Book Series | OpenFiction

The Age of Madness

by Joe Abercrombie

A sequel trilogy set a generation after the events of The First Law and the standalones, in a world undergoing industrialisation. The mills are changing who has money, the dispossessed are organising, and the Union's political structures are straining under pressures they were not built to handle. New characters carry the story - Savine dan Glokta, an investor and social climber who has inherited her father's intelligence and ruthlessness; Leo dan Brock, a celebrated war hero with political ambitions; Rikke, a young woman from the North with the Long Eye, the ability to see the future at considerable personal cost. Characters from the original trilogy and standalones return in diminished or transformed roles. The Age of Madness is Abercrombie at his most politically engaged - a trilogy about revolution, its causes, its violence, and the dispiriting reliability of its outcomes.

The Book of Dust

by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials3 books

A companion trilogy set in the same multiverse, functioning as both prequel and sequel to His Dark Materials. La Belle Sauvage, the first volume, is set a decade before Northern Lights and follows a young boy protecting the infant Lyra during a catastrophic flood, establishing the theological and political forces that shape her world before she is old enough to understand them. The Secret Commonwealth, the second volume, follows an adult Lyra in her twenties and is the darkest and most complex work in the wider universe. The Rose Field, published in October 2025, brings the trilogy to its conclusion - Lyra's journey through Central Asia to find her estranged dæmon Pantalaimon, and with him, the capacity for wonder she fears she has lost.

The Border Trilogy

by Cormac McCarthy

3 books

Three novels set on the Texas-Mexico border in the mid-twentieth century, following two young cowboys - John Grady Cole and Billy Parham - coming of age in a landscape on the edge of irreversible change. The trilogy moves from the ranching country of west Texas deep into Mexico and back, charting loss, violence, and the death of the American frontier. Collectively regarded as one of the great American literary epics of the twentieth century.

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The City Watch

by Terry Pratchett

Discworld8 books

The City Watch series is one of the major story lines that make up 8 of the Discworld books. It focuses on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, formerly the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch, in particular the captain, and later commander of the Watch, Samuel Vimes, usually when he is being manipulated by Lord Vetinari. The books tend to be whodunit in nature and often feature conspiracies aimed at toppling regimes.

The Culture

by Iain M. Banks

The Culture9 books

The Culture series is a science fiction series written by Scottish author Iain M. Banks and released from 1987 until 2012. The stories centre on The Culture, a utopian, post-scarcity space society of humanoid aliens and advanced superintelligent artificial intelligences living in artificial habitats spread across the Milky Way galaxy. The main themes of the series are the dilemmas that an idealistic, more-advanced civilization faces in dealing with smaller, less-advanced civilizations that do not share its ideals, and whose behaviour it sometimes finds barbaric. In some of the stories, action takes place mainly in non-Culture environments, and the leading characters are often on the fringes of (or non-members of) the Culture, sometimes acting as agents of Culture (knowing and unknowing) in its plans to civilize the galaxy. Each novel is a self-contained story with new characters, although reference is occasionally made to the events of previous novels.

The Dark Tower

by Stephen King

All-World8 books

Eight novels written by Stephen King between 1982 and 2012, following Roland Deschain - the last gunslinger - on his quest across a dying world toward the Dark Tower, the nexus of all realities. The series defies easy categorisation: it is a western, a horror novel, a post-apocalyptic epic, and a high fantasy quest, held together by King's mythology of ka - fate - and a cast that grows from a lone figure in the desert to a fully realised fellowship. Begun when King was nineteen and completed over four decades, it is widely regarded as his magnum opus. Inspired by Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" and Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, it eventually grew to connect with much of King's wider fiction, though the eight core novels stand entirely on their own.

Death

by Terry Pratchett

Discworld5 books

Death is, as you'd expect, a tall hooded skeleton with a scythe who SPEAKS IN A VOICE LIKE THE SLAMMING OF COFFIN LIDS. However, he also likes a good curry, kittens, and finds the lives of mortals endlessly fascinating. Beginning with Mort, in which Death takes on an apprentice, the series explores what happens when an immortal anthropomorphic personification develops an unhealthy interest in humanity. His granddaughter Susan Sto Helit becomes the central character from Soul Music onwards, reluctantly stepping in whenever Death goes missing or takes on new responsibilities. The five books range from workplace comedy to meditations on belief, memory, and time - Hogfather tackles the power of myth, while Thief of Time deals with the nature of time itself.

Dune (Original Series)

by Frank Herbert

The Dune Universe6 books

Frank Herbert's original six Dune novels, published between 1965 and 1985, are among the most influential works in science fiction. Beginning with the story of Paul Atreides and the desert planet Arrakis, the series expands across thousands of years to explore the consequences of messianic leadership, the tension between prescience and free will, and humanity's long struggle to avoid evolutionary stagnation. Each novel shifts the scope and timeline dramatically - from the political intrigue of Dune to the multi-millennial reign of God Emperor of Dune to the galaxy-spanning upheaval of Heretics and Chapterhouse. Herbert completed six novels before his death in 1986; his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson later continued the series with prequels and sequels.

Elantris

by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere2 books

Elantris was the city of the gods - home to beings of silver skin and impossible power, sustained by the magic of AonDor. Then, ten years ago, the Shaod stopped granting its transformative gift and began delivering a curse instead. Now the once-radiant city rots, and those taken by the Shaod are cast inside its walls to suffer an eternity of pain without the release of death. Set on the planet Sel in the Cosmere, the Elantris series explores a world where magic is tied to geography, faith is wielded as a weapon, and the line between divinity and damnation is thinner than anyone suspects.

The Expanse

by James S. A. Corey

The Expanse9 books

Nine novels following the crew of the Rocinante - a salvaged Martian warship captained by James Holden - across more than four decades of solar system politics, war, and first contact. The series spans three loose acts: a conspiracy thriller set within the solar system, an expansion through alien gates to a thousand new worlds, and a final reckoning with whatever destroyed the civilisation that built them. Written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name James S.A. Corey, the series won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2020 and is complete at nine books.

The Farseer Trilogy

by Robin Hobb

Realm of the Elderlings3 books

The opening trilogy of the Realm of the Elderlings follows FitzChivalry Farseer, the illegitimate son of a prince who never took the throne, from his childhood in the stables of Buckkeep Castle through his training as a royal assassin and his role in the Red Ship Wars that threaten the Six Duchies. Hobb establishes the universe's central concerns from the first pages - the cost of duty, the pain of isolation, and the particular cruelty of a world that uses people without acknowledging what it takes from them. The Fool appears here for the first time, beginning one of the most celebrated relationships in contemporary fantasy fiction.

The First Law

by Joe Abercrombie

The First Law World3 books

The trilogy that established Joe Abercrombie as one of the defining voices in contemporary fantasy. Three characters - Logen Ninefingers, a barbarian from the North trying and failing to leave his violent past behind; Sand dan Glokta, a crippled Inquisitor who was once the Union's finest swordsman and now extracts confessions with methodical self-awareness; and Jezal dan Luthar, a vain nobleman who wants glory without cost - are drawn together by the wizard Bayaz, First of the Magi, whose purposes are not what they appear. The trilogy spans a war with the Gurkish Empire, a journey to the edge of the known world, and a siege of the Union's capital, but its real subject is the gap between who people think they are and what they actually do. The First Law established the template for grimdark fantasy and remains its clearest expression: the world is not fair, people do not change easily, and the powerful stay powerful regardless of who wins.

Fitz and the Fool

by Robin Hobb

Realm of the Elderlings3 books

The concluding trilogy of the Fitz and Fool strand, bringing together threads from across the full sequence in a story that demands familiarity with both the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies to land with full force. Hobb subjects her characters to some of the most sustained and unsparing treatment in the sequence before reaching a conclusion that has divided readers between those who found it earned and those who found it too costly. Assassin's Fate, the final volume, is one of the longest and most emotionally demanding novels in the universe.

Gentleman Bastard

by Scott Lynch

The Therin Continent3 books

Locke Lamora was picked out of an orphan pool as a child for being dangerously clever, and has spent his adult life proving it. He leads the Gentleman Bastards - a small crew of con artists operating in Camorr, a city of ancient alien glass towers and Venetian canals - pulling elaborate long-cons on the nobility while technically satisfying the terms of a peace treaty with the city's criminal overlord. The series is sharp, funny, and extremely violent, with some of the best-constructed heist plotting in fantasy. Scott Lynch's world is built around the tension between Locke's extraordinary competence and the repeated discovery that someone else is always playing a longer game.

Harry Potter

by J. K. Rowling

Wizarding World7 books

Seven novels published by J.K. Rowling between 1997 and 2007, following the life of Harry Potter from his discovery of his magical heritage at age eleven through his final confrontation with Lord Voldemort. Each book corresponds to one year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with the series darkening significantly as Harry ages. Beginning as a children's fantasy in the tradition of the British school story, the series evolves into something more concerned with mortality, sacrifice, and the abuse of power. It is among the best-selling book series in history with over 600 million copies sold worldwide, and spawned eight films, a stage play, and a global franchise.

The Heroes of Olympus

by Rick Riordan

Riordanverse5 books

A prophecy of seven demigods from both the Greek camp and its Roman counterpart, Camp Jupiter, who must sail together to stop Gaia, the earth goddess, from waking and destroying both worlds. Where the original series followed Percy alone, Heroes of Olympus splits its narrative across seven characters, alternating perspectives to build an ensemble story about two traditions that have been kept separate for centuries and the cost of bringing them together. Direct continuation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, beginning immediately after the events of The Last Olympian.

His Dark Materials

by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials3 books

The trilogy that establishes Lyra's world and the wider multiverse, following Lyra Belacqua from her childhood in the cloistered world of Jordan College, Oxford through a journey that takes her across multiple worlds and places her at the centre of a war that will determine the nature of consciousness itself. Beginning with Northern Lights, which introduces the world's distinctive theology, daemons, and the mystery of Dust, the trilogy moves through increasing philosophical and emotional complexity to a conclusion that engages directly with Milton's Paradise Lost and the question of whether innocence or experience is the greater human gift.

The Kane Chronicles

by Rick Riordan

Riordanverse3 books

Carter and Sadie Kane are the children of Julius Kane, a brilliant Egyptologist who accidentally releases the five most powerful Egyptian gods into the modern world. Suddenly hosts to divine power and hunted by the House of Life, the ancient order of Egyptian magicians, the Kane siblings must master their abilities and stop Set from destroying North America. A standalone trilogy set in the same world as the Greek series but operating entirely within Egyptian mythology, with a dual first-person narration structure that distinguishes it from every other Riordanverse series.

King of Scars

by Leigh Bardugo

Grishaverse2 books

Nikolai Lantsov, King of Ravka, is trying to hold his country together in the wake of the war that ended the Shadow and Bone trilogy, while carrying private wounds that he can confide in almost no one. A duology following the political aftermath of the original trilogy, with Nikolai and his general Zoya Nazyalensky navigating a kingdom still fractured by war, a new religious movement, and threats from within the court and without. More explicitly political than its predecessors, and more interested in what it means to lead than in the discovery of power.

The Kingkiller Chronicle

by Patrick Rothfuss

Temerant2 books

The Kingkiller Chronicle tells the life story of a man named Kvothe. In the present day, Kvothe is a rural innkeeper, living under a pseudonym. In the past, he was a wandering trouper and musician who grew to be a notorious arcanist (wizard), known as the infamous "Kingkiller." The series is framed as the transcription of his three-day-long oral autobiography, where he "trouped, traveled, loved, lost, trusted and was betrayed". Present-day "interludes" concern his life as an innkeeper, with each present day depicted in a separate book. The series is a secondary world fantasy. It has its own magic systems, mixing alchemy, sympathetic magic, sygaldry (a form of runic magic combined with medieval engineering), and naming (a type of magic that allows the user to command the classical elements and objects), plus others.

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Series

The Age of Madness

The Book of Dust

The Border Trilogy

The City Watch

The Culture

The Dark Tower

Death

Dune (Original Series)

Elantris

The Expanse

The Farseer Trilogy

The First Law

Fitz and the Fool

Gentleman Bastard

Harry Potter

The Heroes of Olympus

His Dark Materials

The Kane Chronicles

King of Scars

The Kingkiller Chronicle

The Age of Madness

The Book of Dust

The Border Trilogy

The City Watch

The Culture

The Dark Tower

Death

Dune (Original Series)

Elantris

The Expanse

The Farseer Trilogy

The First Law

Fitz and the Fool

Gentleman Bastard

Harry Potter

The Heroes of Olympus

His Dark Materials

The Kane Chronicles

King of Scars

The Kingkiller Chronicle