Order of Book Series
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Michael Z. Williamson Books in Order

Michael Z. Williamson has written 24 books, published between 2003 and 2021. The first book is Freehold (2003) and the newest is Defiance (2021). Publication order is the reading order below. 12 of the 24 books listed here are in the Freehold series, which has its own page: Freehold books in order.

Books
24
Published
2003–2021
Confirmed
1 of 24 titles
Pages on record
7,154 in 16 of 24 books
Reading time
119–179 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,154 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 24 titles with a page count on record.

See all 24 books in order Printable Michael Z. Williamson checklist
Photo of Michael Z. Williamson, author

Michael Z. Williamson, born in 1967, writes military science fiction and military fiction. The libertarian-themed Freehold series, published by Baen Books, is Williamson's best-known work: eight Freehold novels appeared between 2004 and 2016, followed by the anthologies Forged in Blood (2017) and Freehold: Resistance (2019), which gather short stories set in that universe by Williamson and by other writers, among them Larry Correia, Tony Daniel, Tom Kratman and Brad R. Torgersen. The catalogue holds 24 books dated 2003 to 2021, opening with Freehold (2003), with space warfare, refugees, snipers and terrorism among the recorded subjects.

How many Michael Z. Williamson books are there?

Michael Z. Williamson has 24 books, released between 2003 and 2021. They include 3 series and 6 titles listed outside any series.

Michael Z. Williamson Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 24 Michael Z. Williamson 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 Freehold by Michael Z. Williamson, book 1 of the Freehold series (2003)
  2. Cover of The Scope of Justice by Michael Z. Williamson, book 1 of the Target: Terror series (2004)
  3. Cover of Targets of Opportunity by Michael Z. Williamson, book 2 of the Target: Terror series (2005)
  4. Cover of The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson, book 2 of the Freehold series (2005)
  5. Cover of Confirmed Kill by Michael Z. Williamson, book 3 of the Target: Terror series (2005)
  6. Cover of Better to Beg Forgiveness by Michael Z. Williamson, book 3 of the Freehold series (2007)
  7. Cover of Contact with Chaos by Michael Z. Williamson, book 4 of the Freehold series (2009)
  8. Cover of Do Unto Others by Michael Z. Williamson, book 5 of the Freehold series (2010)
  9. Cover of Rogue by Michael Z. Williamson, book 6 of the Freehold series (2011)
  10. Cover of When Diplomacy Fails by Michael Z. Williamson, book 7 of the Freehold series (2012)
  11. Cover of Tour of Duty by Michael Z. Williamson (2013)
  12. Cover of Wisdom From My Internet by Michael Z. Williamson (2014)
  13. Cover of A Long Time Until Now by Michael Z. Williamson, book 1 of the Temporal Displacement series (2015)
  14. Cover of Angeleyes by Michael Z. Williamson, book 8 of the Freehold series (2016)
  15. Cover of Forged in Blood by Michael Z. Williamson, book 9 of the Freehold series (2017)
  16. Cover of Tide of Battle by Michael Z. Williamson (2018)
  17. Cover of Resistance by Michael Z. Williamson, book 10 of the Freehold series (2019)
  18. Cover of Resistance by Michael Z. Williamson, book 11 of the Freehold series (2019)
  1. 1
    FreeholdFreehold #12003 · 667 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2003667
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Scope of JusticeTarget: Terror #12004 · 373 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004373
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Targets of OpportunityTarget: Terror #22005 · 375 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005375
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The WeaponFreehold #22005 · 650 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005650
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Confirmed KillTarget: Terror #32005 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Better to Beg ForgivenessFreehold #32007 · 640 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2007640
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Contact with ChaosFreehold #42009 · confirmed 2/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Do Unto OthersFreehold #52010 · confirmed 2/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    RogueFreehold #62011 · 480 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2011480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    When Diplomacy FailsFreehold #72012 · 496 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Rogues in HellHeroes in Hell #152012 · confirmed 3/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Tour of Duty2013 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2013336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Soft Casualty2014 · confirmed 2/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Wisdom From My Internet2014 · 177 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2014177
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    A Long Time Until NowTemporal Displacement #12015 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Tick of the Clock2015 · confirmed 2/4
    2015–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Starhome2016 · confirmed 2/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    AngeleyesFreehold #82016 · 512 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Forged in BloodFreehold #92017 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Tide of Battle2018 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    ResistanceFreehold #102019 · 512 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2019512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    ResistanceFreehold #112019 · confirmed 2/4
    2019–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    That Was Now, This Is ThenTemporal Displacement #22021 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2021368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    DefianceFreehold #122021 · confirmed 2/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Michael Z. Williamson series in order

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

Michael Z. Williamson 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.

Target: Terror in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Scope of Justice
  2. 2. Targets of Opportunity
  3. 3. Confirmed Kill

Temporal Displacement in order

2 books
  1. 1. A Long Time Until Now
  2. 2. That Was Now, This Is Then

Heroes in Hell in order

1 book
  1. 15. Rogues in Hell

Standalone books

6 books

6 Michael Z. Williamson titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Michael Z. Williamson books in order?

You only need to read Michael Z. Williamson 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 Z. Williamson

Start with Freehold (2003), the first Freehold book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest Michael Z. Williamson book?

Defiance (2021) is the newest Michael Z. Williamson book released so far.

Is there a new Michael Z. Williamson book coming?

No next Michael Z. Williamson book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Michael Z. Williamson at a glance

Paused
No new Michael Z. Williamson title has appeared for 5 years. The last was published in 2021.
Release pace
Michael Z. Williamson books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
7,154 pages across the 16 of 24 books with a recorded length, a median of 400 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Michael Z. Williamson books, 15 of 24, were published in the 2010s.

What the Michael Z. Williamson books are about

16 of the 24 Michael Z. Williamson 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 7 of 16. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.