Science fiction, fantasy, horror book series in reading order

by Anne Bishop

Anne Bishop writes dark fantasy. The Black Jewels series begins with Daughter of the Blood (1998) and runs on witches and the imagined realm of Terreille; The Others and the World of the Others turn to shapeshifters, werewolves and vampires. Ephemera, Tir Alainn and An Isle of Wyrd fill out 32 catalogued titles, with Storms of Fate scheduled for 2027. Books run 430 pages at the median.

Karen Chance is an American fantasy novelist. Chance grew up in Orlando, Florida, has lived in France, Great Britain, Hong Kong and New Orleans, taught history there, and has written full time since 2008. The Cassie Palmer books follow a clairvoyant who becomes the Pythia, chief seer of the supernatural world; Midnight's Daughter (2008) opens a spin-off from that sequence, and Dorina Basarab and Lia de Croissets are the other series. Forty-eight catalogued titles run from Touch the Dark (2006) to Rogue Elements (2026), at a median 418 pages. Vampires, clairvoyants and the occult recur as subjects.

Stephen King

223 books• 25 series

Horror fiction is the field most closely tied to Stephen King, an American author born on September 21, 1947, and nicknamed the "King of Horror". King's work also reaches into suspense, crime, science fiction, fantasy and mystery, and includes roughly 200 short stories, most later gathered in collections. Carrie (1974) was the debut that set King in horror; Different Seasons (1982), four novellas in one volume, marked the first major step outside it. The catalogue lists 223 books from 1971 to 2026, starting with The Blue Air Compressor, a short story, and reaching Other Worlds Than These (2026). Series on file include Holly Gibney, the Bill Hodges Trilogy, Green Mile, Shining and Talisman.

Alastair Reynolds

46 books• 7 series

Alastair Preston Reynolds, born 13 March 1966, is a Welsh science fiction author who specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Forty-nine books sit in the catalogue, from A Spy in Europa (1997) to Halcyon Years (2026). Revelation Space (2000), Chasm City (2001), Redemption Ark (2002) and Absolution Gap (2003) come early in the run. Revelation Space, Revenger, Poseidon's Children, Medusa Chronicles and the Inspector Dreyfus books are the series credited to Reynolds. Subjects on record include life on other planets, space colonies, space warfare, time travel and human-alien encounters.

Andrzej Sapkowski

17 books• 5 series

Andrzej Sapkowski is a Polish fantasy writer, born 21 June 1948, best known for The Witcher, the saga of the monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. The Witcher has reached video games, television, the stage and comics, and appears in 37 languages; only Stanisław Lem is translated more among Polish science fiction and fantasy writers. Sapkowski's books have sold over 30 million copies and draw on Slavic mythology. The 17 catalogued titles run from Something Ends, Something Begins (1988) through The Last Wish (1993) and Blood of Elves (1994) to Crossroads of Ravens (2025), with the Hussite Trilogy as a second series.

Robert Kirkman

181 books• 31 series

Robert Kirkman, born 30 November 1978, is an American comic book writer, screenwriter and producer. Kirkman co-created The Walking Dead, Invincible, Tech Jacket, Outcast, Oblivion Song and Fire Power for Image Comics, wrote Ultimate X-Men, Irredeemable Ant-Man and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics, and worked with Todd McFarlane on Haunt. Kirkman is one of the five partners of Image Comics and serves as its COO. The catalogue gathers 181 volumes published between 2001 and 2026, listed as graphic novel and omnibus collections, from Battle Pope, Vol. 1: Genesis (2001) to The Emissary (2026). Charlie Adlard shares the credit on 2 volumes and Sean Phillips on 1.

Jennifer Fallon, born 1959, is an Australian fantasy and science fiction author who also works as a businesswoman, trainer and business consultant. Fallon holds a master's degree from the Creative Arts faculty at QUT, works in IT as a computer trainer and application specialist, and spends a month of each year at Scott Base in Antarctica. The catalogue records 27 books between Medalon (2000) and Retribution (2017). The Hythrun Chronicles run in three parts, Demon Child, Wolfblade and War of the Gods, and Tide Lords and Rift Runners are further series. One catalogued book also credits Sonny Whitelaw.