Order of Book Series
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John W. Campbell Books in Order

15 books are credited to John W. Campbell, published between 1930 and 2014; 6 of them appeared after John W. Campbell's death in 1971. The first book is The Black Star Passes (1930) and the newest is Cosmic Kill & Beyond the End of Space (2014). Publication order is the reading order below.

John W. Campbell also publishes as Arthur McCann, Don A. Stuart, Karl van Campen.

Books
15
Published
1930–2014
Pages on record
2,570 in 12 of 15 books
Reading time
43–64 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,570 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 15 titles with a page count on record.

See all 15 books in order Printable John W. Campbell checklist
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Photo of John W. Campbell, author
slomuse / PD

John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 to July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, later Analog Science Fiction and Fact, from late 1937 until Campbell's death in 1971. Campbell started writing science fiction at 18 while a student at MIT. Super-science space opera appeared under Campbell's own name; other stories used the pseudonym Don A. Stuart, and the pen names Karl Van Kampen and Arthur McCann also appear. The novella Who Goes There? (1938) became the films The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Thing (1982), plus a 2011 prequel. The Black Star Passes (1930) and The Mightiest Machine (1934) are catalogued titles.

Source: Wikidata

How many John W. Campbell books are there?

John W. Campbell has 15 books, released between 1930 and 2014. 6 of them were published after John W. Campbell's death in 1971. They include 3 series and 9 titles listed outside any series.

John W. Campbell Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 15 John W. Campbell 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.

  1. Cover of The Black Star Passes by John W. Campbell, book 1 of the Arcot, Wade and Morey series (1930)
  2. Cover of The Mightiest Machine by John W. Campbell, book 1 of the Aarn Munro series (1934)
  3. Cover of The Ultimate Weapon by John W. Campbell (1936)
  4. Cover of Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (1938)
  5. Cover of The Moon is Hell! by John W. Campbell (1950)
  6. Cover of Cloak of Aesir by John W. Campbell (1952)
  7. Cover of Islands of Space by John W. Campbell, book 2 of the Arcot, Wade and Morey series (1956)
  8. Cover of Invaders from the Infinite by John W. Campbell, book 3 of the Arcot, Wade and Morey series (1961)
  9. Cover of The Best of John W. Campbell by John W. Campbell (1973)
  10. Cover of The Space Beyond by John W. Campbell (1976)
  11. Cover of The Essential Surrealism by John W. Campbell (2002)
  12. Cover of A New Dawn by John W. Campbell (2003)
  1. 1
    The Black Star PassesArcot, Wade and Morey #11930 · 180 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1930180
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Mightiest MachineAarn Munro #11934 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1934224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Ultimate Weapon1936 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1936112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Who Goes There?1938 · 168 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1938168
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The incredible planetAarn Munro #21949 · confirmed 1/4
    1949–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Moon is Hell!1950 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1950256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Cloak of Aesir1952 · 254 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952254
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Islands of SpaceArcot, Wade and Morey #21956 · 152 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956152
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Invaders from the InfiniteArcot, Wade and Morey #31961 · 156 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1961156
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Best of John W. Campbell1973 · 278 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973278
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Space Beyond1976 · confirmed 1/4
    1976–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Harper Lee's To Kill A MockingbirdQuick and easy notes #11984 · confirmed 1/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Essential Surrealism2002 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    A New Dawn2003 · 462 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003462
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Cosmic Kill & Beyond the End of Space2014 · 216 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2014216
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John W. Campbell 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.

Arcot, Wade and Morey in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Black Star Passes
  2. 2. Islands of Space
  3. 3. Invaders from the Infinite

Aarn Munro in order

2 books
  1. 1. The Mightiest Machine
  2. 2. The incredible planet

Quick and easy notes in order

1 book
  1. 1. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Standalone books

9 books

9 John W. Campbell titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read John W. Campbell books in order?

You only need to read John W. Campbell 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 John W. Campbell

Start with The Black Star Passes (1930), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John W. Campbell book?

Cosmic Kill & Beyond the End of Space (2014) is the newest John W. Campbell book released so far.

Is there a new John W. Campbell book coming?

No next John W. Campbell 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 John W. Campbell has won

Wikidata records 10 awards and 2 nominations for John W. Campbell. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.

John W. Campbell at a glance

Died
John W. Campbell died in 1971, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to John W. Campbell are still being published after John W. Campbell's death in 1971; the newest appeared in 2014.
Release pace
John W. Campbell books have appeared about one every 6 years on average.
Length
2,570 pages across the 12 of 15 books with a recorded length, a median of 198 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John W. Campbell books, 4 of 15, were published in the 1930s.

When John W. Campbell books were published

Publication distribution by decade, showing when John W. Campbell titles appeared. 1930s was the most productive decade with 4 titles.

1930s
4
1940s
1
1950s
3
1960s
1
1970s
2
1980s
1
2000s
2
2010s
1

15 books total across 8 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.

What the John W. Campbell books are about

9 of the 15 John W. Campbell 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 6 of 9. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

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