Karl Edward Wagner Books in Order
42 books are credited to Karl Edward Wagner, published between 1970 and 2020; 10 of them appeared after Karl Edward Wagner's death in 1994. The first book is Darkness Weaves (1970) and the newest is A Little Ochre Book of Occult Stories (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 42
- Published
- 1970–2020
- Confirmed
- 1 of 42 titles
- Pages on record
- 4,959 in 15 of 42 books
Karl Edward Wagner was an American author of horror, science fiction and heroic fantasy who also worked as a poet, editor and publisher, and who created a run of stories about the fantasy character Kane. Wagner came from Knoxville, Tennessee, trained in psychiatry, lived from 12 December 1945 to 14 October 1994, and wrote seven novels. Wagner edited The Year's Best Horror Stories for DAW Books between 1980 and 1994 and put together three volumes of Robert E. Howard's Conan in restored original form. The catalogue lists 42 books, including Darkness Weaves (1970), Death Angel's Shadow (1973) and Bloodstone (1975).
How many Karl Edward Wagner books are there?
Karl Edward Wagner has 42 books, released between 1970 and 2020. 10 of them were published after Karl Edward Wagner's death in 1994. They include 4 series and 23 titles listed outside any series.
Karl Edward Wagner Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 42 Karl Edward Wagner 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.
- 119702881/4
- 2In the Pines1973 · confirmed 1/41973–1/4
- 31973–1/4
- 4Sticks1974 · confirmed 1/41974–1/4
- 51975–1/4
- 6The Fourth Seal1975 · confirmed 1/41975–1/4
- 71976–1/4
- 819762471/4
- 919762221/4
- 10Undertow1977 · confirmed 1/41977–1/4
- 1119782861/4
- 121979–2/4
- 1319792241/4
- 14The River of Night's Dreaming1981 · confirmed 1/41981–1/4
- 15Beyond Any Measure1982 · confirmed 1/41982–1/4
- 16In a Lonely Place1983 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/419832881/4
- 17Into Whose Hands1983 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/419832401/4
- 18More Sinned Against1984 · confirmed 1/41984–1/4
- 19Old Loves1985 · confirmed 1/41985–1/4
- 20Shrapnel1985 · confirmed 1/41985–1/4
- 21Blue Lady, Come Back1985 · confirmed 1/41985–1/4
- 221987–1/4
- 23Why Not You And I?1987 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/419872401/4
- 24Endless Night1987 · confirmed 1/41987–1/4
- 2519892881/4
- 26At First Just Ghostly1989 · confirmed 1/41989–1/4
- 27But You\'ll Never Follow Me1990 · confirmed 1/41990–1/4
- 2819913841/4
- 291991–3/4
- 30Tell Me, Dark1992 · confirmed 1/41992–1/4
- 31Did They Get You to Trade?1992 · confirmed 1/41992–1/4
- 32Deep in the Depths of the Acme Warehouse1994 · confirmed 1/41994–1/4
- 33I've Come to Talk with You Again1995 · 416 pages · confirmed 1/419954161/4
- 34Plan 10 from Inner Space1996 · confirmed 1/41996–1/4
- 3519974581/4
- 36Red Harvest2002 · confirmed 1/42002–1/4
- 3720025281/4
- 3820034501/4
- 39Masters of the Weird Tale: Karl Edward Wagner2011 · confirmed 1/42011–1/4
- 402012–1/4
- 4120124001/4
- 422020–1/4
Karl Edward Wagner series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Kane books in order 9 books
Karl Edward Wagner 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.
Echoes of Valor in order
3 booksBran Mak Morn in order
2 booksBest Horror Stories in order
2 booksConan (Bantam) in order
1 bookLittle Book in order
1 bookStandalone books
23 books23 Karl Edward Wagner titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Karl Edward Wagner books in order?
You only need to read Karl Edward Wagner 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 Karl Edward Wagner
Start with Darkness Weaves (1970), the first Kane book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.
What is the newest Karl Edward Wagner book?
A Little Ochre Book of Occult Stories (2020) is the newest Karl Edward Wagner book released so far.
Is there a new Karl Edward Wagner book coming?
No next Karl Edward Wagner 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 Karl Edward Wagner has won
Wikidata records 5 awards and 27 nominations for Karl Edward Wagner. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection1997Wonfor Exorcisms and Ecstasies
- British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction1984Wonfor Neither Brute Nor Human
- World Fantasy Award for Best Novella1983Wonfor Beyond Any Measure
- British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction1977Wonfor Two Suns Setting
- British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction1975Wonfor Sticks
- Locus Award for Best Collection1998Shortlistedfor Exorcisms and Ecstasies
- British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction1996Shortlistedfor I've Come to Talk with You Again
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1995Shortlistedfor The Year's Best Horror Stories: XXII
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1994Shortlistedfor The Year's Best Horror Stories: XXI
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1993Shortlistedfor The Year's Best Horror Stories: XX
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1991Shortlistedfor The Year's Best Horror Stories: XVIII
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1990Shortlistedfor The Year's Best Horror Stories: XVII
Karl Edward Wagner at a glance
- Died
- Karl Edward Wagner died in 1994, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Karl Edward Wagner are still being published after Karl Edward Wagner's death in 1994; the newest appeared in 2020.
- Release pace
- Karl Edward Wagner books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 4,959 pages across the 15 of 42 books with a recorded length, a median of 288 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Karl Edward Wagner books, 13 of 42, were published in the 1980s.
What the Karl Edward Wagner books are about
16 of the 42 Karl Edward Wagner 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 5 of 16. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Science fiction 5 of 16 books
- Kane (fantasy character) 4 of 16 books
- Fantasy 2 of 16 books
- Horror 2 of 16 books