Max Gladstone Books in Order
Max Gladstone has written 23 books, published between 2012 and 2025. The first book is Three Parts Dead (2012) and the newest is Dead Hand Rule (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 23
- Published
- 2012–2025
- Pages on record
- 4,760 in 11 of 23 books
Max Gladstone, born in 1984, is an American fantasy author. The debut novel Three Parts Dead (2012) belongs to The Craft Sequence, Bookburners is an urban fantasy serial, and Gladstone co-wrote This Is How You Lose the Time War. Gladstone studied Chinese at Yale, then worked in China, teaching in rural Anhui from 2006 to 2008 and translating for a car magazine, and was a 2013 finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. The catalogue holds 23 books running to Dead Hand Rule (2025), with Craft Wars and The Witch Who Came In From The Cold also recorded.
How many Max Gladstone books are there?
Max Gladstone has 23 books, released between 2012 and 2025. They include 3 series and 8 titles listed outside any series.
Max Gladstone Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 23 Max Gladstone 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.
- 120123362/4
- 220133682/4
- 3The Angelus Guns2014 · confirmed 2/42014–2/4
- 4A Kiss With Teeth2014 · confirmed 2/42014–2/4
- 520143842/4
- 62015–2/4
- 720154002/4
- 8The Witch Who Came In From The Cold: Season OneWitch Who Came In From The Cold #12016 · 624 pages · confirmed 2/420166242/4
- 92016–2/4
- 1020164142/4
- 1120168002/4
- 12The Scholast in the Low Waters Kingdom2017 · confirmed 2/42017–2/4
- 13Crispin's Model2017 · confirmed 2/42017–2/4
- 1420175702/4
- 15The Ghost in the Shell2018 · 160 pages · confirmed 2/420181602/4
- 16Fitting In2018 · confirmed 2/42018–2/4
- 17Empress of Forever2019 · 480 pages · confirmed 2/420194802/4
- 18This Is How You Lose the Time WarAmal El-Mohtar Short Stories/Novellas #52019 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/420192242/4
- 19Last Exit2022 · confirmed 2/42022–2/4
- 202023–2/4
- 21The Witch Who Came In From The Cold: The Complete Season 2Witch Who Came In From The Cold #22023 · confirmed 2/42023–2/4
- 222024–2/4
- 232025–2/4
Max Gladstone 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.
Craft Sequence in order
6 booksCraft Wars in order
3 booksBookburners in order
3 booksWitch Who Came In From The Cold in order
2 booksAmal El-Mohtar Short Stories/Novellas
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
8 books8 Max Gladstone titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Max Gladstone books in order?
You only need to read Max Gladstone 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 Max Gladstone
Start with Three Parts Dead (2012), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Max Gladstone book?
Dead Hand Rule (2025) is the newest Max Gladstone book released so far.
Is there a new Max Gladstone book coming?
No next Max Gladstone 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 Max Gladstone has won
Wikidata records 5 awards and 12 nominations for Max Gladstone. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Hugo Award for Best Novella2020Wonfor This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Nebula Award for Best Novella2020Wonfor This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Ignyte Award for Best Novella2020Wonfor This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Locus Award for Best Novella2020Wonfor This Is How You Lose the Time War
- BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction2019Wonfor This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Hugo Award for Best Series2026Shortlistedfor The Craft Wars
- Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel2024Shortlistedfor Dead Country
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel2020Shortlistedfor Empress of Forever
- Theodore Sturgeon Award2020Shortlistedfor This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel2018Shortlistedfor The Ruin of Angels
- Locus Award for Best Novelette2018Shortlistedfor Crispin's Model
- Locus Award for Best Short Story2018Shortlistedfor The Scholast in the Low Waters Kingdom
Max Gladstone at a glance
- Still publishing
- Max Gladstone published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Max Gladstone books have appeared more than one a year on average.
- Length
- 4,760 pages across the 11 of 23 books with a recorded length, a median of 400 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Max Gladstone books, 18 of 23, were published in the 2010s.
What the Max Gladstone books are about
12 of the 23 Max Gladstone 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 7 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Fantasy 7 of 12 books
- Magic 4 of 12 books
- Gods 3 of 12 books
- Conspiracies 2 of 12 books