Reader Mailbag: Publication or Chronological Order?
In the February 2025 newsletter, we asked readers if a series has a chronological order, will they read it over the publication order? Here were the responses:
Mark: Though it’s not very common, if the chronological order does not match the publication order, I always read the books in chronological order. Usually there is some character growth, or plot developments, that make for a much fuller, or at least less confusing, reading experience.
The main example I know is Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. The first 5 books are kind of jumbled up (after those, she matched the chronological order to the publication order), but the chronological follows the growth and career of the main character, Miles Vorkosigan. The publication order is…unfortunate.
Closely related to this is that some authors, as they go along, write short stories or novellas set in the same series; I slot these in chronological order with the rest of the series, as they often make what comes later much clearer. Two good examples are, again, the Vorkosigan saga, and The Expanse.
Kenicia: I prefer reading in publication order. I find it interesting to see how well an author can tie things together if the timeline jumps around. I am listening to the Amelia Peabody series in chronological order, though. I read them in publication order years ago, so I thought I would be different this time around.
Keith: I listen to books in chronological order if I’m starting a new (to me) series, and in publication order if I’m listening to a book series that I’ve already started.
Christine: I prefer to read the series in chronological order vs. publication date since I understand what’s going on; however, that being said, if there is a special Christmas one I will sometimes read that one.
Sandie: Hi Graeme! So glad you asked about chronological vs publication order. I definitely prefer chronological order. I hate having to unravel the story line for books I haven’t read yet, especially the many vintage sci-fi books I have been cataloging.
Ruth: Re – the order to read books – I live on PEI, Canada. I mostly read digitally from the provincial library system. Luckily, I also have a library card for the North Carolina system which probably quadruples my choices. I tend to “shop” in the “available now” section. So, I read or listen to series in the order in which I can borrow them from one or the other. Luckily, my brain seems to be able to slot the newer or older or chronologically ordered books so it all makes sense. Every now and again I realize the book I am reading is actually part of a series and then look for the author and just wait to see where it fits. I know this drives some people crazy; it’s a topic of some good family debates. But then they have access to larger library systems, plan ahead with book requests, and have more in their book buying budgets.
Douglas: A great question as this is my first ever response.
I don’t start a new mystery series until it is well established with 7-11 novels and
I have checked the chronological order of the books with orderofbooks.com.
I am forced to follow the publication order if I’ve already started the series.
I usually don’t enjoy the “flashbacks” or “origins” novels as well, however,
that seems to be a trend with some books, TV series and movies.
Donna: I read my series in publication order. I have always done that and will continue to do so. I will still get the timelines no matter what happens chronologically.
Tracey: I’m in the read in publication order camp as well, as I believe they are written that way for a reason. On the other hand, once a series is complete, it may be interesting to read them in chronological order. I may get a whole new take on the story and characters.
Joyce: I received my 4th cancer diagnosis followed by two months of surgery and recovery from December-January 2025 (full recovery!). So naturally I went looking for a series of books to help me cope. I stumbled across Irish writer Caimh (allegedly pronounced “Qweeve”) McDonnell. He has a series grossly misnamed “The Dublin Trilogy”- but he’s actually written book 8 of this ‘trilogy’. I originally stumbled on book 4 and was hooked in the first ten pages. I could ‘hear’ the Irish lilting voices in my head. When I discovered book 4 was a prequel to the series it was so fantastic I kept reading. I then went to Order of Books and downloaded the original trilogy books, I am currently reading book 8. At one point my husband got concerned when I was reading in bed in the middle of the night because he mistook my laugh out loud reactions for cries of pain and agony. I plan on spending the next year reading/rereading every book Mr McDonnell has written.
Vicki: Publication or chronological order?
For me, publication order is usually the best. There are the occasional exceptions, but not many.
It’s quite annoying to me that the Narnia Chronicles now show The Magician’s Nephew as the first of the series since it is chronologically the first. BUT The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the book that pulls the reader into Narnia. Without reading them in publication order, The Magician’s Nephew doesn’t mean much.< Toni: Chronological or publication-well, it depends. If I’m reading a series, as it’s being written, obviously I read it in publication order because really, there’s no other choice. If I’m reading a series that has already been completed, I will read it in chronological order. I prefer series that are already completed because I don’t like it when there is a year or two that I have to wait for the next book. I read and listen to so many books that I forget some key things by the time the next one comes out. A couple of series have left me with-do I really care what happened-because I’ve lost that interest while waiting for the next book.
Tom: Hello Graeme…I will usually read a series of books as they are published. When authors go back and forth in time it makes it more difficult to keep track of things. We see this in the movies or TV series sometimes. Besides, I don’t buy many books anymore and rely on the library and Ebooks. For lesser known series, there can be many gaps in finding books in order.
Steve: If I have a choice I will read in chronological order.
However, If I am reading a series in publication order and I find a new book is published that is chronologically newer I tend to read that before the next one in publication order.
AJ: It depends on when I start with an author. If they only have a few books, I read in publication order, but if I’m finding them with 10+ books already written, I’ll start with chronological order – but then once caught up, cont with publication order. I’m a pretty streaky reader, so once I find someone, I read everything they’ve written to that point over just a couple of weeks, then they add to my keep up with list.
Barbara: When I start a new series I usually follow the publishing order because I usually have no choice but to follow the publishing order because I have to wait for the next book to be published before I can read it.
Chy: I like to read books in publication order because many times the writer has something specific to share that may be lost in the chronological telling.
Deborah: If you read in publication order rather than chronological order, a book may mention something that happened in the past but not give enough detail to fully understand the reference. It really irritates me when an author publishes a “prequel” several books into a series.
I typically read in chronological order and wait until a series is complete. Sometimes it’s fairly easy to determine how many books will be in a series. For example, there’s a description about a book referring to three characters but the bulk of the description is mostly about just one of them. Then it’s fairly safe to think there will only be three books and I will start reading the first one even if the others haven’t been published yet. With books like the Lady Justice series by Robert Thornhill the main character is a PI so it’s safe to read those books when published.
Denise: I MUST read books that are in a series in publication order.. or I feel I am missing something. There is a reason the author wrote these books in that order.
I have a friend that I trade books with and the James Patterson Woman’s Murder Club is an example. I will tell her I am reading #14 and she says, “Oh, I read that already. I picked it up at a yard sale”.
My comment then is so you don’t need anything prior to #14…. “No, I haven’t read #10 or #13 yet.”
That would drive me crazy!!!! And it does. I personally could never do that. Guess that is one of my personal hang ups. But, to each their own.
If there is a prequel, I read it as it comes out. I am not waiting years to start a series because their ‘might’ be a prequel.
Joy: I like to read books with historical situations in them in order of the date it is happening.
If it is a book in a series, I iike to read in order of publishing. i like to see how the characters develop and learn as they enter each challenge.
Kris: Regarding the order of books, publication vs. chronological. What a great question. I really had to think about it. Generally I have always read the books in publication order. I think I prefer that because I know more about the character having read the other books. Specifically I am thinking of Jack Reacher (as I am frequently thinking about Jack Reacher……). I like reading the books from his time in the military with the knowledge of who he has become since leaving the military.
Laura: I go back and forth on whether I read by chronological or publication date. I lean towards publication date in order to remain aligned with the author. Often, reading by chronological date is a bit jarring due to slight variances in the author’s style or character development.
Linda: I never really thought about chronological versus publication date. I guess if it is a new author, I do look for the publication date. However, if it is a series that I have read forever, I just read whichever book comes out next. Had a bad month in January.
Pam: Chronological or publication order – good question. If it’s an old series that I haven’t already read, I’d say chronological since I am a huge fan of backstories.
If I’m hooked on a new series – publication order, but then as the series progresses, I will be annoyed by a prequel released later. Maybe not “annoyed” but my eyes will roll.
Pete: I read books in publication order first, but the series I keep are re-read in chronological order. i’d certainly prefer publishing in time order.
Renni: I read in published order. Though I can understand the need for chronological order,
it frustrates me. And, of course, frequently the first 2 or 5 or 10 books have been
published and how does one know that a “beginning” is going to be published? So, when
that does happen, I just look at that particular book as a “looking back” story – I can
live with that.
Sam: Typically, when I see an existing series which has prequel(s) already published, I will go for the prequels first. I did exactly that when I started the Mitch Rapp series. I noted that when I got to the first published Mitch Rapp novel, there was a part where Rapp had a brief thought/comment about his basic training. Having read the prequels, I kind of went “Whaaaaat?” as it didn’t match anything in American Assassin. But I likely wouldn’t have caught that if I’d read in published order. It was also interesting how, after the prequels did come out, Stan Hurley suddenly comes onto the scene in the next chronological book.
I’m totally with you on watching a writer grow as they continue their career. I’ve seen several who I really noted improvements on over time.
Order of books has become mu bible in terms of finding all that an author has written (I read in chronological order) and lord I hope it never stops – I love bothofyour sites and use all the time and tell everyone of my reading friends about it! I am not very techie so it’s a nice clean simple way of finding out things all on one page! Thank you for being you!!!
Thanks for the feedback Nikki it’s made my day 🙂 Cheers!