Order of Book Series
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Jasper Fforde Books in Order

Jasper Fforde has written 19 books, published between 2001 and 2025. The first book is The Eyre Affair (2001) and the newest is Dark Reading Matter (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
19
Published
2001–2025
Confirmed
18 of 19 titles
Pages on record
4,533 in 12 of 19 books
Reading time
76–113 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,533 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 19 titles with a page count on record.

See all 19 books in order Printable Jasper Fforde checklist
Photo of Jasper Fforde, author

Thursday Next, a woman detective, heads Jasper Fforde's main series, where books and reading and the characters of literature supply the subject matter. The Eyre Affair (2001) opens a catalogue of 19 fantasy titles that reaches Dark Reading Matter (2025), with the Nursery Crime books, the Chronicles of Kazam and Shades of Grey beside the Next novels. Dragons, magic and time travel fill the subject tags.

How many Jasper Fforde books are there?

Jasper Fforde has 19 books, released between 2001 and 2025. They include 4 series and 1 title listed outside any series.

Jasper Fforde Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 19 Jasper Fforde 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 Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, book 1 of the Thursday Next series (2001)
  2. Cover of Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, book 2 of the Thursday Next series (2002)
  3. Cover of The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, book 3 of the Thursday Next series (2003)
  4. Cover of Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde, book 4 of the Thursday Next series (2004)
  5. Cover of The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde, book 1 of the Nursery Crime series (2005)
  6. Cover of The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde, book 2 of the Nursery Crime series (2006)
  7. Cover of First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde, book 5 of the Thursday Next series (2007)
  8. Cover of Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, book 1 of the Shades Of Grey series (2009)
  9. Cover of The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde, book 1 of the Chronicles Of Kazam series (2010)
  10. Cover of The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde, book 2 of the Chronicles Of Kazam series (2011)
  11. Cover of One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde, book 6 of the Thursday Next series (2011)
  12. Cover of The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde, book 7 of the Thursday Next series (2012)
  13. Cover of The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde, book 3 of the Chronicles Of Kazam series (2014)
  14. Cover of Early Riser by Jasper Fforde, book 1 of the Jasper Fforde Standalone Novels series (2018)
  15. Cover of The Great Troll War by Jasper Fforde, book 4 of the Chronicles Of Kazam series (2021)
  1. 1
    The Eyre AffairThursday Next #12001 · 374 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2001374
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Lost in a Good BookThursday Next #22002 · 399 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2002399
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Well of Lost PlotsThursday Next #32003 · confirmed 3/4
    2003–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Something RottenThursday Next #42004 · 416 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2004416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Big Over EasyNursery Crime #12005 · 400 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2005400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Fourth BearNursery Crime #22006 · 378 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2006378
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    First Among SequelsThursday Next #52007 · 363 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2007363
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Thursday Next2007 · confirmed 1/4
    2007–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Shades of GreyShades Of Grey #12009 · confirmed 3/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Last DragonslayerChronicles Of Kazam #12010 · 287 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2010287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Song of the QuarkbeastChronicles Of Kazam #22011 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2011304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    One of Our Thursdays Is MissingThursday Next #62011 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2011384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Woman Who Died A LotThursday Next #72012 · confirmed 3/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Eye of ZoltarChronicles Of Kazam #32014 · 405 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2014405
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Early RiserJasper Fforde Standalone Novels #12018 · 407 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2018407
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Constant RabbitJasper Fforde Standalone Novels #22020 · confirmed 3/4
    2020–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Great Troll WarChronicles Of Kazam #42021 · 416 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2021416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Red Side StoryShades Of Grey #22024 · confirmed 3/4
    2024–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Dark Reading MatterThursday Next #82025 · confirmed 4/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Jasper Fforde series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

Jasper Fforde 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.

Chronicles Of Kazam in order

4 books
  1. 1. The Last Dragonslayer
  2. 2. The Song of the Quarkbeast
  3. 3. The Eye of Zoltar
  4. 4. The Great Troll War

Nursery Crime in order

2 books
  1. 1. The Big Over Easy
  2. 2. The Fourth Bear

Shades Of Grey in order

2 books
  1. 1. Shades of Grey
  2. 2. Red Side Story

Jasper Fforde Standalone Novels

2 books

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

Standalone books

1 book

1 Jasper Fforde title here is not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Jasper Fforde books in order?

You only need to read Jasper Fforde books in order within each series: the books listed here span 4 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Jasper Fforde

Start with The Eyre Affair (2001), the first Thursday Next book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest Jasper Fforde book?

Dark Reading Matter (2025) is the newest Jasper Fforde book released so far.

Is there a new Jasper Fforde book coming?

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

Awards Jasper Fforde has won

Wikidata records 3 awards and 5 nominations for Jasper Fforde. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Julia-Verlanger Award2012Wonfor Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron
  • Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize2004Won
  • Dilys Award2004Won
  • Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel2011Shortlistedfor Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron
  • Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel2005Shortlistedfor The Eyre Affair
  • Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel2003Shortlistedfor Lost in a Good Book
  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2002Shortlistedfor The Eyre Affair
  • Locus Award for Best First Novel2002Shortlistedfor The Eyre Affair

Jasper Fforde at a glance

Still publishing
Jasper Fforde published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
Jasper Fforde books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
4,533 pages across the 12 of 19 books with a recorded length, a median of 392 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Jasper Fforde books, 9 of 19, were published in the 2000s.
Corroboration
1 of the 19 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and 18 in at least three.

What the Jasper Fforde books are about

14 of the 19 Jasper Fforde books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: thursday next (fictitious character) is tagged on 7 of 14. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Other Fantasy authors

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