Order of Book Series
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Yan Lianke Books in Order

Yan Lianke has written 12 books, published between 1997 and 2023. The first book is The Years, Months, Days (1997) and the newest is Heart Sutra (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
12
Published
1997–2023
Pages on record
3,172 in 10 of 12 books
Reading time
53–79 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,172 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 12 titles with a page count on record.

See all 12 books in order Printable Yan Lianke checklist
Photo of Yan Lianke, author

Yan Lianke, born 24 August 1958, is a Chinese novelist and short story writer based in Beijing, with more than ten volumes of short stories. The satirical edge of the work has led to some of the best-known books being banned in China, and Yan has acknowledged self-censoring to avoid that. The style is described as experimental and surreal, and Yan terms it mythorealism. Yan won the Franz Kafka Prize in 2014 and has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. The catalogue lists 12 books, among them Lenin's Kisses, Dream of Ding Village, Serve the People!, The Four Books and Heart Sutra (2023).

How many Yan Lianke books are there?

Yan Lianke has 12 books, released between 1997 and 2023.

Yan Lianke Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 12 Yan Lianke 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 Years, Months, Days by Yan Lianke (1997)
  2. Cover of Marrow by Yan Lianke (1998)
  3. Cover of Lenin's Kisses by Yan Lianke (2003)
  4. Cover of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke (2005)
  5. Cover of Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke (2005)
  6. Cover of The Four Books by Yan Lianke (2013)
  7. Cover of The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke (2013)
  8. Cover of The Day the Sun Died by Yan Lianke (2015)
  9. Cover of Three Brothers by Yan Lianke (2020)
  10. Cover of Hard Like Water by Yan Lianke (2021)
  11. Cover of Heart Sutra by Yan Lianke (2023)
  1. 1
    The Years, Months, Days1997 · 210 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997210
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Marrow1998 · 100 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998100
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Lenin's Kisses2003 · 500 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003500
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Serve the People!2005 · 217 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005217
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Dream of Ding Village2005 · 341 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005341
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Discovering Fiction2011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Four Books2013 · 338 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013338
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Explosion Chronicles2013 · 457 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013457
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Day the Sun Died2015 · confirmed 1/4
    2015–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Three Brothers2020 · 209 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020209
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Hard Like Water2021 · 384 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2021384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Heart Sutra2023 · 416 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2023416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Yan Lianke 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.

Standalone books

12 books

12 Yan Lianke titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Yan Lianke books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 12 Yan Lianke books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Yan Lianke

Start with The Years, Months, Days (1997), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Yan Lianke book?

Heart Sutra (2023) is the newest Yan Lianke book released so far.

Is there a new Yan Lianke book coming?

No next Yan Lianke 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 Yan Lianke has won

Wikidata records 3 awards and 2 nominations for Yan Lianke. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Franz Kafka Prize2014Won
  • Lu Xun Literary Prize for Excellent Novellas2001Won
  • Lu Xun Literary Prize for Excellent Novellas1998Won
  • International Booker Prize2017Shortlistedfor The Explosion Chronicles
  • International Booker Prize2016Shortlistedfor The Four Books

Yan Lianke at a glance

Paused
No new Yan Lianke title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Yan Lianke books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
3,172 pages across the 10 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 340 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Yan Lianke books, 4 of 12, were published in the 2010s.

What the Yan Lianke books are about

11 of the 12 Yan Lianke books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: china is tagged on 8 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.