Order of Book Series
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Michael Swanwick Books in Order

Michael Swanwick has written 54 books, published between 1982 and 2026. The first book is The Man Who Met Picasso (1982) and the newest is The Universe Box (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
54
Published
1982–2026
Pages on record
5,700 in 23 of 54 books
See all 54 books in order Printable Michael Swanwick checklist
Photo of Michael Swanwick, author

Michael Swanwick is an American science fiction and fantasy author, born 18 November 1950, who began publishing in the early 1980s. His work covers cyberpunk, space opera and fantasy, and his novel Stations of the Tide (1991) won the Nebula Award. Swanwick's series include The Iron Dragon's Daughter, the Darger and Surplus stories and the Mongolian Wizard. The catalogue holds 54 titles from The Man Who Met Picasso (1982) to The Universe Box (2026), at a median of 256 pages, and short fiction makes up much of it.

How many Michael Swanwick books are there?

Michael Swanwick has 54 books, released between 1982 and 2026. They include 3 series and 35 titles listed outside any series.

Michael Swanwick Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 54 Michael Swanwick 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.

  1. Cover of The Man Who Met Picasso by Michael Swanwick (1982)
  2. Cover of In the Drift by Michael Swanwick (1984)
  3. Cover of Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick (1987)
  4. Cover of Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures by Michael Swanwick (1991)
  5. Cover of Griffin's Egg by Michael Swanwick (1991)
  6. Cover of Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick (1992)
  7. Cover of The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick, book 1 of the Iron Dragon's Daughter series (1993)
  8. Cover of The Dead (in Starlight 1) by Michael Swanwick (1996)
  9. Cover of The Postmodern Archipelago by Michael Swanwick (1997)
  10. Cover of A Geography of Unknown Lands by Michael Swanwick (1997)
  11. Cover of The Very Pulse of the Machine (in The Best of...) by Michael Swanwick (1998)
  12. Cover of Moon Dogs by Michael Swanwick (2000)
  13. Cover of Being Gardner Dozois by Michael Swanwick (2001)
  14. Cover of Bones of the Earth by Michael Swanwick (2002)
  15. Cover of Michael Swanwick's Field Guide to Mesozoic Megafauna by Michael Swanwick (2004)
  16. Cover of A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick (2007)
  17. Cover of Dancing with Bears by Michael Swanwick, book 1 of the Darger and Surplus series (2011)
  18. Cover of Chasing the Phoenix by Michael Swanwick, book 2 of the Darger and Surplus series (2015)
  19. Cover of Not So Much, Said the Cat by Michael Swanwick (2016)
  20. Cover of The Postutopian Adventures of Darger and Surplus by Michael Swanwick, book 3 of the Darger and Surplus series (2020)
  1. 1
    The Man Who Met Picasso1982 · 350 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982350
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    In the Drift1984 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Dogfight (in Omni)William Gibson Short Stories/Novellas #11985 · confirmed 2/4
    1985–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Vacuum Flowers1987 · 10 pages · confirmed 2/4
    198710
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Edge of the World1989 · confirmed 2/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures1991 · 96 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199196
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Stations of the Tide1991 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Griffin's Egg1991 · 128 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991128
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Tales of Old Earth1992 · 280 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992280
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Iron Dragon's DaughterIron Dragon's Daughter #11993 · 424 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993424
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Changeling\'s Tale1994 · confirmed 2/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Walking Out (in Asimov's)1995 · confirmed 2/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Radio Waves1995 · confirmed 2/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Dead (in Starlight 1)1996 · 316 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996316
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Postmodern Archipelago1997 · 68 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199768
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    A Geography of Unknown Lands1997 · 154 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1997154
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Jack Faust1997 · confirmed 2/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Very Pulse of the Machine (in The Best of...)1998 · 469 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998469
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Ancient Engines (in Asimov's)1999 · confirmed 2/4
    1999–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Scherzo with Tyrannosaur (in Asimov's)1999 · confirmed 2/4
    1999–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Moon Dogs2000 · 410 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2000410
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Being Gardner Dozois2001 · 248 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Bones of the Earth2002 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2002400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    'Hello,' Said the Stick2002 · confirmed 2/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Little Cat Laughed to See Such SportJohn Kessel Short Stories/Novellas #162002 · confirmed 2/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Slow Life2002 · confirmed 2/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Michael Swanwick's Field Guide to Mesozoic Megafauna2004 · 34 pages · confirmed 2/4
    200434
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Periodic Table of Science Fiction2005 · confirmed 2/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    A Small Room in Koboldtown2007 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2007256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    The Dragons of BabelIron Dragon's Daughter #22008 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Michael Swanwick series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

Michael Swanwick 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.

Iron Dragon's Daughter in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Iron Dragon's Daughter
  2. 2. The Dragons of Babel
  3. 3. The Iron Dragon's Mother

Darger and Surplus in order

3 books
  1. 1. Dancing with Bears
  2. 2. Chasing the Phoenix
  3. 3. The Postutopian Adventures of Darger and Surplus

William Gibson Short Stories/Novellas

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

John Kessel Short Stories/Novellas

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Standalone books

35 books

35 Michael Swanwick titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Michael Swanwick books in order?

You only need to read Michael Swanwick 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 Michael Swanwick

Start with The Mongolian Wizard (2012), the first Mongolian Wizard book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Man Who Met Picasso (1982).

What is the newest Michael Swanwick book?

The Universe Box (2026) is the newest Michael Swanwick book released so far.

Is there a new Michael Swanwick book coming?

No next Michael Swanwick 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 Michael Swanwick has won

Wikidata records 10 awards and 121 nominations for Michael Swanwick. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Michael Swanwick at a glance

Still publishing
Michael Swanwick published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
Michael Swanwick books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
5,700 pages across the 23 of 54 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Michael Swanwick books, 16 of 54, were published in the 2010s.

What the Michael Swanwick books are about

19 of the 54 Michael Swanwick 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 10 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.