Order of Book Series
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Old Man's War Books in Order

Old Man's War by John Scalzi contains 7 books, published between 2005 and 2025. The first book is Old Man's War (2005) and the newest is The Shattering Peace (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
7
Published
2005–2025
Confirmed
7 of 7 titles
Pages on record
1,839 in 5 of 7 books
Reading time
31–46 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,839 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 5 of 7 titles with a page count on record.

See all 7 books in order Printable Old Man's War checklist

Old Man's War is a military science fiction series by John Scalzi, running to 7 books between 2005 and 2025. The subject matter is interstellar war: space colonies, life on other planets, special forces soldiers, cloning and genetic engineering, with old age a condition of enlistment. Tor Books published the first novel, Old Man's War, in 2005, and the run continues through The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, Zoe's Tale, The Human Division and The End of All Things to The Shattering Peace (2025). The first novel took a Hugo Award nomination for Best Novel in 2006, and the series won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2026.

How many Old Man's War books are there?

Old Man's War has 7 books, released between 2005 and 2025.

Old Man's War Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 7 Old Man's War 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 Old Man's War by John Scalzi, book 1 of the Old Man's War series (2005)
  2. Cover of The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi, book 2 of the Old Man's War series (2006)
  3. Cover of The Last Colony by John Scalzi, book 3 of the Old Man's War series (2007)
  4. Cover of Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi, book 4 of the Old Man's War series (2008)
  5. Cover of The Human Division by John Scalzi, book 5 of the Old Man's War series (2013)
  6. Cover of The End of All Things by John Scalzi, book 6 of the Old Man's War series (2015)
  1. 1
    Old Man's War2005 · confirmed 3/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Ghost Brigades2006 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2006384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Last Colony2007 · 320 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2007320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Zoe's Tale2008 · 320 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2008320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Human Division2013 · 431 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013431
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The End of All Things2015 · 384 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2015384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Shattering Peace2025 · confirmed 4/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Is there a chronological order for Old Man's War?

No separate chronological order is on record for Old Man's War, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.

Do you have to read Old Man's War books in order?

You should read the Old Man's War books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Old Man's War book also stands alone.

Where to start with Old Man's War

Start with Old Man's War (2005), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Old Man's War book?

The Shattering Peace (2025) is the newest Old Man's War book released so far.

Is there a new Old Man's War book coming?

No next Old Man's War 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 Old Man's War has won

Wikidata records 2 awards and 9 nominations for Old Man's War. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Old Man's War at a glance

Still running
Old Man's War is still running, with a title published as recently as 2025.
Release pace
Old Man's War books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
1,839 pages across the 5 of 7 books with a recorded length, a median of 384 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Old Man's War books, 4 of 7, were published in the 2000s.
Corroboration
1 of the 7 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Old Man's War books are about

6 of the 7 Old Man's War books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: life on other planets is tagged on 4 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by John Scalzi

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.

Characters in the Old Man's War books

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