The '' Charmed''

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

is a series of novels and short stories based on the eponymous television show, which aired from 1998 to 2006. The franchise consists of forty-three novels and eleven short stories released in two anthologies, with ten

guide book A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

s. Scholarly essay collections on the show were also published. The first work in the series, ''The Power of Three'', published in November 1999, is a novelization of the series pilot " Something Wicca This Way Comes". Writers of the novels had to obtain approval from Paramount Pictures or

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to ensure that they followed the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

established for the television series. Writers

Paul Ruditis Paul Ruditis is an American author. Early life Ruditis was born and raised in Philadelphia. He attended West Chester University where he majored in Theatre Arts with a directing emphasis. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he began ...

and Pat Shand have discussed these regulations, primarily through their official

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accounts. Between 1999 and 2008, forty-one novels were published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

and were set roughly during the same period as the events of the television series. A majority of the novels are original stories revolving around the Charmed Ones and their allies. Ten novels are set between the show's

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and third season, and feature the Charmed Ones – Prue,

Piper Piper may refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe Television * Piper Chapman, lea ...

, and

Phoebe Halliwell Phoebe Halliwell is a fictional character from the American television series ''Charmed'', played by Alyssa Milano from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The character was originally played by Lori Rom in the unaired pilot episode. However, Ro ...

– as the most powerful witches of all time. Thirty-one novels are set after Prue's death in " All Hell Breaks Loose", starting with the novelization of the season four premiere "

Charmed Again "Charmed Again" is a two-part story arc and the season opening of the fourth season of the American television series '' Charmed''; it is also the 67th and 68th overall episodes in the series. Written by Brad Kern and directed by Michael Schult ...

", and include Piper and Phoebe's half-sister

Paige Matthews Paige Matthews is a fictional character from the American television series '' Charmed'', played by Rose McGowan from October 4, 2001, until May 21, 2006. The character was created by executive producer Brad Kern as a replacement for lead charac ...

. Two works, ''Seasons of the Witch'' (2003) and ''The Warren Witches'' (2005), are anthologies of short stories. Various authors have written works in the series, including Diana G. Gallagher and Paul Ruditis, who also co-authored two guidebooks, ''

The Book of Three ''The Book of Three'' (1964) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the first of five volumes in '' The Chronicles of Prydain''. The series follows the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper, a youth raised by Dallben ...

'' in 2004 and 2006. In 2015,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

acquired the rights to publish a second series of ''Charmed'' novels from

which owns the rights to the franchise. The first novel in this series, ''The War on Witches'', was published in May 2015, and the continuity of the narrative fits between the events of '' Charmed: Season 9'' (2010–12) and '' Season 10'' (2014–16) in the

comic book series a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

Continuity between television show and novels

Writers of all officially licensed '' Charmed'' literature must obtain studio approval of the content of the works – originally from Paramount Pictures until

acquired the rights to the franchise – in order to adhere to the conventions of the ''Charmed'' canon established by the television series. According to

, authors of ''Charmed'' novels and comics must maintain "the rules for playing in that universe" and "the studio still has to approve the direction we take" as writers. Following these regulations, authors are given creative license but strictly "couldn't go and rewrite history, killing off established characters or suddenly creating romantic pairings that we'd never see on the show". Pat Shand, the writer of '' Charmed: Season 10'', considered the novels and comics officially part of the ''Charmed'' canon and continuity. The comics reference the novels; for example, Shand consulted with Ruditis about the character Tyler Michaels in ''Charmed: Season 10''. While Michaels had first appeared in the season four episode "

Lost and Bound The fourth season of ''Charmed'', an American supernatural drama television series created by Constance M. Burge, originally aired in the United States on The WB from October 4, 2001 through May 16, 2002. Airing on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. Paramoun ...

", Ruditis had also portrayed Tyler in the novel ''The Brewing Storm'' (2004), and Shand wanted to avoid inconsistencies or "retreading".

First novel series

Second novel series

Short stories

Guidebooks, academic articles and scholarly essay collections

References

External links

Simonandschuster.co.uk
Official website for the novels. {{DEFAULTSORT:Charmed Novels Book series introduced in 1999 Charmed (TV series) Charmed Novels based on television series