Spider Robinson Books in Order
Spider Robinson has written 29 books, published between 1976 and 2016. The first book is Telempath (1976) and the newest is My Favorite Shorts (2016). Publication order is the reading order below.
Spider Robinson also publishes as B. D. Wyatt.
- Books
- 29
- Published
- 1976–2016
- Pages on record
- 6,609 in 24 of 29 books
- Reading time
- 110–165 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,609 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 24 of 29 titles with a page count on record.
Spider Robinson is an American-Canadian science fiction author, born in 1948. Telempath (1976) opens 29 catalogued books, and Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977) begins the Callahan books, set in a bar kept by the bartender Mike Callahan. Stardance, the Lifehouse Trilogy and a mystery sequence follow. Robinson took Hugo Awards in 1977 and 1983, and a third in 1978 with his wife and co-author Jeanne Robinson. The catalogue closes with My Favorite Shorts (2016).
How many Spider Robinson books are there?
Spider Robinson has 29 books, released between 1976 and 2016. They include 4 series and 10 titles listed outside any series.
Spider Robinson Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 29 Spider Robinson 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.
- 1Telempath1976 · 223 pages · confirmed 2/419762232/4
- 219771702/4
- 319772882/4
- 4Antinomy1980 · 312 pages · confirmed 2/419803122/4
- 519812472/4
- 619822462/4
- 7Melancholy Elephants1984 · confirmed 2/41984–2/4
- 8Night of Power1985 · 287 pages · confirmed 2/419852872/4
- 91986–2/4
- 101987–2/4
- 1119893522/4
- 1219893202/4
- 1319912472/4
- 1419922572/4
- 1519932282/4
- 1619941602/4
- 1719952922/4
- 1819962142/4
- 191997–2/4
- 20User Friendly1998 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/419982882/4
- 2120003522/4
- 22The Free Lunch2001 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/420012562/4
- 23By Any Other Name2001 · 429 pages · confirmed 2/420014292/4
- 24Very Bad DeathsRussell Walker/Zandor Zudenigo/Nika Mandiç Mysteries #12002 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/420023522/4
- 25God is an Iron and Other Stories2002 · 219 pages · confirmed 2/420022192/4
- 2620032882/4
- 27The Crazy Years2004 · 294 pages · confirmed 2/420042942/4
- 28Very Hard ChoicesRussell Walker/Zandor Zudenigo/Nika Mandiç Mysteries #22008 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/420082882/4
- 29My Favorite Shorts2016 · confirmed 2/42016–2/4
Spider Robinson 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.
Callahan's in order
11 booksStardance in order
3 booksLifehouse Trilogy in order
3 books- 1. Mindkiller
- 2. Time Pressure
- 3. Lifehouse
Russell Walker/Zandor Zudenigo/Nika Mandiç Mysteries in order
2 booksStandalone books
10 books10 Spider Robinson titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Spider Robinson books in order?
You only need to read Spider Robinson books in order within each series: the books listed here span 4 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Spider Robinson
Start with Telempath (1976), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Spider Robinson book?
My Favorite Shorts (2016) is the newest Spider Robinson book released so far.
Is there a new Spider Robinson book coming?
No next Spider Robinson 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 Spider Robinson has won
Wikidata records 7 awards and 14 nominations for Spider Robinson. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Inkpot Award2001Won
- Hugo Award for Best Short Story1983Wonfor Melancholy Elephants
- Nebula Award for Best Novella1978Wonfor Stardance
- Hugo Award for Best Novella1978Wonfor Stardance
- Locus Award for Best Novella1978Wonfor Stardance
- Hugo Award for Best Novella1977Wonfor By Any Other Name
- Astounding Award for Best New Writer1974Won
- Locus Award for Best Collection1987Shortlistedfor Callahan's Secret
- Locus Award for Best Collection1986Shortlistedfor Melancholy Elephants
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel1983Shortlistedfor Mindkiller
- Locus Award for Best Short Story1983Shortlistedfor Melancholy Elephants
- Locus Award for Best Short Story1982Shortlistedfor Serpents' Teeth
Spider Robinson at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Spider Robinson title on record dates from 2016, 10 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Spider Robinson books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 6,609 pages across the 24 of 29 books with a recorded length, a median of 288 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Spider Robinson books, 9 of 29, were published in the 1980s.
What the Spider Robinson books are about
25 of the 29 Spider Robinson 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 17 of 25. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Science fiction 17 of 25 books
- Callahan, mike (fictitious character) 7 of 25 books
- Mike Callahan (Fictitious character) 6 of 25 books
- Bars (Drinking establishments) 5 of 25 books
- Bartenders 3 of 25 books
- Callahan, sally (fictitious character) 2 of 25 books
- Canadian Science fiction 2 of 25 books
- Private investigators 2 of 25 books
- Widowers 2 of 25 books