James White Books in Order
James White has written 26 books, published between 1957 and 1999. The first book is The Secret Visitors (1957) and the newest is Double Contact (1999). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 26
- Published
- 1957–1999
- Pages on record
- 4,154 in 17 of 26 books
- Reading time
- 69–104 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,154 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 26 titles with a page count on record.
Northern Irish science fiction author James White (7 April 1928 – 23 August 1999) was born in Belfast and spent part of his childhood in Canada. White worked at the Belfast aircraft company Short Brothers Ltd. from 1965 until 1984, retiring early because of diabetes. Sector General is his best known series, and space medicine and human-alien encounters are recurring subjects. The catalogue holds 26 books from The Secret Visitors (1957) to Double Contact (1999), including Hospital Station and Star Surgeon. White was also a science fiction fan who co-wrote two fanzines.
Source: Wikidata
How many James White books are there?
James White has 26 books, released between 1957 and 1999. 14 of them belong to the Sector General series.
James White Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 26 James White 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.
- 1The Secret Visitors1957 · 125 pages · confirmed 2/419571252/4
- 2Second Ending1961 · confirmed 2/41961–2/4
- 319621922/4
- 419631602/4
- 5Deadly Litter1964 · confirmed 2/41964–2/4
- 6The Watch Below1966 · 189 pages · confirmed 2/419661892/4
- 7All Judgment Fled1967 · confirmed 2/41967–2/4
- 819692242/4
- 91971–2/4
- 10Tomorrow is Too Far1971 · 183 pages · confirmed 2/419711832/4
- 11Lifeboat / Dark Inferno1972 · confirmed 2/41972–2/4
- 12The Dream Millennium1976 · 217 pages · confirmed 2/419762172/4
- 1319772282/4
- 1419791842/4
- 151983–2/4
- 16The Escape Orbit / Open Prison1983 · confirmed 2/41983–2/4
- 171984–2/4
- 1819872802/4
- 19Federation World1988 · 283 pages · confirmed 2/419882832/4
- 2019912192/4
- 21The Silent Stars Go By1991 · 441 pages · confirmed 2/419914412/4
- 22Un-Birthday Boy (in Analog)1996 · confirmed 2/41996–2/4
- 2319962882/4
- 2419973202/4
- 2519983012/4
- 2619993202/4
James White 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.
Sector General in order
14 books- 1. Hospital Station
- 2. Star Surgeon
- 3. The Aliens Among Us
- 4. Major Operation
- 5. Futures Past
- 6. Ambulance Ship
- 7. Sector General
- 8. Star Healer
- 9. Code Blue -Emergency
- 10. The Genocidal Healer
- 11. The Galactic Gourmet
- 12. Final Diagnosis
- and 2 more in the table above
Standalone books
12 books12 James White titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read James White books in order?
You only need to read James White books in order within the Sector General series, which holds 14 of the 26 James White books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with James White
Start with The Secret Visitors (1957), the earliest published title.
What is the newest James White book?
Double Contact (1999) is the newest James White book released so far.
Is there a new James White book coming?
No next James White 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 James White
Wikidata records 11 nominations for James White. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.
- Hugo Award for Best Short Story1997Shortlistedfor Un-Birthday Boy
- Locus Award for Best Short Story1997Shortlistedfor Un-Birthday Boy
- Locus Award for Best Novelette1989Shortlistedfor Sanctuary
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel1988Shortlistedfor Code Blue – Emergency
- Locus Award for Best Collection1984Shortlistedfor Sector General
- Locus Award for Best Short Story1983Shortlistedfor The Scourge
- Hugo Award for Best Short Story1977Shortlistedfor Custom Fitting
- Locus Award for Best Short Story1977Shortlistedfor Custom Fitting
- Locus Award for Best Novel1975Shortlistedfor The Dream Millennium
- Nebula Award for Best Novel1966Shortlistedfor The Escape Orbit
- Hugo Award for Best Novel1962Shortlistedfor Second Ending
James White at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest James White title on record dates from 1999, 27 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- James White books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 4,154 pages across the 17 of 26 books with a recorded length, a median of 224 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most James White books, 7 of 26, were published in the 1990s.
When James White books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when James White titles appeared. 1960s was the most productive decade with 7 titles.
26 books total across 5 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the James White books are about
21 of the 26 James White books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 10 of 21. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Science fiction 10 of 21 books
- Fiction in English 4 of 21 books
- Human-alien encounters 3 of 21 books
- Medical 3 of 21 books
- Life on other planets 2 of 21 books
- Science fiction, action & adventure 2 of 21 books
- Sector general (imaginary place) 2 of 21 books
- Space medicine 2 of 21 books