7 Of My Favorite Historical Fantasy Books That You’ll Love

Niamh Ó Conchobhair, a dressmaker who uses magic to enchant her creations, is commissioned to design the clothing for a royal wedding. 

With this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Niamh jumps at the chance to do what she loves and travel to Avaland in hopes of changing her life forever.

Nothing is what she expected once she arrives, however, and soon finds herself in the middle of a royal scandal. An anonymous columnist reads into the interactions Niamh has with the groom-to-be, Kit Carmine, and threatens her to help uncover the royal family’s secrets. Doing so will risk the future she’s always dreamed of, but if she doesn’t, Avaland could be in danger. 

This standalone is a whirlwind of Regency and romance. Set in a fantastical land inspired by Regency England and Ireland, A Fragile Enchantment features gossip columnists, political intrigue, lavish balls, garden parties, and societal unrest fueled by class disparity. It’s a magical and romantic historical fantasy that gives you all the political intrigue of Bridgerton. 

The cover of the OwlCrate Limited Edition of A Fragile Enchantment was created by No0ne Designs and designed by Lichen and Limestone.

Rune Winters is hiding more than a power running through her veins. Leading a double life, she’s a wealthy socialite during the day, but by night she’s a vigilante, the Crimson Moth, who rescues witches.

After a failed rescue attempt, Rune attempts to throw off suspicion by connecting with Gideon Shapre, a loyal witch hunter. Gideon, armed with the information that witches are escaping on merchant ships owned by Rune’s family, inserts himself into Rune’s life in an attempt to uncover the identity of Crimson Moth.

As they dance around each other, an attachment forms that could lead to the downfall of everything they’ve hoped to build. 

This enemies to lovers historical romantasy  draws inspiration from the 18th and 19th centuries through technology such as steamships, telegrams, and pistols.

The most important thing in Iris Winnow’s life is her family. So, when her brother goes missing at war and her mother is falling victim to alcohol dependency, Iris’s only hope to keep afloat is a promotion at the Oath Gazette. Iris, hoping to connect with her brother, has been writing letters that are magically transported.

When a letter ends up in the hands of someone other than her brother, Iris’s world is rocked. When she takes an assignment to go to the war front, she goes in hopes of finding her brother, but finds so much more. 

While Divine Rivals does not reflect a real-world historical event, it does contain elements of the early nineteenth century, such as steam engines, typewriters, and parallels to World War I and II conflicts.

Inez Olivera was raised with stories of her parents’ journeys across the sea to Egypt. A girl of high society in Buenos Aires, she wants for nothing except the one thing she can’t seem to have: present parents.

When she gets a letter that upends her world entirely, she finds herself in search of answers, but the only place she’ll find them is in Egypt. Whitford Hayes, her uncle’s assistant, is mysterious and charismatic, but does everything he can to send her back home.

Determined to see it through, they push through many obstacles and uncover something extraordinary that makes her question everything she knows about her family. 

Hrafnsvik, a small, cold town in the far north, is home to few people, and possibly some fair folk. Emily Wilde, a brilliant Cambridge professor, traveled so far from home in search of the beings she is the expert on in her field of study.

When the charming and sunshiny Wendell Bambleby, her academic rival, arrives at Hrafnsvik, it throws a wrench into her whole trip. Even with Wendell’s disruptions to her research, she gets closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones.

But the more she learns, the more she begins to question her rival and his motivations. What relation does he have to the Hidden Ones, and why has he followed her to the snowy north?

Orphaned by Cholera in Canton, Robin Swift is ripped from everything he’s ever known by mysterious Professor Lovell. He’s given lessons in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese to prepare for Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation. Here Robin will learn the power of language and silver-working, a practice that has helped Britain gain their exceptional power.

As he advances in his studies, he begins to learn that by excelling in his studies and the skills that come with it, he’s betraying his home and his people, who are under Britain's thumb.

When the Hermes Society begins wreaking havoc on Oxford grounds in their attempts to stop or slow the silver-work, Robin finds himself in a struggle to maintain the status quo or assist in fighting back. 

Georgian era England speculative fiction fantasy, Babeldelves deeply into the themes of colonialism, the power of language, and the dynamics of class and race.

Rin shocked everyone, including herself, when she passed the Kaiju–a test to find the most talented youth in the Empire. This was advantageous to her guardians, who felt they’d finally be able to marry her off, and to Rin, who was finally going to be free of the life she led.

Harassed by rivals and uncovering an incredible power, leading to training with a possibly insane teacher who uses psychedelics, things are not going as Rin had hoped. Things go from bad to worse when she discovers that the long-dead gods are actually alive and very involved in the events of the world.

Meanwhile, Nikan may be under threat for a Third Poppy War from the Federation of Mugen, who won’t let Nikan have their piece. 

This twentieth-century China-inspired story is an incredible historical military fantasy. A completed trilogy full of military intrigue is known for its dark themes of colonialism and the devastating effects of war.