Shannara Books in Order
Terry Brooks has written 40 Shannara books, published between 1977 and 2020: 38 in the 11 main-line series and 2 related titles. The first book is The Sword of Shannara (1977) and the newest main-line book is The Last Druid (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 40
- Published
- 1977–2020
- Confirmed
- 39 of 40 titles
- Pages on record
- 13,225 in 32 of 40 books
- Reading time
- 220–331 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 13,225 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 32 of 40 titles with a page count on record.
Shannara is Terry Brooks's fantasy world of elves, druids and magic, indexed here across 40 books. The Sword of Shannara (1977) opens the run and The Last Druid (2020) closes the sequence. Sub-series include the Heritage of Shannara, the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, High Druid of Shannara, Genesis of Shannara, Legends of Shannara and the Word & Void books, with graphic novel adaptations alongside.
How many Shannara books are there?
Shannara has 40 books, released between 1977 and 2020. 38 of them belong to the 11 main-line series (Original Shannara, Word & Void, Heritage Of Shannara and others), and 2 related titles sit outside it: graphic novels and companion books.
Shannara Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 40 Shannara books in the order they were released, 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.
- 119777263/4
- 219825463/4
- 319855043/4
- 419904193/4
- 519913703/4
- 619923593/4
- 719934493/4
- 819964393/4
- 919974343/4
- 1019984083/4
- 1119993683/4
- 1220004543/4
- 1320014163/4
- 1420024323/4
- 1520034163/4
- 162003–3/4
- 1720044163/4
- 1820054323/4
- 1920064043/4
- 2020074803/4
- 2120082083/4
- 2220084803/4
- 2320103533/4
- 242011–3/4
- 252011–3/4
- 262011–3/4
- 272012–3/4
- 2820123713/4
- 2920123513/4
- 302013–3/4
- 312013–3/4
- 3220134153/4
- 3320143053/4
- 3420153683/4
- 3520164003/4
- 3620173183/4
- 3720183693/4
- 382018–2/4
- 3920193353/4
- 4020204803/4
Shannara Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the books of the 11 main-line series run from The Sword of Shannara (1977) to The Last Druid (2020), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Shannara in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Shannara books in order?
You should read the 11 main-line series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 2 related titles (graphic novels and companion books) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Shannara book also stands alone.
What order should you read Shannara books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with The Sword of Shannara (1977), the earliest published book in the 11 main-line series. After it come The Elfstones of Shannara (1982), The Wishsong of Shannara (1985), The Scions of Shannara (1990) and The Druid of Shannara (1991); the numbered table above continues from there.
What is the newest Shannara book?
The Last Druid (2020) is the newest book in the 11 main-line series.
Is there a new Shannara book coming?
No next Shannara book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Award nominations for Shannara
Wikidata records 4 nominations for Shannara. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel1998Shortlistedfor Running with the Demon
- Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel1986Shortlistedfor The Wishsong of Shannara
- Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel1983Shortlistedfor The Elfstones of Shannara
- Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel1978Shortlistedfor The Sword of Shannara
Shannara at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest main-line Shannara title on record is The Last Druid (2020), 6 years ago.
- Release pace
- Shannara books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 13,225 pages across the 32 of 40 books with a recorded length, a median of 416 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Shannara books, 17 of 40, were published in the 2010s.
What the Shannara books are about
33 of the 40 Shannara books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fantasy is tagged on 21 of 33. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Fantasy 21 of 33 books
- Fantasy, epic 17 of 33 books
- Elves 11 of 33 books
- Druids and Druidism 9 of 33 books
- Magic 8 of 33 books
- Good and evil 6 of 33 books
- Knights and knighthood 4 of 33 books
- Action & adventure 3 of 33 books
- Science fiction 2 of 33 books
- Demonology 2 of 33 books
- Druids and druidism in fiction 2 of 33 books
More books by Terry Brooks
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Terry Brooks books in order 59 books