noble English family. Sybil is a First Daughter, condemned by a family curse to have powers that make her powerful while sentencing everyone she loves to dire misfortune. When events bring Sybil to her most desperate hour, Miriam offers her a bargain, which sets off a chase through the centuries as Sybil is reincarnated again and again, with Miriam always chasing after her.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett Emily Wilde is a scholar who wants nothing more than to be left alone to study faeries and the lore surrounding them. She has a comfortable enough life as a Cambridge scholar and professor, but she doesn’t work well with other people. When she and her loyal dog Shadow arrive at the hardscrabble northern village of Hrafnsvik to study the Fair Folk of the region, Emily clashes with the villagers. Her troubles only increase when her academic rival, Wendell Brambleby arrives and takes up lodging in the little house she’s renting without even asking her. Despite all this, Emily sets out to find the Fair Folk to continue her work. She gets more than she bargained for, however, and soon discovers that she will need allies among the townsfolk she’s written off. What’s worse, is that she’ll have to work side by side with Wendell, whose charismatic surface covers up a mysterious and dangerous past.
The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan In 1785, Professor Sebastien Grave receives terrible news: The legendary Beast of Gevaudan has returned to terrorize the French countryside, and he is being summoned to face the Beast once more. As a centuries-old monster hunter with a demonic spirit named Sarmodel living in his mind, Sebastien is no stranger to unearthly creatures. But the Beast is beyond anything he or Sarmodel had encountered before. As he and the messenger return to Gevaudan, Sebastien recounts the events of the bloody Red Winter of 1765. As the stories of 1765 and 1785 begin to intertwine, we travel back to the 1400s to the rise of Joan of Arc and discover how it all began.
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark In the United States in the 1910s, the Klan is riding high thanks to the premiere of the racist film The Birth of a Nation. But here, the Klan does more than instigate racial hatred in its members– it turns them into actual monsters who spread fear across the states in their bid for supremacy to complete their own goal of bringing Hell to Earth. Maryse Boudreaux and a group of battle-hardened resistance fighters have always pushed back against the Klan’s incursions, but when they unearth a Klan conspiracy, they find they have one chance to defeat their enemies forever. If they fail, the Klan will devour everyone and plunge the world into unending chaos.
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark In the latter half of the nineteenth century, a mystic and prophet brought magic back into the world. This changed the course of destiny for the world and brought Cairo to the forefront of the world’s great cities. Now, in 1912, magic is an ordinary thing and people have grown accustomed to otherworldly beings existing alongside them. The Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigates magical mysteries and other strange occurrences, and sends Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi to investigate what first appears to be a mundane suicide. As Fatma digs deeper into the death, though, she finds a web of mystery that leads to encounters with ghouls, assassins, and clockwork angels as she unearths a conspiracy that could unravel time itself. Traveling in Books is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Traveling in Books that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments.
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Sunday, 29 March 2026
Ten Historical Fantasy Novels
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Book Review: The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden
A gorgeous historical fantasy at the border of history and legend ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ...
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