West (U.S.) book series in reading order

by John R. Erickson

by Elizabeth Fackler

by Terry C. Johnston

by Goscinny

by B.M. Bower

John R. Erickson is an American cowboy and author, born October 20, 1943, best known for the Hank the Cowdog series of children's novels. The catalogue lists 121 Erickson books from Through Time and the Valley (1978) to The Case of the Poison Toad (2025). The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog (1980) and The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog (1983) sit alongside titles such as Panhandle Cowboy (1980) and Cowboys Are Partly Human (1983). Subject tags include dogs, ranch life, humorous stories and the American West.

Max Brand

345 books• 13 series

Max Brand was the main pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust, an American writer who died in 1944 and whose westerns fill most of a 345-title catalogue. Faust also created Dr. James Kildare, a young medical intern, for pulp fiction; the character later carried into Paramount and MGM films, radio, two television series and comics. Other Faust pseudonyms include George Owen Baxter, John Frederick, Evan Evans, David Manning, Peter Dawson, George Challis and Frederick Frost. Series strands include Silvertip, Dan Barry, Thunder Moon, Ronicky Doone and Bull Hunter. Harrigan (1918) is the earliest catalogued title, with reissues dated as late as 2022.

Gilbert Morris produced Christian historical fiction at length: 248 catalogued books between 1977 and 2014. The House of Winslow follows one family across American history; the Appomattox Saga and Bonnets & Bugles take up the Civil War; Cheney Duvall, M.D. follows a woman physician; the Seven Sleepers, Dixie Morris and Too Smart Jones series sit alongside, with children's fiction among the subjects. The catalogue opens with Race Against Time (1977), reaches Raina's Choice, and is listed as likely complete.

Terry C. Johnston wrote westerns about the American frontier: pioneer life, the wars of the West, and the Plains nations including the Dakota and Crow. His 31 novels appeared between 1982 and 2001, at a median of 469 pages, with the 1990s the densest decade. Titus Bass is his best known recurring character and gives one series its name; The Plainsmen, Son Of The Plains and Jonas Hook are the others. Carry the Wind (1982) opens the catalogue and Turn the Stars Upside Down (2001) closes it. Johnston lived from 1947 to 2001, and more than ten million of his books are in print.

Westerns set in New Mexico and the American West run through Elizabeth Fackler's 18 catalogued books, published from 1984 to 2017. The Seth Strummar series is listed under the name, and recorded subjects include outlaws and Billy the Kid. Other listed books include Arson (1984), Blood Kin (1992), Backtrail (1993), Badlands (1996) and Texas Lily (1997). Lone Justice (2017) is the most recent title.

Louis L’Amour

183 books• 11 series

Westerns are what Louis L'Amour is catalogued for - 183 titles built on frontier and pioneer life. The Sackett family novels form the largest sequence, with Kilkenny, Chantry, Bowdrie and Talon beside them. L'Amour also wrote Hopalong Cassidy novels, among them The Riders of High Rock and The Rustlers of West Fork (1951). Smoke from This Altar (1939) is the earliest entry, and the Lost Treasures line carries later releases through 2019.

Elmore Leonard

65 books• 12 series

Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925 to August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Leonard began with Westerns in the 1950s and moved on to crime fiction and suspense, and many of those books were filmed. The story "Three-Ten to Yuma" became the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Anthony Lane, a British journalist, called Leonard one of the best crime writers in the land. Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Glitz and LaBrava rank among Leonard's best-known works. The catalogue lists 65 titles starting with The Bounty Hunters (1953), plus series featuring Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Jack Foley and Carl Webster.

L. Ron Hubbard

110 books• 5 series

L. Ron Hubbard (Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, March 13, 1911 to January 24, 1986) was an American writer and the founder of Scientology. The early career produced a large body of pulp science fiction and fantasy. The catalogue holds 110 books, starting in 1934 with Sea Fangs, Dead Men Kill, Hurtling Wings and Twenty Fathoms Down. Series include Mission Earth, Slaves of Sleep and collections of western and science fiction short stories. Hubbard wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950, a book described as pseudoscientific, created Scientology in 1952 and led the Church of Scientology until 1986. Subjects include air pilots, sea stories, westerns and crime.

Historical western romance is Rosanne Bittner's field, set on the American frontier among pioneers, outlaws and the Indians of North America, the Dakota among them. Savage Destiny, Blue Hawk Saga, Westward America, Outlaw Trail and the Arizona Saga carry the longer stories. Sixty-eight books run from Sweet Prairie Passion (1983) to Shadow Trail (2023), several of the early ones published as F. Rosanne Bittner.

Wallace Stegner (Wallace Earle Stegner, February 18, 1909 to April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, historian and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". Stegner received the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977. The catalogue records 41 books from Remembering Laughter (1937) to The Twilight of Self Reliance (2008). Mormon Country (1942), The Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943) and Beyond the Hundredth Meridian (1954) are listed titles. Subjects include the American West, Mormons, history and biography.

Stephen Bly has 98 books in the catalogue, published from 1981 to 2013, and the list is likely complete. Radical Discipleship (1981) is the earliest, followed by Devotions with a Difference (1982) and God's Angry Side (1982), with Crystal's Blizzard Trek (1986) among the titles that followed and When the Cowboys Come to Town (2013) the newest. Bly series include Legend of Stuart Brannon, Code of the West, Crystal Blake Adventures, Adventures of Nathan T. Riggins, Fortunes of the Black Hills, Austin-Stoner Files, Hidden West, Old California and Heroines of the Golden West. Subjects include westerns, Christian life, women pioneers and the American West.

Ed Gorman, full name Edward Joseph Gorman Jr., was an American writer and anthologist of short fiction, born November 2, 1941, and died October 14, 2016. Gorman published across nearly every genre, with the best-known work in crime, mystery, western and horror. Non-fiction by Gorman appeared in The New York Times and Redbook, and fiction appeared in Xero, Black Lizard, Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance and the anthology Tales of Zorro. The catalogue lists 129 books from 1985 to 2017, some published as Daniel Ransom, and series including Sam McCain, Jack Dwyer, Dev Conrad, Leo Guild, Cavalry Man and Tobin.

Gary Paulsen

181 books• 17 series

Survival and outdoor adventure run through Gary Paulsen's writing for young readers. The catalogue holds 181 books, from Some Birds Don't Fly (1968) to Northwind (2022), at a median length of 105 pages. Brian Robeson, Francis Tucket, Duncan Culpepper, Murphy and the World of Adventure books head the series lines, with non-fiction and picture books alongside. No new Paulsen title has appeared since 2022.

William Wallace Johnstone, October 28, 1938 to February 8, 2004, was an American author of westerns, horror and survivalist fiction. The Devil's Kiss opened the run in 1981, followed by The Last of the Dog Team (1981), Out of the Ashes (1983) and Anarchy in the Ashes (1984). Series filed under the name include Ashes, First Mountain Man, Smoke Jensen, Last Gunfighter, Blood Bond and Duff MacCallister, and subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, revenge and Texas. The catalogue carries 544 titles under the Johnstone name dated 1981 to 2026, well past the 2004 death date, and 400 of them carry a William W. Johnstone credit.

Elmer Kelton

74 books• 9 series

Elmer Kelton (April 29, 1926 - August 22, 2009) was an American writer of Westerns, born in Andrews County, Texas. Kelton graduated from the University of Texas in 1948, edited farm and ranch news at the San Angelo Standard-Times until 1963, and was associate editor of Livestock Weekly from 1968 to 1990. Kelton's novels won seven Spur Awards and three Western Heritage Awards, and Kelton received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement. The catalogue holds 74 books from Hot Iron (1956) to Law of the Land (2021), including the Texas Rangers, Texas Tradition and Hewey Calloway series.

Dorothy Garlock (1919-2018) wrote historical romance, much of it set on the American frontier. The catalogue runs to 63 books published between 1980 and 2017, from Love and Cherish (1980) to The Nearness of You (2017), with the 1980s her heaviest decade. Series include Wyoming Frontier, Dolan Brothers, Wabash River, Route 66, Colorado Wind and the Tucker Family books. Garlock also published as Johanna Phillips, Dorothy Phillips and Dorothy Glenn.

Ralph Cotton (1945-2024) was an American writer of westerns. The debut novel, While Angels Dance: The Life and Times of Jeston Nash, appeared from St. Martin's Press in 1994, and more than 80 novels followed, three of them carrying Ralph Compton's byline after Compton died. 75 titles are catalogued here, through to Gunman's Pass (2022). Ranger Sam Burrack is the recurring lead, with the Jeston Nash, Will Summers, Sherman Dahl, Gun Culture, Long Riders and Dead Or Alive sequences alongside. Arizona Rangers, outlaws, gunfights and frontier life carry the subject tags.

Loren D. Estleman

122 books• 10 series

Loren D. Estleman, born September 15, 1952, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an American author of detective fiction and westerns. Estleman is known for crime novels featuring Amos Walker, a private investigator, and Detroit recurs in the subject headings. Page Murdock, US Deputy Marshal, Peter Macklin, Valentino and Detroit are the other series. The catalogue counts 122 books from Red Highway (1976) to Man One (2026), and Motor City Blue appeared in 1980.

Goscinny wrote comics. Asterix and Lucky Luke are the two recurring creations, joined by Iznogoud, Dogmatix and the Nicholas books. Asterix the Gaul (1959) is the earliest entry, with Asterix and the Golden Sickle (1960), Asterix and the Goths (1961), Asterix the Gladiator (1962) and Asterix and Cleopatra (1963) following in quick order. The catalogue holds 107 titles dated 1959 to 2011, averaging 48 pages. Gauls, cowboys and caricature run through the subject list.

Horses and ranch life run through Laura Moore's catalogue: subjects record horse farms, stables, horsemen and horsewomen, ranches, the American West and Virginia, alongside contemporary romance. Moore's 11 books appeared between 2001 and 2017, from Chance Meeting and Ride a Dark Horse, both 2001, to Making Waves (2017). Two series are listed, Miller/Sheppard and the Rosewood Trilogy, and the run takes in Night Swimming (2003), In Your Eyes (2004), Believe in Me (2010), Trouble Me (2012), Once Tempted (2013), Once Tasted (2014) and Once Touched (2015).

Janette Oke, born Janette Steeves on 18 February 1935, is a Canadian author of inspirational fiction, often set in pioneer times with women as the lead characters. Bethany House published Love Comes Softly, the first Oke novel, in 1979. When Calls the Heart (1983) opened the Canadian West series and became the basis for a television series with the same title. The catalogue holds 79 Oke books, with The Pharisee's Wife (2025) the newest. Series include Love Comes Softly, Prairie Legacy, Women of the West, Song of Acadia and Janette Oke's Animal Friends. Subjects include women pioneers, Canada and Christian fiction.

Joe R. Lansdale

156 books• 24 series

Joe R. Lansdale, born Joe Richard Lansdale on October 28, 1951, is an American writer and martial arts instructor who works across Western, horror, science fiction, mystery and suspense and has also written comic books and screenplays. Lansdale's honours include the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award and eleven Bram Stoker Awards, and several novels have been adapted for film and television. The catalogue begins with Act of Love (1981) and includes Dead in the West (1986), The Magic Wagon (1986), The Nightrunners (1987), The Drive-In (1988) and Cold in July (1989); Petrified Dreams (2026) is the newest. Hap Collins and Leonard Pine head the Hap and Leonard series, and Texas features in the subjects.

Percival Everett

36 books

Percival Everett, born December 22, 1956, is an American author and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. The fiction moves across western, mystery, thriller, satire and philosophical forms, often using satire to examine race and identity in the United States. Erasure (2001), I Am Not Sidney Poitier (2009) and The Trees (2021), shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, are the best-known novels. The catalogue lists 37 books from Suder (1983) to James (2024), with Serious Music due in 2027, and includes short stories and poetry.

Savage Ecstasy, Defiant Ecstasy and Forbidden Ecstasy all appeared in 1982, the first year in Janelle Taylor's catalogue. Taylor is an American author of historical romance, born June 28, 1944, in Athens, Georgia. Brazen Ecstasy and Tender Ecstasy followed in 1983, and Golden Torment and Valley of Fire in 1984. Series include Gray Eagle, Western Wind, Lakota Skies, Sedgwick Sisters, Southern Historical, Saar and Viking Fantasy. Subject headings name Indians of North America, the American West, mixed descent and romantic suspense, and the catalogue counts 58 books in all.