Order of Book Series
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C.S. Friedman Books in Order

C.S. Friedman has written 17 books, published between 1987 and 2023. The first book is In Conquest Born (1987) and the newest is Nightborn (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
17
Published
1987–2023
Pages on record
5,144 in 11 of 17 books
Reading time
86–129 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,144 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 11 of 17 titles with a page count on record.

See all 17 books in order Printable C.S. Friedman checklist

Celia S. Friedman, born 12 January 1957, publishes speculative fiction as C. S. Friedman. Friedman designed costumes before turning to fiction and left that trade in 1996 to write full-time. The catalogue holds 17 books, from In Conquest Born (1987) to Nightborn (2023), grouped into the Coldfire Trilogy, the Magister Trilogy, In Conquest Born, Alien Shores and Vampire: The Dark Ages. This Alien Shore (1998) was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and the record carries a 1988 nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Catalogue subjects include fantasy, space opera science fiction, magic, alien abduction and human-alien encounters.

How many C.S. Friedman books are there?

C.S. Friedman has 17 books, released between 1987 and 2023. They include 6 series and 1 title listed outside any series.

C.S. Friedman Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 17 C.S. Friedman books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of In Conquest Born by C.S. Friedman, book 1 of the In Conquest Born series (1987)
  2. Cover of The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman (1990)
  3. Cover of Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman, book 1 of the Coldfire Trilogy (1991)
  4. Cover of When True Night Falls by C.S. Friedman, book 2 of the Coldfire Trilogy (1993)
  5. Cover of Crown of Shadows by C.S. Friedman, book 3 of the Coldfire Trilogy (1995)
  6. Cover of This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman, book 1 of the Alien Shores series (1998)
  7. Cover of The Erciyes Fragments by C.S. Friedman, book 1 of the Vampire: The Dark Ages series (1999)
  8. Cover of The Wilding by C.S. Friedman, book 2 of the In Conquest Born series (2004)
  9. Cover of Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman, book 1 of the Magister Trilogy (2007)
  10. Cover of Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman, book 2 of the Magister Trilogy (2009)
  11. Cover of Legacy of Kings by C.S. Friedman, book 3 of the Magister Trilogy (2011)
  12. Cover of Dreamwalker by C.S. Friedman, book 1 of the Dreamwalker series (2014)
  13. Cover of Dreamseeker by C.S. Friedman, book 2 of the Dreamwalker series (2015)
  14. Cover of Dreamweaver by C.S. Friedman, book 3 of the Dreamwalker series (2016)
  1. 1
    In Conquest BornIn Conquest Born #11987 · 511 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1987511
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Madness Season1990 · 495 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990495
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Black Sun RisingColdfire Trilogy #11991 · 586 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991586
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    When True Night FallsColdfire Trilogy #21993 · 560 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Crown of ShadowsColdfire Trilogy #31995 · 528 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995528
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    This Alien ShoreAlien Shores #11998 · confirmed 2/4
    1998–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Erciyes FragmentsVampire: The Dark Ages #11999 · 144 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999144
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The WildingIn Conquest Born #22004 · 560 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Feast of SoulsMagister Trilogy #12007 · 576 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2007576
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Wings of WrathMagister Trilogy #22009 · confirmed 2/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Legacy of KingsMagister Trilogy #32011 · confirmed 2/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    DominionColdfire Trilogy #42012 · confirmed 2/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    DreamwalkerDreamwalker #12014 · confirmed 2/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    DreamseekerDreamwalker #22015 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    DreamweaverDreamwalker #32016 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    This Virtual NightAlien Shores #22020 · 448 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2020448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    NightbornColdfire Trilogy #52023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

C.S. Friedman books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Coldfire Trilogy in order

5 books
  1. 1. Black Sun Rising
  2. 2. When True Night Falls
  3. 3. Crown of Shadows
  4. 4. Dominion
  5. 5. Nightborn

Magister Trilogy in order

3 books
  1. 1. Feast of Souls
  2. 2. Wings of Wrath
  3. 3. Legacy of Kings

Dreamwalker in order

3 books
  1. 1. Dreamwalker
  2. 2. Dreamseeker
  3. 3. Dreamweaver

In Conquest Born in order

2 books
  1. 1. In Conquest Born
  2. 2. The Wilding

Alien Shores in order

2 books
  1. 1. This Alien Shore
  2. 2. This Virtual Night

Vampire: The Dark Ages in order

1 book
  1. 1. The Erciyes Fragments

Standalone books

1 book

1 C.S. Friedman title here is not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read C.S. Friedman books in order?

You only need to read C.S. Friedman books in order within each series: the books listed here span 6 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with C.S. Friedman

Start with In Conquest Born (1987), the earliest published title.

What is the newest C.S. Friedman book?

Nightborn (2023) is the newest C.S. Friedman book released so far.

Is there a new C.S. Friedman book coming?

No next C.S. Friedman book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Award nominations for C.S. Friedman

Wikidata records 3 nominations for C.S. Friedman. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

C.S. Friedman at a glance

Paused
No new C.S. Friedman title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
C.S. Friedman books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
5,144 pages across the 11 of 17 books with a recorded length, a median of 511 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most C.S. Friedman books, 6 of 17, were published in the 1990s.

What the C.S. Friedman books are about

13 of the 17 C.S. Friedman books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fantasy is tagged on 8 of 13. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.