Octavia E. Butler Reading Order

12 books (1979–2016)

Start with Chrysalis 4, the first of 12 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Chrysalis 4 1979Buy 🇺🇸
2	The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection 1985Buy 🇺🇸
3	Foundations of Fear: Volume III: Visions of Fear 1994Buy 🇺🇸
4	The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women 1995Buy 🇺🇸
5	A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora 2000Buy 🇺🇸
6	Nebula Awards 35 (2001) 2001Buy 🇺🇸
7	Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: 30th Anniversary Anthology 2007Buy 🇺🇸
8	The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction 2010Buy 🇺🇸
9	Crucified Dreams 2011Buy 🇺🇸
10	Ad Astra 2015Buy 🇺🇸
11	Sisters of the Revolution 2015Buy 🇺🇸
12	People of Color Destroy Science Fiction! 2016Buy 🇺🇸

5 books (2008–2025)

Start with The Hole(By: John Jennings,Damian Duffy), the first of 5 books in the Damian Duffy Graphic Novels series.

#	Title
1	The Hole(By: John Jennings,Damian Duffy) 2008Buy 🇺🇸
2	Kindred(With: Nnedi Okorafor,Damian Duffy) 2017Buy 🇺🇸
3	Parable of the Sower(With: Damian Duffy) 2020Buy 🇺🇸
4	Comic Arts Against Erasure(By: Damian Duffy) 2022Buy 🇺🇸
5	Parable of the Talents(With: Damian Duffy,David Brame) 2025Buy 🇺🇸

2 books (1993–1998)

Start with Parable of the Sower and read in order.

#	Title
1	Parable of the Sower 1993Buy 🇺🇸
2	Parable of the Talents 1998Buy 🇺🇸

4 books (1992–1994)

Start with An Exploration of Horror: Foundations of Fear(By: George R.R. Martin,Robert A. Heinlein,David G. Hartwell,Peter Straub,Richard Matheson,Daphne du Maurier,Clive Barker,Carlos Fuentes,Arthur Machen,Gerald Durrell), the first of 4 books in the Foundations of Fear Anthology series.

#	Title
1	An Exploration of Horror: Foundations of Fear(By: George R.R. Martin,Robert A. Heinlein,David G. Hartwell,Peter Straub,Richard Matheson,Daphne du Maurier,Clive Barker,Carlos Fuentes,Arthur Machen,Gerald Durrell) 1992Buy 🇺🇸
2	Foundations of Fear: Volume I: Shadows of Fear(By: Robert A. Heinlein,David G. Hartwell,Peter Straub,H.P. Lovecraft,Daphne du Maurier,Arthur Machen,Jean Ray,Harriet Prescott Spofford) 1994Buy 🇺🇸
3	Foundations of Fear: Volume II: Worlds of Fear(By: George R.R. Martin,David G. Hartwell,Thomas Hardy,Gertrude Atherton,Thomas M. Disch,Elizabeth Engstrom,Carlos Fuentes) 1994Buy 🇺🇸
4	Foundations of Fear: Volume III: Visions of Fear(With: David G. Hartwell,E.T.A. Hoffmann,Richard Matheson,Philip K. Dick,Clive Barker,Gerald Durrell) 1994Buy 🇺🇸

3 books (2017–2025)

Start with Kindred(With: Nnedi Okorafor,Damian Duffy) and read in order.

#	Title
1	Kindred(With: Nnedi Okorafor,Damian Duffy) 2017Buy 🇺🇸
2	Parable of the Sower(With: Damian Duffy) 2020Buy 🇺🇸
3	Parable of the Talents(With: Damian Duffy,David Brame) 2025Buy 🇺🇸

41 books (1985–2025)

Start with L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 1, the first of 41 books in the L. Ron Hubbard Presents: Writers of the Future series.

#	Title
1	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 1 1985Buy 🇺🇸
2	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 2 1986Buy 🇺🇸
3	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 3 1987Buy 🇺🇸
4	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 4 1988Buy 🇺🇸
5	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 5 1989Buy 🇺🇸
6	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 6 1990Buy 🇺🇸
7	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 7 1991Buy 🇺🇸
8	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 8 1992Buy 🇺🇸
9	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future9 1993Buy 🇺🇸
10	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 10 1994Buy 🇺🇸
11	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 11 1995Buy 🇺🇸
12	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 12 1996Buy 🇺🇸
13	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 13 1997Buy 🇺🇸
14	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 14 1998Buy 🇺🇸
15	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 15 1999Buy 🇺🇸
16	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 16 2000Buy 🇺🇸
17	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 17 2001Buy 🇺🇸
18	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 18 2002Buy 🇺🇸
19	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 19 2002Buy 🇺🇸
20	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 20 2004Buy 🇺🇸
21	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 21 2005Buy 🇺🇸
22	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 22 2006Buy 🇺🇸
23	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 23 2007Buy 🇺🇸
24	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 24 2008Buy 🇺🇸
25	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 25 2009Buy 🇺🇸
26	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 26 2010Buy 🇺🇸
27	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 27 2011Buy 🇺🇸
28	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 28 2012Buy 🇺🇸
29	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 29 2013Buy 🇺🇸
30	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 30 2014Buy 🇺🇸
31	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 31 2015Buy 🇺🇸
32	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 32 2016Buy 🇺🇸
33	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 33 2017Buy 🇺🇸
34	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 34 2018Buy 🇺🇸
35	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 35 2019Buy 🇺🇸
36	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 36 2020Buy 🇺🇸
37	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 37 2021Buy 🇺🇸
38	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 38 2022Buy 🇺🇸
39	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 39 2023Buy 🇺🇸
40	L. Ron Hubbard Presents: Writers of the Future 40 2024Buy 🇺🇸
41	L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future 41 2025Buy 🇺🇸

6 books (2017–2021)

Start with Kindred(With: Nnedi Okorafor,Damian Duffy), the first of 6 books in the Nnedi Okorafor Graphic Novels series.

#	Title
1	Kindred(With: Nnedi Okorafor,Damian Duffy) 2017Buy 🇺🇸
2	Black Panther: Long Live the King(By: Nnedi Okorafor) 2018Buy 🇺🇸
3	Wakanda Forever(By: Nnedi Okorafor) 2018Buy 🇺🇸
4	Shuri, Vol. 2(By: Nnedi Okorafor) 2019Buy 🇺🇸
5	Shuri: Wakanda Forever(By: Nnedi Okorafor) 2020Buy 🇺🇸
6	After the Rain(By: Nnedi Okorafor) 2021Buy 🇺🇸

1 book (2009–2009)

#	Title
1	Conversations with Octavia Butler 2009Buy 🇺🇸

5 books (1976–1984)

Start with Patternmaster, the first of 5 books in the Patternmaster series.

#	Title
1	Patternmaster 1976Buy 🇺🇸
2	Mind of My Mind 1977Buy 🇺🇸
3	Survivor 1978Buy 🇺🇸
4	Wild Seed 1980Buy 🇺🇸
5	Clay's Ark 1984Buy 🇺🇸

4 books (1983–2024)

Start with Speech Sounds, the first of 4 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.

#	Title
1	Speech Sounds 1983Buy 🇺🇸
2	Bloodchild 1984Buy 🇺🇸
3	The Evening and the Morning and the Night 1987Buy 🇺🇸
4	A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay 2024Buy 🇺🇸

2 books (1995–2014)

Start with Bloodchild and Other Stories and read in order.

#	Title
1	Bloodchild and Other Stories 1995Buy 🇺🇸
2	Unexpected Stories 2014Buy 🇺🇸

2 books (1979–2005)

Start with Kindred and read in order.

#	Title
1	Kindred 1979Buy 🇺🇸
2	Fledgling 2005Buy 🇺🇸

3 books (1987–1989)

Start with Dawn and read in order.

#	Title
1	Dawn 1987Buy 🇺🇸
2	Adulthood Rites 1988Buy 🇺🇸
3	Imago 1989Buy 🇺🇸