Book · in order
Red Queen Books in Order
Victoria Aveyard's YA fantasy quartet about a world split by blood color. Read in publication order, with two novella collections, Cruel Crown and Broken Throne, as companion reads.
Red Queen Books in Order โ complete list
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Why this order?
The Red Queen series is a four-book young adult fantasy quartet by Victoria Aveyard, set in a world where the silver-blooded elite wield supernatural powers and the red-blooded masses are kept powerless beneath them. The story follows Mare Barrow, a Red thief who discovers she has an ability that should be impossible for someone of her blood. Because the plot is one continuous, escalating arc, the right way through it is simply publication order, which is also the reading order we default to here.
That order runs Red Queen (2015), Glass Sword (2016), King's Cage (2017), and War Storm (2018). There are no alternate timelines or in-universe chronology tricks to untangle, so the books slot together cleanly from first to last. War Storm closes the main quartet, and nothing in the four core novels needs to be read out of sequence.
The two novella collections are companion reads rather than required stops. Cruel Crown gathers two prequel novellas, "Queen Song" and "Steel Scars," and is best read after Red Queen and before Glass Sword, since it deepens backstory without spoiling the main plot. Broken Throne collects shorter pieces, deleted scenes, and an epilogue, and it belongs at the very end, after War Storm, as a coda. One thing to know: Broken Throne actually reprints all five franchise novellas, including the two found in Cruel Crown, so if you read Cruel Crown earlier you will re-encounter that material here alongside the new content.
Both the reading and publication toggles list the same six titles in the same order, because the novellas happened to hit shelves in the spots where they read best. Cruel Crown was published in January 2016, just ahead of Glass Sword in February, so a strict by-date sequence and the recommended reading sequence line up.
If you enjoy this kind of dystopian YA fantasy built on a rigid caste system and a reluctant rebel heroine, Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass and Marie Lu's Legend trilogy share its DNA, while readers wanting more royal court intrigue often move on to Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse.
Timeline 2015โ2019
Every entry plotted by release year โ see the gaps, clusters and revivals at a glance.
Where to play it today
Affiliate links (Bookshop.org for books, store links for games/films) slot in here.
Frequently asked questions
How many Red Queen books are there?
There are four core novels: Red Queen, Glass Sword, King's Cage, and War Storm. Two novella collections, Cruel Crown and Broken Throne, accompany the series as companion reads.
What order should I read Red Queen in?
Read in publication order: Red Queen, then Glass Sword, King's Cage, and War Storm. Slot Cruel Crown in after book 1 and Broken Throne at the very end.
Do I need to read Cruel Crown and Broken Throne?
No. Both are optional companion collections. Cruel Crown adds prequel backstory and Broken Throne offers extra scenes and an epilogue, but neither is required to follow the main plot. Note that Broken Throne reprints the same two novellas found in Cruel Crown.
Is the Red Queen series finished?
Yes. War Storm concluded the four-book main arc in 2018, and Broken Throne wrapped up the companion material in 2019. There are no further main-series novels planned.
Where does Cruel Crown fit in the timeline?
Cruel Crown collects two prequel novellas set before and around the events of Red Queen. It's best read after Red Queen and before Glass Sword.
Who wrote the Red Queen series?
American author Victoria Aveyard wrote the entire Red Queen series, beginning with her debut novel Red Queen in 2015.
Last updated · Sources: en.wikipedia.org, Wikidata
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