# Looking for modern fantasy books/stories including magical apprenticeship **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017 "2013-06-14T19:36:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/21 "2013-06-15T18:36:06Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Interesting thought…I actually own that book, and have tried to read it before and never gotten very far. But isn’t it set in the 1800s? I’m looking for something a bit more modern than that, like mages in our modern world. > > I should probably give _Jonathan Strange_ another go, though. Lots of people seem to be quite taken with it. It’s a good book, but if the 1800s is too early for you, _Jonathan Strange_ isn’t going to be what you’re looking for. Another great book involving magical apprenticeship, though it may not be modern enough for you, is Lord Dunsany’s [The Charwoman’s Shadow](http://www.amazon.com/The-Charwomans-Shadow-Del-Impact/dp/0345431928). ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/22 "2013-06-15T19:38:21Z")
_With a Single Spell_ by Lawrence Watt Evans is an apprentice story, although an apprenticeship cut short. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/23 "2013-06-15T20:20:14Z")
Ah, missed the “set in modern times bit”, since Ethshar isn’t exactly Earth circa now. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/24 "2013-06-17T15:41:15Z")
The Iron Druid series (author Kevin Hearne) has a master-apprentice relationship, but I’ve only read the first book, so I don’t know if it gets sexual/relationshippy in the later ones. The first book (Hounded) does have some nice detailed accounts of the apprenticeship training aspects, and the difficulty of learning to work magic, and as I said - no relationship yet. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/25 "2013-06-17T15:45:39Z")
Well, came in to recommend the Dresden and Iron Druid series, but others already recommended them so I’ll just second or third them. Both are excellent IMHO. I love the unabridged audio of the Iron Druid, as the dog is just hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/26 "2013-06-17T16:03:17Z")
Robert Rankin’s “Brightonomicon”. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/27 "2013-06-17T19:57:08Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > The Iron Druid series (author Kevin Hearne) has a master-apprentice relationship, but I’ve only read the first book, so I don’t know if it gets sexual/relationshippy in the later ones. > > The first book (Hounded) does have some nice detailed accounts of the apprenticeship training aspects, and the difficulty of learning to work magic, and as I said - no relationship yet. Can’t believe I forgot that one :smack: And nope, not even a threat of any kissy-kissy for the protagonist and his apprentice throughout the rest of the series. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/28 "2013-06-17T20:05:10Z")
Much of the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones (beginning with _Charmed Life_) is centered on magical apprenticeship. There’s also a parallel worlds theme. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/29 "2013-06-17T20:16:03Z")
Cool, thanks! I’m a little overloaded now (I picked up several of the Butcher books, “The Magicians,” and two of the “Peter Grant” series) so once I work my way through those I’ll check back and see about some of the others. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/30 "2013-06-17T20:34:58Z")
Another book that might be good is **The Dark is Rising** by Susan Cooper (part of a series of the same name). It was written in the 70’s but set in then-current times, and draws on a lot of celtic myth. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/31 "2013-06-17T21:38:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Robert Lynn Asprin’s _Myth Adventures_](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/MythAdventures?from=Main.MythAdventures) series is entirely **about** that trope, but not set on our Earth, let alone “in modern times”. I immediately thought of this series. It’s definitely all about the magic apprenticeship. And arguably it’s in modern times - clearly Aahz is familiar with modern Earth - it’s just that it’s set in other dimensions. ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/32 "2013-06-18T06:57:56Z")
The _Bedlam’s Bard_ series by Mercedes Lackey (and various co-writers) has some of this. The first book is about the protagonist discovering that magic exists and he’s a Bard, then in later books he becomes an apprentice to a Master Bard, gains experience and eventually takes on an apprentice of his own. There’s also a subplot with a Healer and her apprentice. There is some romance, but none between master and apprentice. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/33 "2013-06-18T14:32:33Z")
> [@Rala](#): > > The _Bedlam’s Bard_ series by Mercedes Lackey (and various co-writers) has some of this. I say this in the nicest possible way, but those books are SOOOOOOO dated! I loved them when they first came out, and I re-read them recently, and still enjoyed them, but oh man… so very very dated. But yes, enjoyable, good characters, good variety of relationships, and a decent bit of the “teaching/learning” process. Not all of the involved master/apprentice characters are HUMAN, if that makes a difference to the OP. (Some are elves) ---
**Author:** ![JocoseBanter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@JocoseBanter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JocoseBanter)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017/34 "2013-06-19T22:21:27Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > Can’t believe I forgot that one :smack: And nope, not even a threat of any kissy-kissy for the protagonist and his apprentice throughout the rest of the series. While I wouldn’t consider the Iron Druid Chronicles as romance by any means, I think “not even the threat of kissy-kissy” is going a bit far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-modern-fantasy-books-stories-including-magical-apprenticeship/661017.md?page=1)