The Expanse
CompleteAll books have been published
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.
Integrated Reading Order
Novels and novellas in the sequence that makes most narrative sense, with each shorter work placed where it adds the most context. Drive and The Butcher of Anderson Station are placed before Leviathan Wakes since both are prequels, though first-time readers may prefer to encounter them later once they know the characters. The Churn is placed before Nemesis Games rather than after - Amos's backstory reframes what happens to him in that book in ways that work better as setup than as retrospective. Strange Dogs is placed before Tiamat's Wrath, where its events become directly relevant.
- 1Chapter summaries available

Drive
2012
- 2Chapter summaries available

The Butcher of Anderson Station
2011
- 3Chapter summaries available

Leviathan Wakes
The Expanse
2011
- 4Chapter summaries available

Caliban's War
The Expanse
2012
- 5Chapter summaries available

Gods of Risk
2012
- 6Chapter summaries available

Abaddon's Gate
The Expanse
2013
- 7Chapter summaries available

Cibola Burn
The Expanse
2014
- 8Chapter summaries available

The Churn
2014
- 9Chapter summaries available

Nemesis Games
The Expanse
2015
- 10Chapter summaries available

The Vital Abyss
2015
- 11Chapter summaries available

Babylon's Ashes
The Expanse
2016
- 12Chapter summaries available

Strange Dogs
2017
- 13Chapter summaries available

Persepolis Rising
The Expanse
2017
- 14Chapter summaries available

Auberon
2019
- 15Chapter summaries available

Tiamat's Wrath
The Expanse
2019
- 16Chapter summaries available

Leviathan Falls
The Expanse
2021
- 17Chapter summaries available

The Sins of Our Fathers
2022