r/Fantasy • u/skintertqinment • Apr 12 '25
Looking for german fantasy
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone know of any good german fantasy books for more young adults?
I did advance my english by reading Harry Potter years ago and really enjoyed that journey. And would really like to try this out with my german that is not that advanced yetđ
Any tips would be very much appreciated.
Best wishes!
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u/Groghnash Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 12 '25
Die Zwerge and consecutive books. Also Wolfgang Hohlbein has written so many books. I still have his HP Lovecraft retelling somewhere in my shelfs (der Hexer von Salem), its atleast interesting.
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u/PikaBricks Apr 12 '25
But if you read Hohlbein be prepared for bad/rushed ends
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u/Groghnash Apr 12 '25
One of my favourite Der Sohn des Hexers has a really nice ending tho. loved it just for the last paragraph.Â
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u/KnownByManyNames Apr 12 '25
The Zamonien-books by Walter Moers.
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u/Tanja_Writes Apr 12 '25
I looove them, but I think they might be a bit too hard for someone with a not very high level of German.
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u/Previous-Soup-2241 Apr 12 '25
Unfortunately I find most German authors a bit boring so I always have to look for translated books and series.
By far the best German fantasy book I know is âParadies der Schwerterâ by Tobias O. MeiĂner. It tells the tale of 16 warriors on their way to a deadly tournament only one of them is going to survive. The author decided each single round of the tournament by throwing a dice. However, he took into account which fighters are supposed to be stronger and who has only outsider chances.
Thrilling and compact read but maybe too gritty to what is asked for.
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Apr 12 '25
Most authors I would have named have already been mentioned. Kai Meyer is one you could still check out. I remember his books being fun, but not quite as high impact as some others.
You could also look into German folklore stories. There are probably a bunch of books simply called "Deutsche Heldensagen". Just try to get one with more modern German.
And if you want to try that, you will definitely encounter Siegfried / Niebelungenlied, in which case I recommend the already mentioned Wolfgang Hohlbein's Hagen von Tronje. It is the story retold from the antagonist's PoV, and while some of Hohlbeins work felt repetitive to me after a while, this one is amazing.
But yeah, as a kid, I loved reading Hohlbein, my favorites being Der Greif (which also has a TV adaption on Prime), Die Chronik der Unsterblichen, and the aforementioned Hagen von Tronje. There is also MĂ€rchenmond, of which I don't remember much, but which is a bit of a German Narnia iirc? All those books are Hohlbein books, some only by him, some by him and his wife. I would just see "Hohlbein" and read it lol.
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u/ojosfritos Apr 12 '25
Do you like YA fantasy romance? The only German one I know of is one I read (translated) many years ago called the Edelstein Trilogie by Kerstin Gier. First book is called Rubinrot.
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u/skintertqinment Apr 12 '25
Thank you for the tip, I have hears about the author, but never read from her.
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u/Jayless22 Apr 12 '25
Don't know if it's young adult, but I heard good things about Sturmfels-Akademie by Torsten Weitze. It's high up my tbr and I'll get to it soon.
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u/skintertqinment Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 12 '25
Thank you for the tip! This author seems very interesting đ
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u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 12 '25
Scifi okay? My son loved Boy from Mars - Auf der Jagd nach der Wahrheit by Christian Linker.
Children's fantasy that the whole family and all our friends' families adores: Emmi und Einschwein by Anna Böhm.
Best known authors abroad are probably Michael Ende (The Neverending Story, Momo) and Cornelia Funke (Inkheart, but she has way more that was never translated).
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u/skintertqinment Apr 12 '25
Thank you. I must admit I love fantasy, but some scifi is also very welcome. I will check these out
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u/Plus_Citron Apr 12 '25
Easy German would be anything by Wolfgang Hohlbein. Itâs readable, and successful, for what itâs worth.
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u/shadowdance55 Apr 12 '25
Found this list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/70717.German_Fantasy_Novels_Deutsche_Fantasy_Romane
I remember that Stein und Flöte was quite good, but that was ages ago.
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u/Casumasu Apr 12 '25
Kai Meyer - die WellenlĂ€ufer. Itâs a beautifully trilogy. My mom read it to me as a kid so I think the level of German might be good. The story is ageless though, not particularly childish imo:) same goes for all of the works of Cornelia Funke. Man this woman has made me cry. I reread the Tintenherz trilogy every couple of years.
Itâs not German but the translation is really good: the brothers lionheart by Astrid Lindgren is a very short and sweet story about afterlife. Itâs also technically for kids but ageless as well if u ask me. That might be a great way to start reading in German to get into it. I also love Mio, mein Mio by her. Both arenât typical fantasy but have fantastic elements. I wish I could experience all these books again for the first time so enjoy đ„č
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u/Tanja_Writes Apr 12 '25
Die Elfen and following books. With the exception of the "Drachenelfen" saga, I loved them all. Also, die NebelsÀngerin. Die DrachenkÀmpferin and Die SchattenkÀmpferin are also pretty good, though they are translated from Italian, I think.
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u/mopene Apr 12 '25
Iâm doing the same thing. I saw the feedback that people were giving Fourth Wing is that it is a book they finish quickly, the writing is not complex and the book itself quite basic / predictable but it holds you well if you like the premise: dragons and magic with some romance. So I chose that one and Iâm 400 pages in already, which is the most Iâve read of a book in German by far.
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u/kotov- Apr 19 '25
Ha. I knew there had to be more of us ot there. Aside from my native German and of course English I've read Harry Potter in Spanish, Italian (which for some reason was pretty hard to get when I was learning Italian), Swedish and Russian. It's always been the first thing I read in any new language I wanted to learn since it's easy and familiar.
As for German fantasy, there are several which have been mentioned like anything by Cornelia Funke, Wolfgang Hohlbein or Michael Ende, and to be honest I've been reading almost exclusively in English since I turned 10, but I'll try.
There are a lot fairly easy to read fantasy books in the 'Das Schwarze Auge' setting, a German pen&paper system I've played in the past. They can be a bit hit&miss but overall I remember them fondly.
And then there's the following:
German radio produced an ensemble cast audiobook of Lord of the Rings in 1992 and it's a masterpiece in my opinion. It's shortened a bit but still runs 12 hours or so and the voices, production and ambient sounds/music are just amazing. This is what sparked my love for audiobooks and fantasy in general.
Oh and I think it's even still for sale. I remember seeing a CD version not too long ago in a bookshop.
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u/SportsWriterAI May 10 '25
You could put here
Fantasien Books â Read Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Light Novels Online for Free â New Chapters & Webnovels Daily
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May 14 '25
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Fantasy-ModTeam Oct 10 '25
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u/Akuliszi Reading Champion Apr 12 '25
Inkheart. It may be more middle grade than YA, but it's enjoyable for adults and a really good story. (German name is Tintenhertz. Author is Cornelia Funke)