The Babylon 5 Chronology

The epic science fiction series that did a ‘novel for television’ years before The Wire.

2115

Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps
Novel. Takes place across 80 years or so starting at this point

2190

Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant
Novel. Takes place across 70 years or so starting at this point

2257

The Shadow Within
Novel. Takes place before and slightly overlapping the pilot episode
The Gathering
The pilot episode on DVD

2258 — Signs and Portents

Midnight on the Firing Line
Soul Hunter
Born to the Purple
Infection
The Parliament of Dreams
Mind War
The War Prayer
And The Sky Full Of Stars
Deathwalker
Believers
Survivors
By Any Means Necessary
Signs and Portents
TKO
Grail
Eyes
Legacies
A Voice in the Wilderness, part 1
A Voice in the Wilderness, part 2
Babylon Squared
The Quality of Mercy
Chrysalis
 

2259 — The Coming of Shadows

The Price of Peace
Comic that takes place in the gap between seasons
Casting Shadows
Novel. Must take place before The Geometry of Shadows, placed here by fiat
Points of Departure
Revelations
The Geometry of Shadows
Summoning Light
Novel. Retells selected parts of season two, especially The Geometry of Shadows from Galen’s and Elric’s perspectives
A Distant Star
The Long Dark
Voices
Novel. Placed here by fiat
A Spider in the Web
A Race Through Dark Places
Shadows Past and Present
Comic. Must take place between The Geometry of Shadows and The Coming of Shadows, placed here by fiat
Blood Oath
Novel. Must take place before The Coming of Shadows, placed here by fiat
Soul Mates
The Coming of Shadows
Accusations
Novel. Must take place between The Coming of Shadows and All Alone in the Night, placed here by fiat
GROPOS
All Alone in the Night
Acts of Sacrifice
Hunter, Prey
There All the Honor Lies
Betrayals
Novel. Must take place between The Coming of Shadows and The Long, Twilight Struggle, placed here as a best fit
And Now For a Word
Knives
In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum
Confessions and Lamentations
Divided Loyalties
The Long, Twilight Struggle
Comes the Inquisitor
Clark’s Law
Novel. Must take place at this point
The Fall of Night
 

2260 — Point of No Return

Matters of Honor
To Dream in the City of Sorrows
Novel. Mostly parallels season two, placed here so that Marcus has been introduced
Convictions
The Touch of Your Shadow, The Whisper of Your Name
Novel. Takes place early in this year, prior to A Day in the Strife, but contains continuity errors
A Day in the Strife
Passing Through Gethsemane
Voices of Authority
Dust to Dust
Exogenesis
Messages from Earth
Point of No Return
Severed Dreams
Ceremonies of Light and Dark
A Late Delivery From Avalon
Sic Transit Vir
Ship of Tears
Interludes and Examinations
Walkabout
War Without End, Part One
War Without End, Part Two
Grey 17 Is Missing
And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
Shadow Dancing
Z’ha’dum
Invoking Darkness
Novel. Retells selected parts of season three from Galen’s perspective
 

2261 — No Surrender, No Retreat

The Hour of the Wolf
Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
The Summoning
Personal Agendas
Novel. Must take place at this point
Falling Toward Apotheosis
The Long Night
Into the Fire
In Valen’s Name
Comic set between these two episodes
Epiphanies
The Illusion of Truth
Atonement
In The Beginning
TV movie on DVD – placed here to avoid spoilers
Thirdspace
TV movie on DVD — placed here as it appears to take place during the events of Atonement
Racing Mars
Lines of Communication
Conflicts of Interest
Rumors, Bargains and Lies
Moments of Transition
No Surrender, No Retreat
The Exercise of Vital Powers
The Face of the Enemy
Intersections in Real Time
Between the Darkness and the Light
Endgame
Rising Star
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
 

2262 — Wheel of Fire

No Compromises
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
The Paragon of Animals
A View from the Gallery
Learning Curve
Strange Relations
Secrets of the Soul
Day of the Dead
In the Kingdom of the Blind
A Tragedy of Telepaths
Phoenix Rising
The Ragged Edge
The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
Meditations on the Abyss
Darkness Ascending
And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
Movements of Fire and Shadow
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Wheel of Fire
Objects in Motion
Objects at Rest
The Road Home
 

2263

River of Souls
TV movie on DVD
The Long Night of Centauri Prime
Armies of Light and Dark
Out of the Darkness
Trilogy of novels starting in this year and concluding in 2278
 

2265

To Live and Die in Starlight
The Legend of the Rangers pilot on DVD
 

2266

A Call to Arms
TV movie on DVD
 

2267

Racing the Night
The Needs of Earth
The Memory of War
The Long Road
Visitors from Down the Street
The Well of Forever
Each Night I Dream of Home
Patterns of the Soul
The Path of Sorrows
Ruling from the Tomb
The Rules of the Game
War Zone
Appearances and Other Deceits
 

2271

Voices In The Dark
The Lost Tales on DVD
 

2280

Sleeping in Light
Episode 22 of the fifth season on DVD
Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester
Novel. Mostly takes place before Sleeping in Light, but spoils that story and is thus placed here

The Newsflesh Reading Order

Mira Grant’s post-zombie rising political thrillers

Countdown
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
Everglades
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
All the Pretty Little Horses
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
Feed
Novel published in 2010.
Feedback
Novel published in 2017. Parallels the events of Feed.
Deadline
Novel published in 2011.
Blackout
Novel published in 2012.
How Green This Land, How Blue this Sea
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.
Coming to You Live
Short story published in the 2017 collection, Rise.

The Throne of Glass Chronology

Sarah J. Maas’ excellent young adult fantasy series

The Assassin’s Blade: the Throne of Glass novellas
Published March 13, 2014.
Collects five novellas, four previously published as ebooks and one original to this collection, all set before the main series.
Throne of Glass
Novel published August 2, 2012.
Crown of Midnight
Novel published August 27, 2013.
Heir of Fire
Novel published September 2, 2014.
Queen of Shadows
Novel published September 1, 2015.
Empire of Storms
Novel published September 6, 2016.
Tower of Dawn
Novel published September 5, 2017.
Kingdom of Ash
Novel published October 23, 2018.
Embers of Memory
Game published October 1st, 2019.
Set during the events of Kingdom of Ash.

The Odd Thomas Chronology

Dean Koontz’ modern fantasy series about medium Odd Thomas and his true love, Stormy Llewellyn.

In Odd We Trust
The 2008 graphic novel prequel.
Odd Is On Our Side
The 2010 graphic novel prequel.
House of Odd
The 2012 graphic novel prequel.
You Are Destined to Be Together Forever
The 2014 short story prequel to the main series.
Odd Thomas
The 2003 novel.
Forever Odd
The 2005 novel.
Brother Odd
The 2006 novel.
Odd Passenger
The 2008 webseries, in one complete unit.
Odd Hours
The 2008 novel.
Odd Interlude
The 2012 novel, originally published as three digital novellas.
Odd Apocalypse
The 2012 novel.
Deeply Odd
The 2013 novel.
Saint Odd
The 2015 novel.
Odd Thomas
The 2013 film<.

The Carl Hiaasen Universe Reading Order

Part crime thriller, part satire of Florida, Hiassen’s work is like nothing else.

1986

Tourist Season
November-December
Tommy Tigertail and Al Garcia are introduced in this book. (The year is not specified in the book, but this is the most recent year where the dates and days of the year match for it.)
Published in 1986

1987

Double Whammy
January
Skink and Jim Tile are introduced in this book, Al Garcia returnss.
Published in 1988

1990

Skin Tight
January-February
Mick Stranahan, Luis Cordova, Kipper Garth and Chemo are introduced in this book, Al Garcia returns.
Published in 1989
Native Tongue
July-August
Skink and Jim Tile appear.
Published in 1991

1992

Strip Tease
July
Features Al Garcia. (This novel explicitly starts in September, but that does not match the date for the death of Anthony Salerno, a plot point in this book. It has been dated accordingly.)
Published in 1993
Stormy Weather
August-September
Features Skink and Jim Tile
Published in 1995

1995

Lucky You
November-December
tom Krome is introduced. (The year is not specified in the book, but this is the most recent year where the dates and days of the year match for it.)
Published in 1997

1998

Sick Puppy
April-May
Features Skink and Jim Tile. Introduces Twilly Spree.
Published in 2000

1999

Basket Case
August-September
Has no explicit connections to Hiaasen’s other works, but is too good not to include.
Published in 2002

2003

Skinny Dip
April
Mick Stranahan, Luis Cordova, Kipper Garth, Skink and Twilly Spree return.
Published in 2004

2006

Nature Girl
January
Tommy Tigertail returns.
Published in 2006

2008

Scat
Twilly Spree returns.
Published in 2009

2009

Star Island
June-July
SKink, Jim Tile and Chemo return.
Published in 2010

2013

Bad Monkey
July
Andrew Yancy, Rosa Campesino, Rogelio Burton, Sonny Summers and Tommy Lombardo are introduced.
Published in 2013
Skink – No Surrender
Summer
Features Skink and Jim Tile
Published in 2014

2015

Razor Girl
February-March
Andrew Yancy, Rosa Campesino, Rogelio Burton, Sonny Summers and Tommy Lombardo return.
Published in 2016

2020

Squeeze Me
January-March
Features Skink and Jim Tile, appears to take place in a world without Covid-19
Published in 2020

The First Law Reading Order

Joe Abercrombie’s grimdark fantasy world.

565

Made a Monster
Short story

566

A Beautiful Bastard
Short story

573

Small Kindnesses
Short story

574

The Fool Jobs
Short story

575

Skipping Town
Short story

575

The Blade Itself
Novel
Before They Are Hanged
Novel, continues in 576

576

Hell
Short story
Two’s Company
Short story
Last Argument of Kings
Novel, continues in 577

579

Best Served Cold
Novel, continues in 580

580

Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Short story

584

Some Desperado
Short story
Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden
Short story
The Heroes
Novel

587

Three’s a Crowd
Short story

590

Freedom!
Short story
Red Country
Novel

592

Tough Times All Over
Short story

604

The Thread
Short story published in the novel A Little Hatred

605

A Little Hatred
Novel

606

The Trouble With Peace
Novel
The Wisdom of Crowds
Novel

The Takeshi Kovacs Reading Order

Richard K. Morgan’s excellent sci-fi noir series. Now a Netflix show.

Altered Carbon
Novel published 2002.
Broken Angels
Novel published 2003.
Woken Furies
Novel published 2005.
Altered Carbon: Download Blues
Graphic novel published 2019.
Altered Carbon: One Life, One Death
Graphic novel published 2022.

Your mileage may vary, but many Kovacs fans claim that Morgan’s later A Land Fit For Heroes series is a continuation of his tales. Whether or not you agree with that, they’re a cracking good read, well worth your time.

The Steel Remains
Novel published 2008.
The Cold Commands
Novel published 2011.
The Dark Defiles
Novel published 2014.

The Neal Stephenson Universe Reading Order

It turns out that one of our greatest living science fiction writers has been sneakily building a universe all this time.

Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, volume one)
Novel published in 2003.
The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, volume two)
Novel published in 2004.
The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, volume three)
Novel published in 2004.
Cryptonomicon
Novel published in 1999
Jipi and the Paranoid Chip
Short story published in Forbes magazine’s July 7, 1997 issue
Reamde
Novel published in 2011
Fall, or, Dodge in Hell
Novel published in 2019

The World of the Five Gods Reading Order

Winner of the 2018 Best Series Hugo, Lois McMaster Bujold’s World of the Five Gods series (also known as the Chalion series), is one of the best of the recent fantasy series – a well-thought out world, like ours but not ours, told with a warm heart and a quick mind.

The Hallowed Hunt
Novel published in 2005.
Penric’s Demon
Novella published in 2015
Penric and the Shaman
Novella published in 2016
Penric’s Fox
Novella published in 2017
Testimony of Mute Things
Novella published in 2025
Masquerade in Lodi
Novella published in 2020
Penric’s Mission
Novella published in 2016
Mira’s Last Dance
Novella published in 2017
The Prisoner of Limnos
Novella published in 2017
The Orphans of Raspay
Novella published in 2019
The Physicians of Vilnoc
Novella published in 2020
The Assassins of Thasalon
Novella published in 2021
Knot of Shadows
Novella published in 2021
Demon Daughter
Novella published in 2024
Penric and the Bandit
Novella published in 2024
The Adventure of the Demonic Ox
Novella published in 2025
The Curse of Chalion
Novel published in 2001.
The Paladin of Souls
Novel published in 2003.

The Gotham Chronology

The stories of Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne and Gotham City along Bruce’s path to becoming the Batman.

Pennyworth: Season One
On BluRay
Pennyworth: Season Two
On BluRay
Pennyworth: Season Three
in digital format
Gotham: Dawn of Darkness
Prequel tie-in novel by Jason Starr
Gotham: Season One
All 22 episodes on Blu-ray
Gotham: Season Two, episodes 1-11
All 22 episodes on Blu-ray
Gotham Stories: The Whole Frozen Affair
Web series
Gotham: Season Two, episodes 12-22
All 22 episodes on Blu-ray
Gotham: City of Monsters
Tie-in novel by Jason Starr
Gotham: Season Three, Episodes 1-17
All 22 episodes on Blu-ray
A City Gone Mad: Sirens
Tie-in promotional video on YouTube.
A City Gone Mad: The Interview
Tie-in promotional video on YouTube.
A City Gone Mad: Mommy’s Home
Tie-in promotional video on YouTube.
Gotham: Season Three, Episodes 18-22
All 22 episodes on Blu-ray
Gotham: Season Four
All 22 episodes on Blu-ray
Gotham: Season Five
All 12 episodes on Blu-ray
Pennyworth
Reprints Pennyworth #1-7 (October 2021 – April 2022).
Placed here as the ‘present day’ events in this series clearly take place some years after the conclusion of Gotham.
V for Vendetta
The 2005 film on Blu-ray.
Placed here as it has been confirmed to occur at an as yet unrevealed point in the future, but presumably after the conclusion of the Batman’s career. However, it is more closely tied to the events of Pennyworth than those of Gotham, and may actually take place between the two series.