Moving on from Harry Potter

[suz7065]

My soon to be 10 year old son is re-reading the Potter books for the 3rd time. He says he can t find anything else so enjoyable to read. Does anyone have any ideas for other books in the same vein as Rowling's series.
Many thanks

[piprabbit]

He could try the Earthsea Chronicles.
Or some Terry Pratchett.

[Takver]

The Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones - definitely similar in feel to the earlier Potter books I would say. Charmed Life is the best one to start with.

Maybe Susan Coopers 'The Dark is Rising' series (doesn't have the funny bits that Potter does, though)

sure there are others that would hit the spot, will ask dd :)

[zeus123]

Percy Jackson series. Dd is on deathly hallows but has read the first book in the Percy Jackson series and loves it as well.

[ragged]

Lemony Snicket, StormRider.

[madamehooch]

Charlie Bone.

[ragged]

Connor Clover series (3 books by Helen O-(something African sounding), Warrior Cats (Erin Hunter).

[ragged]

Is 11 too old for BeastQuest?
And what about the dragonriders of Pern? Oldies but goodies, literally dozens of them.
Did anyone mention Ursula LeGuin, or off to real Science fiction, like Isaac Asimov.

[jeee]

Philip Pullman - Northern Lights? Though I preferred The Ruby in the Smoke. But anyway, extremely good writer. And The Power of Five, Antony Horowitz. That's as well as the Alex Rider books.

You could try The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, though I have to say my two eldest dutifully ploughed through them and were distinctly underwhelmed.

Diana Wyn Jones writes very funny fantasy books, too.

[Takver]

Yes, Charlie Bone, of course.

Dragon riders of Pern are great, but IIRC they might be a bit old (quite a bit of sex in them I think?)

[ragged]

Is there a lot of sex in them? Must go back and have a look.
11yo DS just read & quite enjoyed "All Things Great and Small" (James Heriott anthology), but I hadn't realised it has a fair few swear words in it! .

[GrimmaTheNome]

ragged: I shocked my brother when I was a young teen after reading Herriot, by quite innocently using the word 'bugger' - as in 'tha daft owd bugger' when addressing a cow

I had no idea what it meant, well how could I as I'd only seen it applied to a female animal? I think in context its just a Yorkshire idiom not a swear word.

[jenroy29]

Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage

[quirkydragon]

Agree with Diana Wynne Jones:

The Chrestomanci series:
Charmed Life
Witch Week
The Magicians Of Caprona
The Lives of Christoper Chant
Conrad's Fate
The Pinhoe Egg

Also

The Ogre Downstairs - a very unusual chemistry set causes amazing things to happen to the kids in the book - I especially loved the bit where the toffee bars come to life!

Howl's Moving Castle
Castle In The Air
House Of Many Ways

are all set in a world with 'fairy-tale' type devices - seven league boots,magic carpets, genies etc, but done in a very original and funny way.

Archer's Goon is about Howard who discovers their town is being run by 'seven megalomaniac wizards' - but they're nothing like the long beard and pointed hat wizards you would normally think of... very funny in places, gripping and a massive twist in it that I didn't see coming when I first read it.

The Power Of Three is a more serious adventure story, with more serious magic.

Also
The Spellcoats
Drowned Ammett
Cart And Cwidder
The Crown Of Dalemark
all set in another world

all set in another world, they have a more serious air about them too.

[schroeder]

I would second Terry Pratchett.

Also I've recently discovered that someone called Michael Scott (I think) has written a series of books about Nicholas Flamel(for anyone not Harry Potter obsessed; he is mentioned as a friend of Dumbledore's early on in the series)

They seem to get good reviews on amazon
HTH

[wilbur]

My Family and Other Animals and other Gerald Durrell books. Does have some bad language but hilarious for that age kids, and beautifully written as well as funny.

[Kitsmum]

What about the Eva Ibbotson books? They are funny, and the Which Witch and Ogre of Oglefoot are good for the younger ages that like the early Harry Potters, whilst the older ones, like Journey to the River Sea, are better for older ones. No swearing, lovely writing, and a bit of humour. The Eleanor Updale Montmorency series are good for kids who like the mystery aspect of the Harry Potter series but aren't that worried about the fantasy and magic dimension. Updale's books are set in the nineteenth century, reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, and you can get them on CD narrated by Stephen Fry (a must for the Potter audio lovers).

[rah425]

My son had the same problem
but has since read and recommends the following

The Chronicles of Narnia C S Lewis
The Wind Singer Trilogy by William Nicholson
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Phillip Pullman Dark Materials trilogy
The Castle of Adventure/Sea of Adventure Enid Blyton
Anthony Horowitz Alex rider series
Holes by Louis Sacchar
Hoot by Carl Hiaasan
Inkheart Cornelia Funke
Z-Rex by Steve Cole
Toms Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce
and anything by Michael Morpugo.
He liked Terry Pratchet and Eva Ibbotson as well
and still loves the Horrible History/science/Geography series.
he still goes back to Harry potter in between though and can probably recite most of them off by heart. Hope that helps.

[Ingles2]

We have exactly the same problem for my 11yr old ds.
I think he always keeps a HP on the go, just for security

Anyone mentioned
The Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan
The Museum's secret by Henry Chancellor
and the 39 Clues by various authors including Rick Riordan. Ds is loving those atm. There is a really good website that goes with.

[purpletiger]

Try The Golden Acorn by Catherine Cooper - which won the Brit Writers award last year. It's a really gripping story and the sequel is due out on 22nd Feb.

[samimole]

My 11 year old has loved reading the Cherub series by Robert Muchamore; he doesn't rate the Henderson Boys books by same author. I haven't read them but am assured they are age appropriate!

[brightspark2]

The new Young Sherlock Holmes series by Andrew Lane is fascinating - takes Sherlock from age 14 at boarding school until he is 23 when the original books start.

My 12yo loved them..Death Cloud and Red Leech are out already and we can't wait for Black Ice! Apparently there is going to be one bok per year of Sherlock's age, like the HP series.

[rachelh27]

You could try The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by alan Garner - an oldie but a goodie. Otherwise I second any Phillip Pullman and also the Septimus Heap series.

[cymruoddicatref]

What about uncle montagues tales of terror? The one when the nasty "fake seance " lady ends up trapped in the dolls house forever realty got me .... Although he should have stopped at volume one, as the next two volumes were tedious.

[Ilovetoread]

What about Michael Morpugo?

[DRT]

My boys loved the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer at that age and, as a primary school teacher, I am really impressed by the vocabulary and how it encourages boys imaginative writing.