This post was last updated on August 24th, 2024 at 04:27 pm
These 7 fantasy books for 14 year olds all embrace themes steeped in Celtic mythology, magic, or the concept of the otherworld. While the Celts once occupied much of Europe, the Roman invasion reduced their numbers to small, isolated groups. Luckily, their stories survived in large part. Irish and Welsh monks preserved them for posterity through the written word.
Through the efforts of Irish and Welsh monks, Celtic mythology and spiritual beliefs have lived on to inspire all manner of fiction. The ancient Celts were not one specific race or a united nation. However, a common language, religious practices, and other customs loosely joined them.
Celtic myths consist of hundreds of tales. Stories often tell of magic and those who wield it, such as priests, priestesses, or magicians. The “magic cauldron” is one such idea. The cauldron of plenty, for example, produced endless quantities of food. The cauldron of rebirth gave life back to warriors killed in battle.
The Celts believed the otherworld was a mysterious place that existed alongside our mortal world. Here, there was no death, no work, and its inhabitants never grew old. To access the otherworld, the seeker needed to find places where the veil between worlds was thinner. They could do this through caves, lakes, burial mounds, or at certain times of the year. Sometimes, performing a brave deed or making a dangerous journey granted access. Fortunately, you can travel to the otherworld safely through many of these delightful novels!
This post is about recommendations for Celtic fantasy books for 14 year olds.
Fantasy Books for 14 Year Olds
Hounded: Book One of The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
From the blurb:
Atticus O’Sullivan is the last of the ancient druids. He has been on the run for more than two thousand years, and he’s tired of it. The Irish gods who want to kill him are after an enchanted sword he stole in a first-century battle, and when they find him managing an occult bookshop in Tempe, Arizona, Atticus doesn’t want to uproot his life again. He just wants everything to end one way or another, but preferably the way in which he can continue to enjoy fish and chips.
He does have some small hope of survival: The Morrigan, the Irish Chooser of the Slain, is on his side, and so is Brighid, First Among the Fae. His lawyer is literally a bloodsucking vampire, and he has a loyal Irish wolfhound with opinions about poodles.
But he’s facing down some mighty enemies: Aenghus Óg, a vengeful Irish god, plus a coven of witches and even the local police. On top of all that, Aenghus has a direct line to the firepower of hell. Atticus will need all the luck of the Irish and more if he’s going to stay alive.
Fantasy Books for 14 Year Olds: The Hidden World by Alison Baird
From the blurb:
Maeve is disgruntled and depressed when she is sent for the summer to her aunt’s house in Newfoundland while her parents try to work out problems in their marriage and careers. But she does enjoy Newfoundland’s rustic charms and the closeness she feels there to her favourite grandmother, now dead. Maeve’s grandmother was the author of a fantastic book about the secret world of Annwn, and Maeve is delighted to discover her grandmother’s diary and a beautiful Celtic brooch that was stored with it.
Then something strange begins to happen, something that convinces Maeve she is leaving Newfoundland, and in no ordinary fashion. Before long, Maeve finds herself in the Hidden World, a place she is sure her grandmother has visited too, a place that is alive with magic and danger. As she struggles to help her new-found friends in Annwn and unravel the mystery of her grandmother’s time there, she finds herself immersed in a world of legend, where Celtic myths, tales of the sea, and the secrets of Avalon come together in a fantastic and horrifying way.
Siobhan’s Secret (Raven and Hummingbird Book 1) by Nikki Broadwell
From the blurb:
Kat’s life is a disaster. Her mother is dead, and her stepfather has kicked her out of the one home she’s always counted on, leaving her nothing but the Celtic knot locket Siobhan gave her on her eighteenth birthday. Unable to focus enough to hold down a job, she ends up at the women’s shelter, where she sees the truth of what life can dish out. And on top of all that, she is positive that her mother did not die from natural causes. But without a dime to her name, she has no way to prove it. In the shelter she meets Cerridwen, an older woman who seems kind enough.
But when this same woman appears in Kat’s dream as the goddess of the underworld and keeper of the magical cauldron of inspiration, Kat is more than a little disturbed. Just a dream, she tells herself the next morning, dismissing her uneasiness. In the meantime, a strange man seems to be stalking her, his torn jeans and filthy Grateful Dead T-shirt indicating that he’s a drug addict who she wants nothing to do with. And why are there enormous dark birds everywhere she looks? She’s never seen a raven in the city. As life shifts around her Kat discovers a world she didn’t know existed, her grasp on reality disappearing as she struggles to understand what is happening.
Fantasy Books for 14 Year Olds and Middle Grade Fantasy: Pangur Ban, the White Cat (Pangur Bán Celtic Fantasies Series Book 1) by Fay Sampson
Pangur Bán is a lovely book suitable for a wide age range. This includes kids in middle school and older (fantasy books for 12 year olds or fantasy books for 6th graders, for example). The publisher says it’s also appropriate for high school students.
From the blurb:
“Now! Now you shall see what happens to those who would break the spell of mermaids!”
Fleeing the king’s justice for his accidental crime, the monk Niall has been bewitched by mermaids in the underwater realm, while vengeful Princess Finnglas is in the grip of a terrifying sea monster. Pangur Bán, the white cat, is desperate. He must rescue them—but how?
Only Arthmael can do it.
But who is Arthmael? And where is he? Can Pangur Bán find him in time?
Beautifully written, wilder, and less safe than Lewis’s Narnia, this beloved allegory is newly republished. Whether you’re discovering it for the first time or rediscovering that book you loved as a child, Pangur Bán, the White Cat delivers breathless fantasy and spiritual depth for young readers and adults. Check the Spring Song Press website for pre-order perks.
The Daughters of Morrigan: A Celtic Fantasy (Souls Out of Ireland Book 1) by Annie Cosby
From the blurb:
Three sisters. A magical castle. And a legend as old as Ireland.
The day the Doyle sisters are attacked by a monster on the foggy shores of the Atlantic, they’re saved by a mysterious boy who stumbles out of the waves. That’s the first sign that nothing in their small world will ever be the same again.
Bríd is striking and vain. Moira is caring but brusque. And Ríona is sweet and silent. They invite their injured savior into the crumbling castle they call home, only to find he’s prepared to challenge everything they think they know …
About themselves. About their family. About their upbringing here on the edge of the world. And about the magic that permeates the castle. For the girls are keeping secrets of their own.
When another attack takes them all by surprise, they’ll have to decide what to believe, what to reveal, and just how to stay alive.
Will the old walls of the castle be enough to keep the Doyle sisters safe, or will they be forced to flee?
The Daughters of Morrigan is the first in a contemporary YA fantasy series steeped in Irish legend. If you like a sweeping setting and characters to fall for, you’ll love the first installment in Annie Cosby’s haunting new series, Souls Out of Ireland.
Fate Calling: A Fae Romance (The Celtic Fae Book 1) by Lindsay Grace
From the blurb:
A cursed fae prince. A feisty human lass. A fate they never expected…
All Aislinn Morgan wants is to live a peaceful life with her sister in the beautiful highlands of Scotland. When a hike on the Isle of Skye goes horribly awry, and the sisters are taken to the mythical land of the fae, Aislinn will do anything to protect the only family she has left.
Even bargain with a beastly fae prince.
But the brooding, dangerous, and powerful Kieran O’Bairr is no ordinary fae. He has spent the last one hundred years in a self-imposed exile for a crime that haunts his every waking moment. The stubborn Aislinn Morgan is a complication he doesn’t want. But his longing for the golden-haired lass is undeniable, her kissable lips a temptation he can’t resist.
Aislinn is his fated mate.
And one desperate, stolen kiss will be his undoing.
A breathtaking blend of sweet and swoony, FATE CALLING is the captivating first book in this closed-door fantasy romance adventure. Perfect for fans of Shari L Tapscott, Kenley Davidson and Tara Grayce!
The Girl of Dorcha Wood: A Young Adult Dark Fantasy (Daughter of Erabel Book 1) by Kristin Ward
From the blurb:
Treacherous. Evil. Dark. Dorcha Wood is all of these. And none of them.
After the Great War, the Aos Sí—a race of elves—vanished from the world, leaving nothing but their ghosts to haunt Dorcha Wood. Or so the locals say. But to seventeen-year-old Fiadh, the forbidden forest is home. A haven. It speaks to her in the rustle of the wind through the leaves, in the wild things that come to her hand. It is a forest whose secrets become known only when it chooses to reveal them.
Hers is a simple life until the outside world shatters it.
Gideon, a warrior whose memory is as lost as his strength, finds his way to Fiadh’s healing hands. With his arrival comes the wrath of Lord Darragh, the ruler of Felmore. A man whose violence rivals that of the nightmarish beings of Dorcha Wood.
You might also like to check out this post about fantasy books for 13 year olds set in Wales.
This post was about recommendations for Celtic fantasy books for 14 year olds.
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