Quiet War Books in Order

Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley contains 9 books, published between 2008 and 2013. The first book is The Quiet War (2008) and the newest is Life After Wartime (2013). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
9
Published
2008–2013
Pages on record
2,481 in 6 of 9 books
Reading time
41–62 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,481 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 9 titles with a page count on record.

The Quiet War is a science fiction sequence by Paul J. McAuley, catalogued as space opera. The run opens with The Quiet War (2008) and closes with Life After Wartime (2013), by way of Gardens of the Sun (2009), Stories from the Quiet War (2011), In the Mouth of the Whale (2012) and Evening's Empires (2013). Recorded subjects include space colonies, space warfare, extraterrestrial bases, refugees, climatic change and sustainable development.

How many Quiet War books are there?

Quiet War has 9 books, released between 2008 and 2013.

Quiet War Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 9 Quiet 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. 1
    The Quiet War2008 · 439 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2008439
  2. 2
    The Quiet War2008 · 405 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2008405
  3. 3
    Gardens of the Sun2009 · 439 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2009439
  4. 4
    Gardens of the Sun2009 · 448 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2009448
  5. 5
    Stories from the Quiet War2011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011
  6. 6
    In the Mouth of the Whale2012 · 376 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2012376
  7. 7
    In the Mouth of the Whale2012 · confirmed 1/4
    2012
  8. 8
    Evening's Empires2013 · 374 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013374
  9. 9
    Life After Wartime2013 · confirmed 1/4
    2013

Is there a chronological order for Quiet War?

No separate chronological order is on record for Quiet 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 Quiet War books in order?

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

Where to start with Quiet War

Start with The Quiet War (2008), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Quiet War book?

Life After Wartime (2013) is the newest Quiet War book released so far.

Is there a new Quiet War book coming?

No next Quiet 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.

Award nominations for Quiet War

Wikidata records 6 nominations for Quiet War. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Quiet War at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Quiet War title on record dates from 2013, 13 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Quiet War books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length
2,481 pages across the 6 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 422 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Quiet War books, 5 of 9, were published in the 2010s.

What the Quiet War books are about

7 of the 9 Quiet War books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: space opera is tagged on 4 of 7. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Paul J. McAuley

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