Gary Gygax Books in Order
29 books are credited to Gary Gygax, published between 1978 and 2020; 1 of them appeared after Gary Gygax's death in 2008. The first book is Monster Manual (1978) and the newest is Beasts of Lejend (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 29
- Published
- 1978–2020
- Pages on record
- 1,947 in 9 of 29 books
Ernest Gary Gygax, July 27, 1938 to March 4, 2008, was an American game designer and author who co-created the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax built an organization of wargaming clubs during the 1960s and founded the Gen Con convention, co-developed the medieval miniatures wargame Chainmail with Jeff Perren in 1971, co-founded the company TSR with Don Kaye in 1973, and started the magazine The Dragon in 1976; TSR published Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. The catalogue lists 29 titles dated from 1978, among them the Monster Manual, the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Players Handbook and Vault of the Drow, with Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (1981) and Monster Manual II (1983) following. The series listed are Dungeons & Dragons Game, Dangerous Journeys and Greyhawk: Gord the Rogue.
Source: Wikidata
How many Gary Gygax books are there?
Gary Gygax has 29 books, released between 1978 and 2020. 1 of them were published after Gary Gygax's death in 2008. They include 3 separate series.
Gary Gygax Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 29 Gary Gygax 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 November 2026.
- 11978–1/4
- 219782551/4
- 3Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players HandbookAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons #21978 · 126 pages · confirmed 1/419781261/4
- 419782561/4
- 51978–1/4
- 71981–1/4
- 81982–1/4
- 919831601/4
- 101983–1/4
- 111985–1/4
- 121985–1/4
- 131986–1/4
- 141986–1/4
- 1519873941/4
- 161987–1/4
- 171987–1/4
- 181988–1/4
- 191988–1/4
- 2019891601/4
- 211992–1/4
- 221992–1/4
- 2319922241/4
- 2419931601/4
- 251993–1/4
- 261999–1/4
- 2719992121/4
- 282000–1/4
- 292020–1/4
Gary Gygax 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.
Dungeons & Dragons Game in order
11 books- 1. Monster Manual
- 2. Vault of the Drow
- 3. The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
- 4. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
- 5. The Forgotten Temple Of Tharizdun
- 6. The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror
- 8. Sagard the Barbarian
- 9. Against the Giants
- 10. The Lejendary Rules for All Players
- 11. Lejend Master's Lore
- 12. Beasts of Lejend
Dangerous Journeys in order
6 booksGreyhawk: Gord the Rogue in order
5 booksDungeons & Dragons in order
3 booksGreyhawk in order
2 booksAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons in order
2 booksDo you have to read Gary Gygax books in order?
You only need to read Gary Gygax books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Gary Gygax
Start with Monster Manual (1978), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Gary Gygax book?
Beasts of Lejend (2020) is the newest Gary Gygax book released so far.
Is there a new Gary Gygax book coming?
No next Gary Gygax book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Gary Gygax at a glance
- Died
- Gary Gygax died in 2008, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Gary Gygax are still being published after Gary Gygax's death in 2008; the newest appeared in 2020.
- Release pace
- Gary Gygax books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 1,947 pages across the 9 of 29 books with a recorded length, a median of 212 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Gary Gygax books, 15 of 29, were published in the 1980s.
When Gary Gygax books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Gary Gygax titles appeared. 1980s was the most productive decade with 15 titles.
29 books total across 5 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Gary Gygax books are about
19 of the 29 Gary Gygax 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 5 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.