Portal Fantasy Books That Will Transport You to Another World
Portal fantasy is a subgenre within fantasy that involves places or symbols that represent a portal or passageway to other worlds and dimensions. This includes Asian magical realism where cafes and cats dazzle their main characters and sentient forests that hold special powers and secrets from the outside world. Portal fantasy books deliver a delightful level of escapism and adventure. While there are lighthearted portal fantasies, this subgenre can also get pretty dark. Horror, sci-fi, and paranormal themes are common in portal fantasies because, let’s face it, traveling to another dimension can be terrifying. This list of portal fantasy books ranges from epic high fantasies with monsters to cozy fantasies with cats. There is no wrong way to start a portal fantasy and these titles will keep you coming back for more.
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Add to BookshelfThe Lost Story
by Meg Shaffer
Follow the journey of two friends as their lives are turned upside down after they visit a state park in West Virginia. It’s the end of the school year and Jeremy and Rafe intended to enjoy their last field trip together at the Red Crow State Forest. However, the boys never reunited with their classmates and were later considered lost. After several weeks of searching, they were considered missing, but months later they reappeared. Now as adults, Jeremy has found success as a missing persons’ investigator with paranormal abilities, while his longtime friend Rafe, is an artist who still harbors the wounds from when he disappeared in the forest. Together, they travel back to the forest where their lives changed to help find a friend another missing.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Book That Broke the World
by Mark Lawrence
Part of The Library Trilogy, this portal fantasy pushes the imagination by blending drama and philosophical intrigue. Athenaeum is a powerful library created by Irad, who is the direct descendant of Adam and Eve. The library has collected everything mankind has created including memories and other species that are not human. Similar to their grandfather and great uncle, Cain and Abel, Irad and his brother Jaspeth find themselves at odds over the library and the knowledge it contains. It becomes a generational battleground that will decide who deserves access to knowledge and who does not.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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An Academy for Liars
by Alexis Henderson
Not every portal fantasy involves a mysterious or magical wormhole, sometimes an antiquated elevator will suffice. Henderson shares a dark, portal fantasy academia where the art of persuasion is the ultimate power. Lennon is tired of living in the shadow of her fiance, but as she experiences more mental breakdowns she is finding herself torn between realities. When she gets accepted into a secretive academy to pursue her graduate degree, she discovers she possesses a dangerous skill that only a few possess. Now, she’s surrounded by peers and professors who don’t believe she has what it takes to succeed while actively trying to sabotage her chances.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Water Moon
by Samantha Sotto Yambao
Here’s a whimsical, cozy, portal fantasy where a pawn shop masquerading as a ramen restaurant transforms into a haven for those who are guiltridden. When Hana awakens, she is the new owner of this magical shop but learns that it has been looted and her father is missing. As she tries to process her new reality, a delightful and charming stranger enters and offers his help taking Hana by surprise. Together, they travel to strange, yet vibrant worlds where the stars in the sky transform into friendly kites that will deliver an immersive world perfect for Studio Ghibli fans.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Space Between Worlds
by Micaiah Johnson
For a more adventurous portal fantasy read, this cross-dimensional saga will you hooked. Now that everyone has access to multiverse traveling, everyone is ecstatic to use it. But there is one rule everyone must follow: travelers are prohibited from visiting worlds where they are still alive. For Cara, that isn’t a big obstacle because she’s died in hundreds of worlds already. However, there is an alternate Earth where Cara’s doppelganger exists making her the perfect candidate because she is deemed expendable. As she accepts her new life, she is removed from her community which is filled with poverty and despair, and moves to Wiley City; an upscale area that operates as a gated community.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry
by Ransom Riggs
If you are looking for a portal fantasy for readers of all ages, then this slightly absurdist, yet daring sci-fi fantasy follows Leopold Berry who is only a teen when he realizes that his reality mimics his favorite television show, Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld. Leopold, who lost his mother at 12, unearths a vintage VHS cassette set of one season of the show. Since finding it, he has used the show as a way to grieve his mother. But those episodes are now blurring his reality. In desperate need of help, he reaches out to his best friend Emmet. Together, they travel through a mesmerizing and lively Los Angeles to find ways to save this fantasy world.
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$14.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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First Contact
by Kim Harrison
Dive into this new portal, paranormal fantasy where a solar eclipse has triggered a mysterious portal that scientist Dr. Renee Caisson is committed to learning all about. She finds herself caught between her ambiguous government and an attractive Major. Dr. Caisson is studying a project called “Neighbors” which involves the aliens that landed during the last solar eclipse. Her objective is to confirm if the beings can harm humans but as she learns more about them, the more she understands that these foreign beings only want to survive. With this knowledge, Dr. Caisson tries her best to communicate this data to her government, but they want to pry more aggressively on the subjects.
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A Curse of Krakens
by Kevin Hearne
In the conclusion of the Seven Kennings series, this high fantasy combines a mix of political machinations, magic, and history for an unforgettable tale of war, giants, and the downfall of humankind. In this world, only a select few are given the power of the Kennings: the ability to control one of the four elements of mother nature. The conclusion splits between characters with points of view from both the past and present as new Kennings cities emerge. Several colorful characters make this an epic high fantasy for portal fantasy lovers who love worldbuilding and hearty storytelling.
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$9.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Full Moon Coffee Shop
by Mai Mochizuki
Dive into a charming and heartfelt magical fantasy where cats are a divine symbol. Set in Japan, it is understood that being kind to cats can give you good luck. However, if you are kind to a magical cat, you will get invited to a mysterious cafe where time or location doesn’t exist. This invitation is reserved for those who are at a crossroads in their lives. Inside this cafe, the baristas are all talking cats. Those who accept the offer get an opportunity to relax and unwind while they eat delectable treats and sip on tea while the cats help counsel them through their growing pains.
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$24.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Rainfall Market
by You Yeong-Gwang
In this portal fantasy, people down on their luck can send a letter detailing their misfortunes to an abandoned house near Rainbow Town. If their letter is accepted, they will receive a special ticket granting access to the Rainfall Market. At the Rainfall Market, you can change your entire life. When Serin receives a ticket, she is relieved because she is down-and-out and has no other options. Once Serin arrives at the magical market she meets her tour guide: a cat named Issha. Together, they walk around, shop, and pamper themselves as Issha tries to get Serin to determine what her perfect life would look like.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
