Krabat
#5493.91 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1971 Reading commitment Low Otfried Preussler Last reviewed 2026-08-26
Overview
Krabat follows a dispossessed young beggar apprenticed to a mysterious watermill, where he learns black magic and becomes entangled in a deadly pact with its master, in a story rooted in Sorbian folklore from the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Each year one of the mill's twelve apprentices dies as the price of the master's continued power, and Krabat's growing skill in the mill's dark arts brings him steadily closer to understanding, and risking, that same fate, complicated by a forbidden love that offers the story's one path out of the cycle. First published in German in 1971 by Otfried Preussler, it won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, a leading German award for youth literature, the following year and has since been translated into English under several titles, including The Curse of the Darkling Mill. It has also been adapted into an animated feature film and a live-action film in Germany.
Mythic fantasy, Dark fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Krabat (1971) core · 3.91 (26,613 ratings); A dispossessed young apprentice at a mysterious watermill is drawn into a dangerous magical pact, in a story drawn from Sorbian folklore. Won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German prize for youth literature) in 1972.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Krabat? Krabat's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Krabat finished? Complete (1971).
- How much reading does Krabat take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~296 pages).
- How is Krabat ranked? #549 in this site's official ranking, based on 26,613 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #549?
Ranked #549 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.91 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (26,613 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #548, The Raven Tower (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 27k ratings · Ranks #549 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (Novel), 1972: won: Krabat
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.91 across 26,613 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit eight universes: progression fantasy, translated fantasy, and older pulp fantasy accepted 2026-08-26
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Krabat (novel) Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Otfried Preussler Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
Rule: Core Canon is the single novel; this is a standalone work with no sequel.