The Once and Future Witches
#3114.02 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2020 Reading commitment Low Alix E. Harrow Last reviewed 2026-08-13
Overview
Three estranged sisters reunite in 1893 New Salem to bring witchcraft back into the world, weaving suffrage-movement history with fairy-tale magic.
Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Once and Future Witches (2020) core · 4.02 (111,799 ratings); Three estranged sisters reunite in 1893 New Salem to bring witchcraft back into the world, weaving suffrage-movement history with fairy-tale magic. Alix E. Harrow's second novel, a separate, unrelated standalone from The Ten Thousand Doors of January (admitted 2026-08-11).
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Once and Future Witches? The Once and Future Witches's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Once and Future Witches finished? Complete (2020).
- How much reading does The Once and Future Witches take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~517 pages).
- How is The Once and Future Witches ranked? #311 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 111,799 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #311?
Ranked #311 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.02 across 1 core book.
- Backed by 112k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #310, Sorcery of Thorns (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?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 112k ratings · Ranks #311 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical 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)
- Locus Award (Fantasy Novel), 2021: finalist: The Once and Future Witches; Placed 5th in sfadb.com's own 2021 Fantasy Novel poll results; registered per this canon's no-cutoff Locus-poll convention.
- British Fantasy Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2021: nominated: The Once and Future Witches; Per Wikipedia only, not independently re-verified against britishfantasysociety.co.uk.
- Dragon Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2021: nominated: The Once and Future Witches; Per Wikipedia only, not independently re-verified against the award's own results.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.02 across 111,799 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: The Once and Future Witches admitted as a single-work universe accepted 2026-08-13
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13
Rule: Registered as a single-work universe (LOTR-analogy convention): one Core Canon entry, the 2020 novel.