Katherine Arden Books in Order

Katherine Arden has written 9 books, published between 2017 and 2026. The first book is The Bear and the Nightingale (2017) and the newest is The Unicorn Hunters (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
9
Published
2017–2026
Pages on record
1,588 in 5 of 9 books
Reading time
26–40 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,588 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 5 of 9 titles with a page count on record.

Photo of Katherine Arden, author
Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Winternight Trilogy made Katherine Arden's name: fantasy novels set in medieval Russia, opening with The Bear and the Nightingale (2017) and nominated for Hugo and Locus awards. Arden, an American novelist writing under a pen name, also produced the Small Spaces series of middle-grade horror, whose first book took the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award in 2020. Nine books are catalogued between 2017 and 2026, and the newest is The Unicorn Hunters (2026).

Source: Wikidata

How many Katherine Arden books are there?

Katherine Arden has 9 books, released between 2017 and 2026. They include 2 separate series.

Katherine Arden Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 9 Katherine Arden 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. 1
    The Bear and the NightingaleWinternight Trilogy #12017 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017368
  2. 2
    The Girl in the TowerWinternight Trilogy #22017 · 362 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017362
  3. 3
    Small SpacesSmall Spaces #12018 · 218 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018218
  4. 4
    Dead VoicesSmall Spaces #22019 · confirmed 2/4
    2019–
  5. 5
    The Winter of the WitchWinternight Trilogy #32019 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2019384
  6. 6
    Dark WatersSmall Spaces #32021 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2021256
  7. 7
    Empty SmilesSmall Spaces #42022 · confirmed 2/4
    2022–
  8. 8
    The Warm Hands of GhostsKatherine Arden Standalone Novels #12024 · confirmed 2/4
    2024–
  9. 9
    The Unicorn HuntersKatherine Arden Standalone Novels #22026 · confirmed 2/4
    2026–

Katherine Arden 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.

Small Spaces in order

4 books
  1. 1. Small Spaces
  2. 2. Dead Voices
  3. 3. Dark Waters
  4. 4. Empty Smiles

Winternight Trilogy in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Bear and the Nightingale
  2. 2. The Girl in the Tower
  3. 3. The Winter of the Witch

Katherine Arden Standalone Novels

2 books

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

Do you have to read Katherine Arden books in order?

You only need to read Katherine Arden books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Katherine Arden

Start with The Bear and the Nightingale (2017), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Katherine Arden book?

The Unicorn Hunters (2026) is the newest Katherine Arden book released so far.

Is there a new Katherine Arden book coming?

No next Katherine Arden 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 Katherine Arden

Wikidata records 5 nominations for Katherine Arden. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given. Award data is sourced from Wikidata.

Katherine Arden at a glance

Still publishing
Katherine Arden published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
Katherine Arden books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
1,588 pages across the 5 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 362 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Katherine Arden books, 5 of 9, were published in the 2010s.

When Katherine Arden books were published

Publication distribution by decade, showing when Katherine Arden titles appeared. 2010s was the most productive decade with 5 titles.

2010s
5
2020s
4

9 books total across 2 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.

What the Katherine Arden books are about

6 of the 9 Katherine Arden books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fantasy is tagged on 3 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.