Max Gladstone Reading Order

6 books (2014–2025)

This fantasy series collects six short stories and novellas by Amal El-Mohtar, published between 2014 and 2025. The series is ongoing and should be read in publication order, beginning with The Truth About Owls. Titles include Pockets, Seasons of Glass and Iron, Anabasis, John Hollowback and the Witch, and The River Has Roots.

Start with The Truth About Owls(By: Amal El-Mohtar), the first of 6 books in the Amal El-Mohtar Short Stories/Novellas series.

11 books (2013–2024)

Max Gladstone has edited nine fantasy anthologies published between 2013 and 2024, with the series still ongoing. These collections showcase short fiction from various authors across the fantasy genre and should be read in publication order beginning with The New Voices of Fantasy. The series includes themed volumes such as Robots vs. Fairies and Shared Nightmares, as well as curated selections from platforms like Tor.com and annual best-of compilations.

Start with The New Voices of Fantasy, the first of 9 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	The New Voices of Fantasy 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	xo Orpheus 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Shared Nightmares 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2014 Edition 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Long List Anthology 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Starlit Wood 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Robots vs. Fairies 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Long List Anthology Volume 4 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Worlds Seen in Passing 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Nebula Awards Showcase 55 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	George R. R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Sleeper Straddle in Stories 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (2015–2016)

The Bookburners series is a complete six-book fantasy collection published between 2015 and 2016, featuring contributions from Max Gladstone and Mur Lafferty. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with A Sorcerer's Apprentice and continuing through Badge, Book, and Candle, Shore Leave, Under My Skin, Bookburners, and Creepy Town. This finished series offers a self-contained narrative arc across its full run.

Start with A Sorcerer's Apprentice(By: Mur Lafferty), the first of 6 books in the Bookburners series.

#	Title
1	A Sorcerer's Apprentice(By: Mur Lafferty) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Badge, Book, and Candle 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Shore Leave(By: Mur Lafferty) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Under My Skin(By: Mur Lafferty) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Bookburners 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Creepy Town 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (2012–2017)

The Craft Sequence is a complete six-book fantasy series by Max Gladstone published between 2012 and 2017. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with Three Parts Dead and continuing through Two Serpents Rise, Full Fathom Five, Last First Snow, Four Roads Cross, and concluding with The Ruin of Angels. This interconnected series features overlapping characters and storylines that build across the narrative arc.

Start with Three Parts Dead, the first of 6 books in the Craft Sequence series.

#	Title
1	Three Parts Dead 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Two Serpents Rise 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Full Fathom Five 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Last First Snow 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Four Roads Cross 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Ruin of Angels 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (2023–2025)

Max Gladstone's Craft Wars series is an ongoing fantasy epic currently comprising three books published between 2023 and 2025. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Dead Country, followed by Wicked Problems, and Dead Hand Rule. New installments are planned for future release.

Start with Dead Country and read in order.

#	Title
1	Dead Country 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Wicked Problems 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Dead Hand Rule 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2018–2018)

#	Title
1	The Ghost in the Shell 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (2014–2019)

Max Gladstone's short stories and novellas collection spans six entries published between 2014 and 2019, with the series now complete. These fantasy tales should be read in publication order, beginning with A Kiss With Teeth and continuing through The Angelus Guns, Crispin's Model, The Scholast in the Low Waters Kingdom, Fitting In, and concluding with This Is How You Lose the Time War, which Gladstone co-wrote with Amal El-Mohtar.

Start with A Kiss With Teeth, the first of 6 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.

#	Title
1	A Kiss With Teeth 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Angelus Guns 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Crispin's Model 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Scholast in the Low Waters Kingdom 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Fitting In 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	This Is How You Lose the Time War(With: Amal El-Mohtar) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (2019–2022)

Max Gladstone has written two standalone fantasy novels in this collection: Empress of Forever, published in 2019, and Last Exit, released in 2022. While these are independent stories rather than a connected series, reading them in publication order allows you to experience Gladstone's evolving narrative style across this period. The series appears to be complete with no additional entries planned.

Start with Empress of Forever and read in order.

#	Title
1	Empress of Forever 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Last Exit 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (2016–2023)

The Witch Who Came In From The Cold is a collaborative fantasy series by Max Gladstone and various co-authors that spans two seasons published between 2016 and 2023. The series comprises two books structured as complete seasons, with Season One featuring contributions from Michael Swanwick, Ian Tregillis, Lindsay Smith, and Cassandra Rose Clarke, while Season Two adds Fran Wilde to the roster. The series appears to be complete and should be read in publication order, starting with Season One.

Start with The Witch Who Came In From The Cold: Season One(With: Michael Swanwick,Ian Tregillis,Lindsay Smith,Cassandra Rose Clarke) and read in order.

49 books (1986–2025)

The Wild Cards series is a shared-universe fantasy anthology spanning 49 books from 1986 to 2025, with new installments still being released. Created by George R.R. Martin and edited by Melinda M. Snodgrass, the series features contributions from multiple authors across its evolving narrative. Readers should follow the books in publication order to experience the story's development across decades of interconnected tales. The series remains ongoing, making it an active world that continues to expand with fresh entries.

Start with Wild Cards(By: George R.R. Martin), the first of 49 books in the Wild Cards series.

#	Title
1	Wild Cards(By: George R.R. Martin) 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Aces High(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Jokers Wild(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Aces Abroad(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Down and Dirty(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Ace in the Hole(By: George R.R. Martin) 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Dead Man's Hand(By: George R.R. Martin) 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Jokertown Shuffle(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	One-Eyed Jacks(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Dealer's Choice(By: George R.R. Martin) 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Double Solitaire(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Turn of the Cards(By: George R.R. Martin,Victor Milán) 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Deuces Down(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Death Draws Five(By: George R.R. Martin,John J. Miller) 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Busted Flush(By: George R.R. Martin,Melinda M. Snodgrass,Caroline Spector) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Inside Straight(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Suicide Kings(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan(By: Carrie Vaughn) 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Fort Freak(By: George R.R. Martin,Melinda M. Snodgrass,David Anthony Durham) 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	The Button Man and the Murder Tree(By: Cherie Priest) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	The Elephant in the Room(By: George R.R. Martin,Paul Cornell) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Lowball(By: George R.R. Martin,Melinda M. Snodgrass,David Anthony Durham) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza(By: Carrie Vaughn) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Prompt. Professional. Pop!(By: Walter Jon Williams) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Discards(By: David D. Levine) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	High Stakes(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	The Thing about Growing Up in Jokertown(By: George R.R. Martin) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	The Atonement Tango(By: Stephen Leigh) 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	When the Devil Drives(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Evernight(By: Victor Milán) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Knaves Over Queens(By: George R.R. Martin) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	The Flight of Morpho Girl(By: George R.R. Martin,Caroline Spector) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Long is the Way(By: George R.R. Martin) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	Naked, Stoned, and Stabbed(By: Bradley Denton) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	The City That Never Sleeps(By: Walton Simons) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire(By: Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	American Hero(By: George R.R. Martin) 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Three Kings(By: George R.R. Martin,Melinda M. Snodgrass) 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Joker Moon(By: George R.R. Martin) 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Ripple Effects(By: Laura J. Mixon) 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	Skin Deep(By: Alan Brennert) 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	Full House(By: George R.R. Martin) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Grow(By: Carrie Vaughn) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Hearts of Stone(By: Emma Newman) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Now & Then(By: Carrie Vaughn) 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Pairing Up(By: George R.R. Martin,Melinda M. Snodgrass,David Anthony Durham,Kevin Andrew Murphy,Gwenda Bond,Marko Kloos,Christopher Rowe,Bradley Denton,Peter Newman) 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	Sleeper Straddle(With: Carrie Vaughn,Stephen Leigh,Mary Anne Mohanraj,Cherie Priest,Walter Jon Williams,Christopher Rowe) 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	Ante Up(By: John Jos. Miller) 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	House Rulesin Stories(By: George R.R. Martin) 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible