A wide digital painting of an ancient glowing spellbook in a twilight forest, sending out two streams of magic that form two different worlds. On the left, a rune-lit magical university rises among the trees. On the right, Liza Fury leaps across a stormy, neon-lit skyline with lightning in her hands. The sky blends starlit calm and swirling storm clouds, symbolizing two fantasy series branching from one source.

My other Harry Potter-inspired book series ain’t so Potter-like

ByTC Marti

I have not one but two Harry Potter-inspired book series. But the “other” series fuses genres like you wouldn’t believe, rendering it a true mash-up.

If a few sticklers read Tarja Titan, they’d immediately scream “Harry Potter.” Hell, a lot of reviewers caught “Harry Potter vibes” when they first read and reviewed Titan back in 2022. Some even called it a carbon copy.

While I lol’d, I saw the similarities. Lord Machi, Tarja going into hiding years before the novel’s events started, a silvery-blonde-haired rival, a fictional sport, and a climax that held elements of Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Goblet of Fire.

Then when you shift gears to Book II, you get an entirely new protagonist named Liza Fury, and Tarja’s a minor character. But wait, it gets better: Liza Fury: Catch 22 is hardly the paranormal fantasy Tarja Titan is.

Liza’s story reads like a high-stakes superhero fantasy with thriller and suspense elements. Unlike Titan, it’s got lightning-fast pacing, and there’s hardly any exposition. You can also read it without even looking at Titan, though you may want to read Liza Fury: The Discovery before hopping in.

Not the Harry Potter-inspired book series

Tarja Titan by TC MartiThere are a few stark differences between Titan and Potter. For one, Tarja’s 18 in Book I and Harry is 11 in Philosopher’s Stone. For another, there isn’t much of a House system. Instead, students at Celestial University are sorted through the element they control.

Celestial itself isn’t a castle, but a campus in the middle of a forest deep within the hills of East Central Pennsylvania. I’ve always pictured it somewhere between State College and Philadelphia, and not far from Centralia.

Tarja is intentionally a simpler protagonist. More of a lens than a firebrand, which let me experiment with the world and the lore before diving into the deeper, more complex characters in other books.

Sion Zona in Wind Wielder is reckless, Sabre Kjaergaard in The Rebellion Awakens is flawed and quick to anger. Mina Hirai in Civil War might’ve gotten dealt the worst hand of any protagonist in any series.

Want the real series Harry Potter inspired?

The Arcane Prophecy by TC MartiTarja Titan will definitely give you Potter vibes, but Arcane Elemental Academy is the one series that was 100 percent Potter-inspired. The only difference? I say it all the time, but if you’re new, here’s the big reveal: Yote Diamondback’s got Slytherin characteristics.

But don’t worry. She ain’t Malfoy-like. In fact, she’s probably closer to Merlin than anyone. She’d be one of the “good Slytherins” if she went to Hogwarts.

Yote’s way more flawed than Tarja. She’s got a thirst to prove herself, is a pure risk-taker, has that “saving-people mentality,” and has the kind of personality in which she won’t stop until she gets what she wants and masters her craft of elemental rune magic.

Ready to meet Yote? Check out the first three chapters of Book I, The Arcane Prophecy, and you’ll see her ‘never-say-die’ personality in action. Oh, and you’ll get a slight hint of the Arcane Elemental Academy in those opening chapters. Catch them right now.

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