Magicians book series in reading order

by Mary Pope Osborne

by Kristen Britain

by Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey

230 books• 52 series

Valdemar, a country in the world of Velgarth, is the setting for many of Mercedes Lackey's interlinked fantasy novels and trilogies. Lackey, an American writer born on June 24, 1950, brings human and non-human protagonists from many cultures together in the Valdemar books. A second Lackey setting resembles Earth but hides populations of elves, mages, vampires and other mythical beings. Bedlam's Bard follows a young man who works magic through music, SERRAted Edge features elves who race cars, and the Diana Tregarde thrillers star a Wiccan fighting evil. Arrows of the Queen (1987), Arrow's Flight (1987) and Arrow's Fall (1988) are among the listed titles, and Elemental Masters and Five Hundred Kingdoms are further series.

Robert Asprin

55 books• 10 series

Robert Lynn Asprin (28 June 1946 - 22 May 2008) wrote humorous science fiction and fantasy and was an active figure in fandom. The MythAdventures books and Phule's Company are the work Asprin is best known for; Skeeve, the imaginary kingdom of Possiltum and Captain Willard Phule all turn up in the subject tags. The catalogue holds 55 books from Another Fine Myth (1978) to Dragons Deal (2010), taking in Myth Conceptions (1980), Myth Directions (1982) and Hit or Myth (1983). Other headings cover Time Scout, Griffen McCandles, Wartorn and graphic novel lines for Myth Adventures, Thieves' World and Duncan & Mallory. The run is listed as likely complete.

Midkemia is the world Raymond E. Feist writes: epic fantasy of magicians, wizards and long imaginary wars, with Pug and Mara among its figures. The Riftwar opens the sequence in Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master (1982), and the Serpentwar, Demonwar, Darkwar, Chaoswar, Dragonwar and Firemane sagas follow, with the Riftwar Legacy and the Conclave of Shadows between them. Thirty-four catalogued books reach A Darkness Returns in 2024.

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.

Bruce Coville

132 books• 20 series

Bruce Coville has 132 books catalogued from The Foolish Giant (1978) to Aliens, Underwear, and Monsters (2022). Sarah's Unicorn (1979), Operation Sherlock (1986) and The Ghost in the Third Row (1987) are among the early titles. Series include My Teacher Is an Alien, Magic Shop, Unicorn Chronicles, I Was a 6th Grade Alien, Space Brat, Moongobble and Me, Nina Tanleven and A.I. Gang. Extraterrestrials, unicorns, monsters and humour fill the subjects. Coville, born May 16, 1950, writes young adult fiction and first published in 1977.

Trudi Canavan

14 books• 4 series

Trudi Canavan is an Australian fantasy novelist, born in 1969, who worked as a graphic designer while establishing the writing career. Fourteen books are catalogued from The Magicians' Guild (2001) to Maker's Curse (2020). The Black Magician Trilogy and Age of the Five are the bestselling sequences; the Traitor Spy Trilogy closed with The Traitor Queen, and Millennium's Rule, set across multiple worlds that characters cross between, ran to four books rather than the three first planned. Magicians, guilds, wizards, magic and the land of Kyralia recur as subjects. Books are long, at a median of 558 pages.

Mike Carey

109 books• 30 series

Mike Carey, born in 1959, is a British writer of comics, novels and films who also uses the pen name M. R. Carey. Carey's credits include Lucifer, a spin-off from The Sandman; three years on Hellblazer; Crossing Midnight and The Unwritten for DC's Vertigo imprint; an extended stint on Marvel's X-Men; and the 2014 novel The Girl with All the Gifts, adapted for film in 2016. The catalogue lists 109 books from 2000 to 2025, with series including Felix Castor, X-Men Legacy, Suicide Risk and Rampart Trilogy.

Elly Griffiths

49 books• 6 series

Elly Griffiths is the pen name of Domenica de Rosa, a British crime novelist born in 1963. Three series appear under the Griffiths name: the Ruth Galloway books, a series featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and Max Mephisto, and the Harbinder Kaur novels. The catalogue lists 49 books from 2001 to 2026, the earliest being The Little Book of Shakespeare and Food, credited as Domenica de Rosa. The Crossing Places (2009) and The Janus Stone (2010) come later, and the Justice Jones and Ali Dawson series are also listed. Subjects include women forensic anthropologists and archaeologists.

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.

Mary Pope Osborne

166 books• 9 series

Mary Pope Osborne, born May 20, 1949, is an American children's author and audiobook narrator best known for the Magic Tree House series, which had sold more than 134 million copies worldwide by 2017. Awards have gone to both the series and Osborne, including recognition for work promoting children's literacy. Osborne attended the University of North Carolina and published a first book in 1982. The catalogue counts 166 Osborne books, from Run, Run, As Fast As You Can (1982) to Sea Otter Sunrise (2025). Time travel, tree houses, history, folklore and Greek mythology appear among the subjects.

David A. Drake (1945-2023) wrote science fiction and fantasy. A Vietnam War veteran, Drake practised law before turning to military science fiction. The catalogue holds 106 books published between 1975 and 2021, from The Barrow Troll (1975) to The Serpent (2021). Series include Hammer's Slammers, the Lt. Leary / RCN novels featuring Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy, the Books of the Elements, Northworld, Reaches and Crown Of The Isles. Tony Daniel shares the credit on 2 titles and Eric Flint on 1. Subjects record space warfare, imaginary wars and battles, and epic fantasy.

Charlie N. Holmberg is an American fantasy writer from Salt Lake City, best known for The Paper Magician. That 2014 debut grew into a series, The Glass Magician (2014), The Master Magician (2015), The Plastic Magician (2018), and Disney bought the film rights in 2016. The Numina trilogy, the Spellbreaker duology, Star Mother and the Whimbrel House books follow, alongside seven standalone novels. Magicians, apprentices and the pull between teacher and student recur across 30 catalogued titles, the newest Lady of Uncanny Charms (2026).

Nora Roberts

279 books• 37 series

Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, is an American writer of romance under that name. As J. D. Robb, Roberts writes police procedurals with science-fiction elements, and has also published as Jill March and, in the UK, as Sarah Hardesty. This listing carries 280 Roberts books, opening with Irish Thoroughbred (1981); The Missing is scheduled for 2027. Series on the page include the In Death Universe, the MacGregors, Night Tales, the Calhoun Women, the Chesapeake Bay Saga, Irish Hearts and the O'Hurleys.

Andrew Mayne is a novelist, magician and inventor who has also worked for OpenAI as its original prompt engineer and a science communicator, contributing to GPT-4 capability discovery. Mayne has been a Thriller Award finalist three times and an Edgar finalist for the novel Black Fall. In 2019 Mayne swam with great white sharks in an underwater stealth suit for the Shark Week special Andrew Mayne: Ghost Diver. Mayne has produced more than fifty books, DVDs and manuscripts on magic, publishes iTricks.com and hosts the Weird Things podcast. Fiction series on the author page include Naturalist, Underwater Investigation Unit, Jessica Blackwood and Trasker, with Angel Killer (2012) and The Session (2026) among the listed titles.

Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 to 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, critic and short story writer. The speculative fiction of Diana Wynne Jones for children and young adults is usually called fantasy but draws on science fiction ideas such as time travel and parallel universes, along with realism. The Chrestomanci heptalogy, the Dalemark Quartet, the Moving Castle trilogy, Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland rank among the best-known works. The catalogue lists 61 books, from Changeover (1970) and The Ogre Downstairs (1974) to The Islands of Chaldea (2014). Magic, witches and wizards run through the subjects.

Catherine Asaro

38 books• 7 series

Catherine Asaro, born on 6 November 1955, is an American science fiction and fantasy author as well as a singer and teacher. The Saga of the Skolian Empire, about the Ruby Dynasty, is the best-known Asaro work. The catalogue lists 38 books, from Primary Inversion (1995) through Catch the Lightning (1996), The Last Hawk (1997) and The Radiant Seas (1998) to Gold Dust (2025). Series include Skolian Empire, Skolian Empire: Ruby Dynasty, Lost Continent, Major Bhaajan, Sunrise Alley/Charon, Lightning Strike and Dust Knights. Subjects include space opera, androids and Kelric Garlin.

Carol Berg writes fantasy. The Books of the Rai-kirah open the catalogue with Transformation (2000), Revelation (2001) and Restoration (2002), and the Bridge of D'Arnath sequence follows through Son of Avonar (2004), Guardians of the Keep (2004), The Soul Weaver (2005) and Daughter of Ancients (2005). The Lighthouse Duet, Collegia Magica and the Chimera books, published as Cate Glass, round out 19 titles ending at A Summoning of Demons (2021). Berg's novels are long, at a median of 485 pages.

Jeffery Deaver, born May 6, 1950, is an American writer of mystery and crime fiction. Deaver holds a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. from Fordham University, and worked as a journalist and then a lawyer before turning to novels. Awards include the Crime Writers' Association Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger, the Nero Award and three Ellery Queen Reader's Awards for Best Short Story of the Year. The catalogue counts 121 Deaver books from 1984 to The Collateral Heart (2026), with Freeze Frame due in 2027. Lincoln Rhyme, Kathryn Dance, Colter Shaw and John Pellam are recurring characters.

Paranormal romance is Christine Feehan's field, with vampires, shapeshifters and the Carpathians recurring across the work. Feehan's 119 catalogued books open with Dark Prince and Dark Desire (1999) and reach Dark Joy (2026). The Dark books head the list, joined by GhostWalkers, Leopard People, Torpedo Ink, Shadow Riders and the two Sea Haven sequences, Drake Sisters and Sisters of the Heart. The 2010s hold the largest share of the catalogue.

Ian Rankin

74 books• 13 series

Sir Ian Rankin is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, born in Fife on 28 April 1960, and the creator of the Inspector Rebus novels. Rankin was the first member of the family to go to university and held several jobs before turning to writing. The Rebus novels belong to the tartan noir genre, have won domestic and international awards and have sold more than 35 million copies. Knots and Crosses (1987), the first Rebus book, placed eighth in a 2016 poll of the best Scottish novels. The catalogue holds 74 Rankin books, from The Flood (1986) to The Heights (2026), including the Malcolm Fox series and Edinburgh-set police procedurals.

Jayne Ann Krentz, born Jayne Castle on 28 March 1948 in Cobb, California, is an American romance novelist with New York Times bestsellers under seven pseudonyms. Three names remain in use: Krentz for contemporary romantic suspense, Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense and Jayne Ann Castle for futuristic and paranormal romantic suspense. More than 35 million copies are in print. The catalogue lists 205 books, from Vintage of Surrender (1979, as Jayne Castle) to Enter the Nightmare (2026), with The Book Hunter due in 2027. Early titles also appeared as Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor and Stephanie James. Series include Burning Cove, Eclipse Bay and the Dreamlight Trilogy.

Jim Butcher

48 books• 7 series

Jim Butcher, born October 26, 1971, is an American author of the contemporary fantasy series The Dresden Files, as well as Codex Alera and Cinder Spires. Storm Front (2000) opens the catalogue, which includes Fool Moon (2001), Grave Peril (2001), Summer Knight (2002) and Furies of Calderon (2004), and runs to Out Law: A Dresden Files Novella (2026). Harry Dresden, wizards, private investigators and Chicago appear among the subjects. Butcher is still publishing.

Denise Mina

31 books• 13 series

Denise Mina is a Scottish crime writer, born 21 August 1966 and publishing since 1996. Garnethill (1998), the debut novel, became a bestseller and took the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award for best debut. Exile and Resolution completed that trilogy, which follows Maureen O'Donnell, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Val McDermid called Mina "crime writing royalty", and Mina was central to the rise of Tartan Noir. Conviction (2019) was chosen for Reese's Book Club, and The Good Liar (2025) looks at forensic junk science and what it means for justice. The catalogue holds 31 titles, with the Alex Morrow, Paddy Meehan and Anna and Fin series plus graphic novels.

R.L. Stine

589 books• 64 series

Robert Lawrence Stine, born October 8, 1943, is an American novelist who writes horror fiction for children. Goosebumps, the series Stine created, sold more than 400 million copies in 35 languages and grew into a franchise of two television series, video games, comics and two feature films. Fear Street, Stine's horror sequence for teenagers, passed 80 million copies and was adapted for film. Stine has been called the Stephen King of children's literature. The listing runs to 590 titles, from How to Be Funny (1978), published as Jovial Bob Stine, to How to Train Your Dummy, scheduled for 2027.