Clive Cussler Books in Order

104 books are credited to Clive Cussler, published between 1973 and 2026; 19 of them appeared after Clive Cussler's death in 2020. The first book is The Mediterranean Caper / Mayday! (1973) and the newest is Obsidian Sky (2026). One more title is announced: The Serpent's Eye (2027). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books: 104 + 1 announced
Published: 1973–2026
Confirmed: 79 of 105 titles
Pages on record: 30,653 in 69 of 105 books
Reading time: 511–766 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 30,653 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 69 of 105 titles with a page count on record.

See all 105 books in order Printable Clive Cussler checklist Next: The Serpent's Eye (2027)

Clive Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. Cussler founded and chaired the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has located more than 60 shipwreck sites. Cussler's thrillers, many of them featuring Dirk Pitt, reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. The catalogue lists 105 books under Cussler's name, beginning with The Mediterranean Caper (1973), with The Serpent's Eye due in 2027. Robin Burcell shares credit on 6 of them, Jack Du Brul on 5 and Grant Blackwood on 3. Series include Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files and Sea Hunters.

How many Clive Cussler books are there?

Clive Cussler has 104 published books, released between 1973 and 2026. 19 of them were published after Clive Cussler's death in 2020. They include 6 series and 26 titles listed outside any series. One more, The Serpent's Eye (2027), is announced.

Clive Cussler series and characters in order

Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.

Clive Cussler books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.

Fargo Adventures books in order

11 books by Clive Cussler

1. Spartan Gold
2. Lost Empire
3. The Kingdom
6. The Eye of Heaven
7. The Solomon Curse
8. Pirate
9. The Romanov Ransom
10. The Gray Ghost
11. The Oracle
12. Wrath of Poseidon
13. The Serpent's Eye

Isaac Bell Adventures in order

5 books

1. The Chase
3. The Spy
4. The Race
7. The Bootlegger
8. The Assassin

Clive Cussler Non-Fiction

3 books

3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Sea Hunters in order

2 books

1. The Sea Hunters
2. The Sea Hunters II

Clive Cussler Children's in order

2 books

1. The Adventures of Vin Fiz
2. The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy

General Military in order

1 book

22. Silent Killers

Standalone books

26 books

26 Clive Cussler titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Clive Cussler Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Clive Cussler books run from The Mediterranean Caper / Mayday! (1973) to Obsidian Sky (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Clive Cussler in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Clive Cussler books in order?

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

What order should you read Clive Cussler books in?

Read Clive Cussler one series at a time, each in its own publication order: Dirk Pitt starts with The Mediterranean Caper / Mayday! (1973), Oregon Files starts with Golden Buddha (2003) and NUMA Files starts with Serpent (1999). The earliest catalogued title overall is The Mediterranean Caper / Mayday! (1973).

What is the newest Clive Cussler book?

Obsidian Sky (2026) is the newest Clive Cussler book released so far.

Is there a new Clive Cussler book coming?

Yes. The Serpent's Eye (2027) is the next Clive Cussler book announced in the catalogue. A publication year announced this far ahead moves, so it is worth rechecking: every announced title dated after 2026 sits on the upcoming book releases page.

Printable Clive Cussler Books in Order Checklist

A printable checklist of all 105 books in publication order is on the Clive Cussler reading checklist, with a tick box beside each title.

Clive Cussler at a glance

Died: Clive Cussler died in 2020, according to Wikidata.
After death: Books credited to Clive Cussler are still being published after Clive Cussler's death in 2020. The Serpent's Eye is announced for 2027.
Release pace: Clive Cussler books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length: 30,653 pages across the 69 of 105 books with a recorded length, a median of 448 pages each.
Busiest decade: Most Clive Cussler books, 41 of 105, were published in the 2010s.
Corroboration: 16 of the 105 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 79 in at least three.

What the Clive Cussler books are about

95 of the 105 Clive Cussler books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: action & adventure is tagged on 50 of 95. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Action & adventure 50 of 95 books
Thrillers 39 of 95 books
Dirk Pitt (Fictitious character) 24 of 95 books
Pitt, dirk (fictitious character) 18 of 95 books
Adventure stories 16 of 95 books
Juan Cabrillo (Fictitious character) 12 of 95 books
Marine scientists 12 of 95 books
Suspense 10 of 95 books
Private investigators 9 of 95 books
Treasure troves 9 of 95 books
Austin, kurt (fictitious character) 8 of 95 books
Kurt Austin (Fictitious character) 8 of 95 books

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