There exists in every heart a secret chamber—one that opens only when fate turns its key. In the finest urban fantasy novels, we witness ordinary souls stumble upon that chamber and emerge transformed, possessed of powers they never knew slumbered within. We have gathered here, for your delight, the most splendid tales of magical awakening set against the backdrop of our modern world.
What Makes Power Awakening Stories So Compelling
The discovery of hidden abilities speaks to something universal in the human spirit. We all harbour the quiet hope that we might be more than circumstance has suggested. These tales give that hope wings—or claws, or spectral sight, as the case may be. When a protagonist awakens to power, we awaken alongside them, remembering that wonder is not so very far away.
Greywalker by Kat Richardson
Harper Blaine’s awakening comes at a terrible cost—two minutes of death. When this Seattle private investigator returns from that brief sojourn beyond the veil, she finds herself cursed with the ability to walk between worlds. The Grey, as it is called, exists in the spaces between life and death, and its inhabitants have taken rather an inconvenient interest in her.
Richardson crafts a rain-soaked mystery where Harper must learn to navigate her unwanted gift whilst vampires and ghosts queue up for her assistance.
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
MacKayla Lane travels to Dublin seeking her sister’s killer, only to discover she possesses the rare gift of sidhe-sight—the ability to perceive the Fae where others see nothing but empty air. Yet her awakening runs deeper still, revealing abilities she never imagined possible.
In the atmospheric streets of Ireland, Mac must master powers she never knew she possessed whilst navigating the dangerous attentions of the enigmatic Jericho Barrons.
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Peter Grant is an unremarkable probationary constable with the London Metropolitan Police, destined for a career drowning in paperwork. Then, whilst guarding a murder scene one fog-bound evening, he takes a witness statement from a ghost—and discovers he can see the dead.
This unexpected talent brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last officially sanctioned wizard in England, who takes Peter on as his apprentice. Aaronovitch delivers a magnificent collision of police procedural and magical education, as Peter learns to wield forces he never imagined existed whilst investigating supernatural crimes across a vividly rendered London.
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Chloe Saunders believes she is losing her mind when the dead begin speaking to her. Shipped off to a group home for troubled adolescents, she gradually awakens to the truth: she possesses necromantic powers she never knew existed.
Her ability to sense and communicate with spirits proves both blessing and terrible burden as she discovers that the group home—and the people running it—harbour secrets far darker than she imagined.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Bree Matthews comes to the University of North Carolina seeking escape from grief. Instead, she witnesses a magical attack and awakens to powers connected to a heritage she never suspected. As she infiltrates a secret society of Arthurian descendants, Bree begins to uncover the truth about who she really is.
Tracy Deonn weaves together the legends of Camelot with the living history of the American South, creating something entirely fresh and magnificent.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Diana Bishop knows she comes from a family of witches, but she possesses no meaningful magic of her own. Instead of wasting her time trying to learn spells she can’t cast, this Yale historian has spent her life rejecting the supernatural, burying herself in academic research at Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Then she accidentally summons an enchanted alchemical manuscript, and Diana must confront the possibility that everything she believed about herself and her magic was wrong.
Harkness crafts a sumptuous tale that combines the awakening of power with a sumptuous vampire romantasy, and we could not be more enamored.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Galaxy Stern has always been able to see ghosts—a gift that brought her nothing but trouble until a mysterious benefactor offers her a place at Yale. There, Alex must monitor the ancient secret societies that practice dangerous occult magic. Yet her spectral sight proves merely the beginning; darker powers await her in the shadowed halls of privilege. Bardugo, long one of our favorite authors, crafts a tale in which the cost of awakening proves steep indeed.
Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
Joanne Walker is a mechanic with the Seattle Police Department who possesses precisely zero knowledge of the supernatural. That changes rather dramatically when, peering out an aeroplane window, she spots a woman being hunted by spectral hounds far below.
After rushing to help, Joanne discovers she carries powerful shamanic abilities that have lain dormant her entire life. Guided by a cryptic coyote spirit and given exactly three days to master her gifts, she must learn to wield unfamiliar magic before the Wild Hunt tears Seattle apart. Murphy delivers a breathless awakening tale steeped in Celtic and Native American mythology.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
In Jemisin’s dazzling reimagining of New York, great cities achieve sentience through ordinary human beings who become their living avatars. When New York attempts this transformation, five completely unsuspecting residents suddenly find themselves embodying the boroughs.
None of them asked for this. None of them understand what is happening. All of them must quickly learn to wield reality-warping powers they never imagined possible, whilst an ancient cosmic entity threatens to devour the city whole. This is awakening on a magnificent scale.
Bayou Born by Hailey Edwards
Luce Boudreau was dragged half-wild from the murky waters of a Mississippi bayou as a child—no memories, no family, and skin covered in mysterious markings. Adopted by the policeman who rescued her, she spent fifteen years building a careful, ordinary life and following him onto the force. Then a series of disappearances rocks her small town, and supernatural abilities Luce never knew she possessed begin surfacing with unsettling urgency. Edwards weaves a Southern Gothic awakening in which Boudreau’s origins threaten to unravel everything she has so painstakingly constructed.
Finding Your Next Magical Awakening
These tales share a common thread: the moment when the veil lifts and ordinary existence becomes extraordinary. Whether through death and return, hidden heritage revealed, or powers that erupt without warning, each protagonist must learn to wield abilities they never expected. We recommend beginning wherever your heart leads you—perhaps with Harper Blaine’s rain-soaked Seattle, or Mac Lane’s supernatural Dublin, or Peter Grant’s haunted London.
The chamber door stands ready. All that remains is for you to turn the key.
