Fifty Shades Books in Order
E.L. James has written 6 Fifty Shades books, published between 2011 and 2021. The first book is Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) and the newest is Freed (2021). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 6
- Published
- 2011–2021
- Confirmed
- 6 of 6 titles
- Pages on record
- 2,082 in 3 of 6 books
- Reading time
- 35–52 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,082 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 3 of 6 titles with a page count on record.
Fifty Shades is E.L. James's erotic romance sequence, six books published between 2011 and 2021. Fifty Shades of Grey (2011), Fifty Shades Darker (2011) and Fifty Shades Freed (2012) form the original trilogy. Grey (2015), Darker (2017) and Freed (2021) retell the same events from Christian's side, listed as Fifty Shades (As Told By Christian). Dominance and submission, businessmen and college students supply the subject matter. Read the original trilogy before the retellings.
How many Fifty Shades books are there?
Fifty Shades has 6 books, released between 2011 and 2021.
Fifty Shades Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 6 Fifty Shades 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.
- 12011–4/4
- 220115323/4
- 32012–4/4
- 42015–3/4
- 520177823/4
- 620217683/4
Do you have to read Fifty Shades books in order?
You should read the Fifty Shades books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Fifty Shades book also stands alone.
Where to start with Fifty Shades
Start with Fifty Shades of Grey (2011), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Fifty Shades book?
Freed (2021) is the newest Fifty Shades book released so far.
Is there a new Fifty Shades book coming?
No next Fifty Shades book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Fifty Shades at a glance
- Paused
- No new Fifty Shades title has appeared for 5 years. The last was published in 2021.
- Release pace
- Fifty Shades books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 2,082 pages across the 3 of 6 books with a recorded length, a median of 768 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Fifty Shades books, 5 of 6, were published in the 2010s.
- Corroboration
- 2 of the 6 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the Fifty Shades books are about
All 6 Fifty Shades books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: sexual dominance and submission is tagged on 4 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Sexual dominance and submission 4 of 6 books
- Ficción 3 of 6 books
- Man-woman relationships 3 of 6 books
- Relaciones hombre-mujer 3 of 6 books
- Businessmen 2 of 6 books
- Businesspeople 2 of 6 books
- College students 2 of 6 books
- Cuentos eróticos 2 of 6 books
- Erotica 2 of 6 books
- Sadomasoquismo 2 of 6 books
More books by E.L. James
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- E.L. James books in order 9 books