What to read after cosmere? Preferbly with hard magic systems!

[Sythrin]

I have read the entirety of the cosmere so far.

Read Cytoverse, Wheel of time, lightbringer, The Will of the many, KingKiller Chronicles, Runelords, Old kingdom.

I have read some manga and manwha as well:

Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, witchhat atelier, Soul eater, fire force, gachikuta, Urban animal, city of blanks.

Can anyone recommend me another hard magic system? Can be book, movie, manga, comic be anything. 
I was recommend „lord of mysteries“ but not too sure on webnovels.

[Treamayne]

38 minutes ago, Sythrin said:

Here or in the threat.
Also, in the threat I have not seen suggestions for alternative media works.

Thread?

The What are you reading Thread is for discussing your current reads, and any positive or negative feedback you may have (you can also search that thread for a book you are considering - to see what others have thought)

Quote

Like manga and webnovel or am I just missing it?
Also is there a category for hard magic system?

If you mean the Recommended Reading Thread - there is a section for WebSerial in the second post. 

There is not a Manga/Manhwa section because nobody has posted a recommendation for one in the thread (Post one shows the requested info for submitting a recommendation - then just post a rec to the thread and I update it to the first page)
- Quote boxes there will show who made the recommendation, so if you have a question about a rec you can reply to their post, or PM the person for more info. 
- As for Hard/Soft Fantasy, the descriptions will mention that for each item, if the person recommending the book/series defined that. For those I have personally read, I can add that info if it is lacking. 

The whole idea of the thread was for it to be a community recommendation list, not my personal list (which is why I limit how many I add myself). 

Any feedback in how the information is presented is welcome, just post in the thread with your thoughts (if you read the thread, you can see how we discussed things like how to separate Fantasy sections when that was getting too long in one spoiler box). A community resource needs community discussion - I just try to keep the first page updated to make it easy for everybody to find what has been suggested (and what may be missing) - because threads like "What am I reading" are great for searching out info on a book you know about, but far too long and unwieldy for finding something new, or comparing options side-by-side (at least that was my thought when I started the thread). 

Hope that helps.

Edited July 9, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, Sythrin said:

I have read the entirety of the cosmere so far.

Read Cytoverse, Wheel of time, lightbringer, The Will of the many, KingKiller Chronicles, Runelords, Old kingdom.

I have read some manga and manwha as well:

Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, witchhat atelier, Soul eater, fire force, gachikuta, Urban animal, city of blanks.

Can anyone recommend me another hard magic system? Can be book, movie, manga, comic be anything. 
I was recommend „lord of mysteries“ but not too sure on webnovels.

We have a one-stop-shop for giving and checking out Recommended Reads - Sorted by Genre (MG/YA at the bottom). Feel free to post if you want to add a rec - but Page 1 (posts 2 and 3) will always have the current list so you do not have to search the thread for ideas. 

 Hard and Semi-hard Systems:

Spoiler

• Fantasy
  • Codex Alera - Jim Butcher
  • Seven Kennings - Kevin Hearne
  • Powder Mage - Brian McClellen
  • Night Angel - Brent Weeks
  • Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
  • Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Age of Fire - E. E. Knight
• Urban Fantasy
  • Jumper - Steven Gould
  • Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
  • Iron Druid - Keven Hearn
• Sci-Fan
  • Red Rising - Pierce Brown
  • The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey - Shawn Speakman
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl (LitRPG~ish)

 

1 hour ago, Celloist said:

Harry Potter and the lord of the rings.

Neither of those are Hard Fantasy. . . But probably already read them. 

Hope that helps

Edited June 21, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[IcedOutPenguin He/Him]

5 hours ago, Sythrin said:

I have read the entirety of the cosmere so far.

Read Cytoverse, Wheel of time, lightbringer, The Will of the many, KingKiller Chronicles, Runelords, Old kingdom.

I have read some manga and manwha as well:

Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, witchhat atelier, Soul eater, fire force, gachikuta, Urban animal, city of blanks.

Can anyone recommend me another hard magic system? Can be book, movie, manga, comic be anything. 
I was recommend „lord of mysteries“ but not too sure on webnovels.

Shieldwall Academy. Its a LitRPG and has a very good magic system that I really liked

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

7 hours ago, Sythrin said:

I have read the entirety of the cosmere so far.

Read Cytoverse, Wheel of time, lightbringer, The Will of the many, KingKiller Chronicles, Runelords, Old kingdom.

I have read some manga and manwha as well:

Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, witchhat atelier, Soul eater, fire force, gachikuta, Urban animal, city of blanks.

Can anyone recommend me another hard magic system? Can be book, movie, manga, comic be anything. 
I was recommend „lord of mysteries“ but not too sure on webnovels.

*you hear ominous music playing*

*a strange figure aproaches you*

You may someday regret saying those words. But alas, they have been said. So, your fate is sealed

*the figure fades into darkness*

*suddenly, a very energetic figure comes running up to you*

*the figure looks 50% elrich god, 59% dragon, and 50% gremlen*

Hellooooooooooooooo

I heard you are looking for a fantasy book recomendation?

I have one for you...

hehehehe

but first

what is your opinion on ebooks/webnovels?

[Sythrin]

6 hours ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

what is your opinion on ebooks/webnovels?

I am open to them. I am currently reading Lord of Mystery, as it was recommended. But i am only chapter 3 so far.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

5 hours ago, Sythrin said:

I am open to them. I am currently reading Lord of Mystery, as it was recommended. But i am only chapter 3 so far.

ORV

[Returned he/him]

The Eternal Sky books by Elizabeth Bear have an interesting setting with a lot of depth and thought put into it, though the magic might be a bit soft for what you're after. The Great Way books by Harry Connolly were also interesting and on par with some of what you've listed in a lot of ways, though again the magic system might be too soft if you're comparing it to the Cosmere.

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, Returned said:

the magic system might be too soft if you're comparing it to the Cosmere.

Almost all magic is soft compared to the Cosmere - but there are many things in the Rithmatist-Reckoners range. 

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

I'd like to recommend the Magic Ex Libris series by Jim C. Hines.

Libriomancy is fun.

[StanLemon]

Mage Errant was a fun read

[Treamayne]

On 6/20/2025 at 7:08 PM, Sythrin said:

Can anyone recommend me another hard magic system?

Don't forget to let us know what you chose, and how you liked it (them). 

[Sythrin]

1 hour ago, Treamayne said:

Don't forget to let us know what you chose, and how you liked it (them). 

Here or in the threat.
Also, in the threat I have not seen suggestions for alternative media works. Like manga and webnovel or am I just missing it?
Also is there a category for hard magic system?

Edited July 9, 2025 by Sythrin

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

2 minutes ago, Sythrin said:

Here or in the threat.
Also, in the threat I have not seen suggestions for alternative media works. Like manga and webnovel or am I just missing it?
Also is there a category for hard magic system?

WEBNOVEL

WEBNOVEL

THIS ONE

PLEASE

READ IT

PLEASE

[Sythrin]

3 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

PLEASE

READ IT

PLEASE

Well I did start reading the series a couple of years ago, the manwha. And while I liked it, it does not covers the same itch as Hardmagic systems of Sanderson or some over works.
Been a while since I read it though. Read as well the other work of the author. "The world after the fall" or something like that. But I thought it was extremely convoulted and was unecessarily confusing to the point that it did not make sense in my opinion and abonded it. But ORV was definetly more appealing even if some story lines seemed a bit strange to me.
Like the Liliputhian arc (tiny people). The premise was cool and I liked it. But I thought it was strange that one random character from that world, was this powerfull magical aritst that could fight against some realy powerfull beings compared to all the other Lilitputhians.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

47 minutes ago, Sythrin said:

Well I did start reading the series a couple of years ago, the manwha. And while I liked it, it does not covers the same itch as Hardmagic systems of Sanderson or some over works.
Been a while since I read it though. Read as well the other work of the author. "The world after the fall" or something like that. But I thought it was extremely convoulted and was unecessarily confusing to the point that it did not make sense in my opinion and abonded it. But ORV was definetly more appealing even if some story lines seemed a bit strange to me.
Like the Liliputhian arc (tiny people). The premise was cool and I liked it. But I thought it was strange that one random character from that world, was this powerfull magical aritst that could fight against some realy powerfull beings compared to all the other Lilitputhians.

please read it

its amazing

it might not have that much of a hard magic system, (no one is as good at that as brandon) but it has an amazing plot, and it has a magic system hard enough to soften the softness

[NerdyAarakocra They/Them]

On 6/20/2025 at 7:08 PM, Sythrin said:

I have read the entirety of the cosmere so far.

Read Cytoverse, Wheel of time, lightbringer, The Will of the many, KingKiller Chronicles, Runelords, Old kingdom.

I have read some manga and manwha as well:

Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, witchhat atelier, Soul eater, fire force, gachikuta, Urban animal, city of blanks.

Can anyone recommend me another hard magic system? Can be book, movie, manga, comic be anything. 
I was recommend „lord of mysteries“ but not too sure on webnovels.

Foundryside and its sequels are good for Cosmere fans. The series feels close enough to the Cosmere, has a hard magic system, and manages to do "magical heist" really well while also burning everything about the entire genre to the ground and building something better in its place.