Kenneth Oppel Books in Order
Kenneth Oppel has written 38 books, published between 1985 and 2025. The first book is Colin's fantastic video adventure. (1985) and the newest is Best of All Worlds (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 38
- Published
- 1985–2025
- Pages on record
- 4,812 in 24 of 38 books
- Reading time
- 80–120 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,812 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 24 of 38 titles with a page count on record.
Kenneth Oppel, born in Port Alberni in 1967, is a Canadian children's writer who grew up in Victoria and Halifax and also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England and Ireland. He wrote his first book, Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure, in 1985 while at St Michaels University School; a family friend passed the manuscript to Roald Dahl, who recommended it to his agent. Silverwing, Matt Cruse, Overthrow, the Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein and Barnes and The Brains are his series. Thirty-eight titles reach Best of All Worlds (2025).
How many Kenneth Oppel books are there?
Kenneth Oppel has 38 books, released between 1985 and 2025. They include 5 series and 19 titles listed outside any series.
Kenneth Oppel Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 38 Kenneth Oppel 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.
- 1Colin's fantastic video adventure.1985 · 104 pages · confirmed 1/419851041/4
- 2The Live Forever Machine1990 · 174 pages · confirmed 1/419901741/4
- 3Cosimo Cat1991 · 22 pages · confirmed 1/41991221/4
- 4Dead water zone1992 · 142 pages · confirmed 1/419921421/4
- 51993–1/4
- 6Cosmic Snapshots1993 · 48 pages · confirmed 1/41993481/4
- 7A Crazy Case Of Robots / A Bad Case Of RobotsBarnes and The Brains #21993 · 57 pages · confirmed 1/41993571/4
- 8Follow That Star1994 · 1 pages · confirmed 1/4199411/4
- 9A Strange Case Of Magic / A Bad Case of MagicBarnes and The Brains #31994 · 96 pages · confirmed 1/41994961/4
- 101994541/4
- 111996961/4
- 12A Weird Case Of Super-Goo / A Bad Case Of Super GooBarnes and The Brains #51996 · 60 pages · confirmed 1/41996601/4
- 1319972241/4
- 141999–1/4
- 15Emma's Emu1999 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/41999641/4
- 1620003201/4
- 17Peg and the Whale2000 · confirmed 1/42000–1/4
- 18The Devil's Cure2000 · 496 pages · confirmed 1/420004961/4
- 1920044181/4
- 20Peg And The Yeti2004 · confirmed 1/42004–1/4
- 212005–1/4
- 2220073301/4
- 23Kings Taster2007 · confirmed 1/42007–1/4
- 242008–1/4
- 252010581/4
- 26Half Brother2010 · confirmed 1/42010–1/4
- 272011–1/4
- 282012–1/4
- 29The Klack Bros. Museum2013 · confirmed 1/42013–1/4
- 30The Boundless2014 · 332 pages · confirmed 1/420143321/4
- 31The Nest2015 · 244 pages · confirmed 1/420152441/4
- 33Inkling2018 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/420182721/4
- 342020–1/4
- 3520204161/4
- 3620214161/4
- 37Ghostlight2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
- 38Best of All Worlds2025 · confirmed 1/42025–1/4
Kenneth Oppel 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.
Barnes and The Brains in order
6 booksSilverwing in order
4 books- 1. Silverwing
- 2. Sunwing
- 3. Firewing
- 4. Darkwing / Dusk
Matt Cruse in order
3 books- 1. Airborn
- 2. Skybreaker
- 3. Starclimber
Overthrow in order
3 booksApprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein in order
2 booksChap in order
1 bookStandalone books
19 books19 Kenneth Oppel titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Kenneth Oppel books in order?
You only need to read Kenneth Oppel books in order within each series: the books listed here span 5 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Kenneth Oppel
Start with Colin's fantastic video adventure. (1985), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Kenneth Oppel book?
Best of All Worlds (2025) is the newest Kenneth Oppel book released so far.
Is there a new Kenneth Oppel book coming?
No next Kenneth Oppel 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 Kenneth Oppel has won
Wikidata records 2 awards and 2 nominations for Kenneth Oppel. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award2011Won
- Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award1998Won
- Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book2006Shortlistedfor Skybreaker
- Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book2005Shortlistedfor Airborn
Kenneth Oppel at a glance
- Still publishing
- Kenneth Oppel published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Kenneth Oppel books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 4,812 pages across the 24 of 38 books with a recorded length, a median of 158 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Kenneth Oppel books, 14 of 38, were published in the 1990s.
What the Kenneth Oppel books are about
33 of the 38 Kenneth Oppel books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: children's fiction is tagged on 22 of 33. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Children's fiction 22 of 33 books
- Science fiction 8 of 33 books
- Bats 5 of 33 books
- Fantasy 5 of 33 books
- Adventure stories 3 of 33 books
- Airships 3 of 33 books
- Barnes, Gilles (Personnage fictif) 3 of 33 books
- Brothers 3 of 33 books
- Giles Barnes (Fictitious character) 3 of 33 books
- Survival 3 of 33 books