Order of Book Series
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Jason M. Hough Books in Order

Jason M. Hough has written 13 books, published between 2013 and 2026. The first book is The Darwin Elevator (2013) and the newest is Throw Away the Key (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
13
Published
2013–2026
Pages on record
3,488 in 8 of 13 books
Reading time
58–87 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,488 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 8 of 13 titles with a page count on record.

See all 13 books in order Printable Jason M. Hough checklist
Photo of Jason M. Hough, author of the Dire Earth Cycle

Science fiction is the field Jason M. Hough works in, with dystopias, human-alien encounters, plague, cyborgs and hard science fiction among the recorded subjects. The Dire Earth Cycle opens the catalogue: The Darwin Elevator, The Exodus Towers and The Plague Forge all appeared in 2013, followed by The Dire Earth in 2014. Zero World (2015), Injection Burn (2017) and Escape Velocity (2017) continue the run. Hough is credited alone on all 13 catalogued books, which reach Throw Away the Key in 2026.

How many Jason M. Hough books are there?

Jason M. Hough has 13 books, released between 2013 and 2026. 7 of them belong to the Dire Earth Cycle series.

Jason M. Hough Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 13 Jason M. Hough 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 The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough, book 1 of the Dire Earth Cycle (2013)
  2. Cover of The Exodus Towers by Jason M. Hough, book 2 of the Dire Earth Cycle (2013)
  3. Cover of The Plague Forge by Jason M. Hough, book 3 of the Dire Earth Cycle (2013)
  4. Cover of Zero World by Jason M. Hough (2015)
  5. Cover of Nexus Uprising by Jason M. Hough, book 1 of the Mass Effect: Andromeda series (2017)
  6. Cover of Injection Burn by Jason M. Hough, book 6 of the Dire Earth Cycle (2017)
  1. 1
    The Darwin ElevatorDire Earth Cycle #12013 · 480 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Exodus TowersDire Earth Cycle #22013 · 544 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Plague ForgeDire Earth Cycle #32013 · 448 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Wave of InfectionDire Earth Cycle #42013 · confirmed 1/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Dire EarthDire Earth Cycle #52014 · confirmed 1/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Zero World2015 · 560 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2015560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Nexus UprisingMass Effect: Andromeda #12017 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Injection BurnDire Earth Cycle #62017 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Escape VelocityDire Earth Cycle #72017 · confirmed 1/4
    2017–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    AscendanceGears of War #62019 · 464 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2019464
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    BloodlinesGears of War #72020 · confirmed 2/4
    2020–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Instinct2021 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2021256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Throw Away the Key2026 · confirmed 1/4
    2026–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Jason M. Hough 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.

Dire Earth Cycle in order

7 books
  1. 1. The Darwin Elevator
  2. 2. The Exodus Towers
  3. 3. The Plague Forge
  4. 4. Wave of Infection
  5. 5. The Dire Earth
  6. 6. Injection Burn
  7. 7. Escape Velocity

Gears of War in order

2 books
  1. 6. Ascendance
  2. 7. Bloodlines

Mass Effect: Andromeda in order

1 book
  1. 1. Nexus Uprising

Standalone books

3 books

3 Jason M. Hough titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Jason M. Hough books in order?

You only need to read Jason M. Hough books in order within the Dire Earth Cycle series, which holds 7 of the 13 Jason M. Hough books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Jason M. Hough

Start with The Darwin Elevator (2013), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Jason M. Hough book?

Throw Away the Key (2026) is the newest Jason M. Hough book released so far.

Is there a new Jason M. Hough book coming?

No next Jason M. Hough book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Jason M. Hough at a glance

Still publishing
Jason M. Hough published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
Jason M. Hough books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
3,488 pages across the 8 of 13 books with a recorded length, a median of 456 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Jason M. Hough books, 10 of 13, were published in the 2010s.

What the Jason M. Hough books are about

8 of the 13 Jason M. Hough 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 4 of 8. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.