Apprentices book series in reading order

by Benedict Jacka

by Kevin Sands

Angie Sage, born 20 June 1952, is an English author of children's books. Septimus Heap, the TodHunter Moon trilogy and Araminta Spook (published as Araminta Spookie in the United States) are Sage's series. The catalogue lists 42 books, starting with Monkeys in the Jungle (1989) and ending with Midnight Train (2021). Subjects include magic, wizards, apprentices, ghosts, haunted houses and picture books.

Joseph Delaney

33 books• 6 series

Joseph Delaney was an English author of dark fantasy for children, and the Spook's books, listed also as the Last Apprentice or Wardstone Chronicles, are the work he is known for. The Spook's Apprentice (2004) began that series, which draws on the folklore, history and landscape of Lancashire and has sold more than 4.5 million copies across 30 countries. Delaney taught before publishing, and his earliest fiction appeared under the pen name J.K. Haderack, starting with Mercer's Whore (1997). 33 catalogued titles end with Wulf's War (2023). Delaney lived from 1945 to 2022.

John Flanagan

37 books• 6 series

John Flanagan writes fantasy adventure for readers in grades 6 to 8. The Ruins of Gorlan (2004) opens Ranger's Apprentice, which extends into The Royal Ranger and The Early Years; the Brotherband Chronicles are a second series, and seafaring life and pirates sit in the subject tags. Thirty-eight titles are catalogued through Ambush at Sorato (2024). Apprentices, heroes, courage and friendship recur across the books.

Suzanne Selfors writes fiction for readers in grades 3 to 5. Series include the Imaginary Veterinary, Smells Like Dog and Wedgie & Gizmo, with tie-in work for Ever After High and Spirit Riding Free. The catalogue lists 39 books from To Catch a Mermaid (2007) to Braver (2020), at a median of 240 pages. Schools, pets, magic and fairy tales run through the subject headings.

Lemony Snicket is the pen name of Daniel Handler, an American writer, musician and television producer born February 28, 1970. A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions are the children's series published under the Snicket name. A Series of Unfortunate Events became a film in 2004 and a Netflix series that ran from 2017 to 2019. Handler publishes adult novels and a stage play under the real name. The catalogue records 33 books from The Bad Beginning (1999) to Poison for Breakfast (2021), with orphans, siblings and humorous stories among the subjects.

Kevin Sands is a Canadian children's author from Ontario who taught high school maths and physics before writing fiction. Simon & Schuster published his debut, The Blackthorn Key, in 2015, opening a series set in seventeenth-century England and Europe: Christopher Rowe and his friends Tom Bailey and Sally Deschamps solve mysteries and block plots against King Charles II. Mark of the Plague followed in 2016, then The Assassin's Curse in 2017, Call of the Wraith in 2018, The Traitor's Blade in 2021 and The Raven's Revenge in 2023. Thieves of Shadow is the second recorded series, and Children of the Fox (2021), Seekers of the Fox (2022) and Champions of the Fox (2023) complete the catalogue. Nine books run long, at a median of 512 pages.

Richard Yancey

16 books• 6 series

Richard Yancey, born John Richard Yancey on 4 November 1962, is an American writer of young adult suspense, fantasy and science fiction. The Alfred Kropp, Monstrumologist and 5th Wave series are the best known of that work, and The 5th Wave became a feature film in 2016. The catalogue also lists the Teddy Ruzak series, with subjects including private investigators, Tennessee, monsters and extraterrestrials. The 16 catalogued books run from A Burning in Homeland (2003) to The Last Star (2016), and include The Highly Effective Detective (2006) and The Monstrumologist (2009).

Fantasy and romance meet in Elise Kova's work, which opens with Air Awakens (2015) and runs to 39 catalogued titles. Elemental magic sits at the centre, the four elements, apprentice magicians, fairies and secret societies fill the subject tags, and the Married to Magic novels, the Loom Saga, A Trial of Sorcerers and Arcana Academy follow the Air Awakens books. Prince of Swords (2026) is Kova's newest title and the catalogue remains open.

Gail Carson Levine

29 books• 3 series

Gail Carson Levine, born in 1947, writes fantasy for children and young adults out of fairy tale material. Ella Enchanted (1997) is the first novel and took a Newbery Honor in 1998. The Princess Tales retell familiar stories in short books - The Fairy's Mistake, The Princess Test, Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep and Cinderellis and the Glass Hill - and A Tale of Two Castles is a later series. Princesses, fairies, dragons and folklore recur across 29 titles, the newest being The Unusuals (2026).

Nathan David Wilson, born in 1978, writes children's and young adult fantasy as well as Christian apologetics. N.D. Wilson is best known for the 100 Cupboards trilogy, the Ashtown Burials and Outlaws of Time. Allusions to classic literature and fatherhood are recurring threads in the writing. Wilson also makes films, including The River Thief (2016) and The Riot and the Dance (2020), and has been a Fellow of Literature at New Saint Andrews College. The catalogue lists 24 books from 2001 to 2021.

Sarah Prineas is an American fantasy author based in Iowa, where she has worked for the University of Iowa honors program. Prineas grew up in Lyme, Connecticut, went to college in Minnesota and has lived in Germany. HarperCollins published a first novel, The Magic Thief, in 2008; foreign rights went to thirteen countries within months, and Lost (2009) and Found (2010) followed. The catalogue lists 16 books to 2022 across the Magic Thief, Winterling, Ash & Bramble and Lost Books series, with wizards, apprentices, witchcraft, fairy tales, and good and evil among the subjects.

Benedict Jacka, born 25 September 1980, is a British author best known for the Alex Verus series. Urban and contemporary fantasy describe the catalogue, whose subjects also cover magic, psychics, apprentices, good and evil, ninja and runaway children. Nineteen books run from The Beginning (2005) to A Judgement of Powers (2025), with Fated, Cursed and Taken all published in 2012. Alex Verus and Inheritance of Magic are the two series credited to Jacka.

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

87 books• 11 series

The Saga of Recluce made L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s name: 25 novels of wizards, magic and imaginary wars by 2025, with the first 18 selling close to three million copies. Modesitt, born Leland Exton Modesitt Jr. in 1943, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose 87 catalogued books run from The Timegod / The Fires of Paratime (1982) to Last of the First (2026). The Imager Portfolio, Corean Chronicles, Spellsong Cycle, Ecolitan Matter and Forever Hero stand beside Recluce. Modesitt also publishes poetry, columns and technical studies, and his volumes median 501 pages.

Michael Grant writes young adult science fiction and horror. The Gone series opens his catalogue in 2008 and runs through Hunger, Lies, Plague and Fear; BZRK, the Magnificent 12, Messenger of Fear, Eve and Adam and the Soldier Girl books follow. Survival, good and evil, the supernatural and the Second World War are the recurring subjects across 30 catalogued titles published between 2008 and 2019. Hero (2019) is the most recent entry.

Jonathan Stroud

28 books• 4 series

Jonathan Stroud is a British fantasy writer, born 27 October 1970, known for the Bartimaeus young adult sequence and the Lockwood & Co. children's series. The Bartimaeus sequence received the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, and Stroud's books have appeared on ALA Notable lists. Netflix announced a Lockwood & Co. television series in 2020, and filming began in July 2021. The catalogue lists 28 Stroud books from The Lost Treasure of Captain Blood (1996) to The Legendary Scarlett and Browne (2025), with The Amulet of Samarkand dated 2003.

Rick Yancey

3 books

Rick Yancey is an American author of suspense, fantasy and science fiction for young adults. The Alfred Kropp, Monstrumologist and 5th Wave series are the best known work, and The 5th Wave reached the screen as a feature film in 2016. Three titles are catalogued here: The Isle of Blood (2012), The Final Descent (2014) and The Last Star (2017). Monsters, apprentices, orphans, extraterrestrial beings and survival are the recorded subjects.

Diane A.S. Stuckart writes historical mystery and detective fiction. The catalogue holds 13 books published between 1994 and 2021, and four early titles are listed under the pen name Alexa Smart: Masquerade (1994), Shadows of the Heart (1995), A Touch of Paradise (1996) and Roses At Midnight (1997). Three series carry the Stuckart credit: Leonardo da Vinci Mystery, Georgia B&B and Tarot Cats Mystery, with Leonardo da Vinci, apprentices, inventions, Italy and murder investigation among the subject headings. Stuckart writes the Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series as Ali Brandon.