The Greatest Novel Series of All Time
Some great works of literature are known as well—or better—by the larger book series they are part of. The Greatest Novel Series of All Time gathers the most prominent series featuring novels and novellas. The selection is based on the same research that helped create The Greatest Literature of All Time and our other Greatest lists.
For this list, a series is defined as having three or more works of novel or novella length. It may also be known as a trilogy, tetralogy, pentalogy, sequence or cycle.
Such a series may also include short stories, story collections or other literary works in addition to the requisite novels or novellas.
Note though, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether a sequence of books represents a series of works or just one work in several parts. Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past and J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, for example, are each generally considered very long novels published in several volumes, while Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire are accepted as series of novels. This list sticks to works that a consensus—as far as we can determine—categorizes as series. However, opinions may vary.
An effort is also made to avoid the so-called series that is little more that a conglomeration of the works of a certain kind by a single author. To be grouped together as a series, works have to be more closely unified by other factors, such as by common characters, a continued story line, or related perspectives on the same events. Again, however, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a collection of works is a genuine series.
This list, like all our others, is continually updated as research continues and the tastes of readers, writers, critics and scholars evolve.
Latest update: April 7, 2024
The 111 greatest novel series
In chronological order
1532–1564
The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel
François Rabelais,
France,
novel series
Includes Pantagruel, Gargantua, The Third Book of Pantagruel, The Fourth Book of Pantagruel, The Fifth Book of Pantagruel
1855–1867
Chronicles of Barsetshire
Anthony Trollope,
England,
novel series
Includes The Warden, Barchester Towers, Doctor Thorne, The Last Chronicle of Barset, and others
1887–1927
Sherlock Holmes
England,
novel and story series
Includes A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and others
1900–1903
Claudine
Colette,
France,
novel series
Includes Claudine at School; Claudine in Paris; Claudine Married; Claudine and Annie
1906–1921
England,
novel series
Includes The Man of Property, In Chancery, To Let, and two interludes
1908–1939
Anne of Green Gables
L.M. Montgomery,
Canada,
novel series
Includes Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars
1912–1940
Tarzan
Edgar Rice Burroughs,
United States,
novel series
Includes Tarzan of the Apes, The Return of Tarzan, The Beasts of Tarzan, The Son of Tarzan, and others
1917–1929
The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony
Henry Handel Richardson,
Australia,
novel series
Includes Australia Felix, The Way Home, Ultima Thule
1917–1941
Barsoom
Edgar Rice Burroughs,
United States,
novel series
Includes A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars, John Carter of Mars, and others
1920–1922
Kristin Lavransdatter
Sigrid Undset,
Norway,
novel series
Includes The Wreath, The Wife, The Cross
1920–1975
Hercule Poirot mysteries
England,
novel series
Includes The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and others
1923–1841
Leatherstocking Tales
James Fenimore Cooper,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneers, The Prairie
1926–1939
Alberta trilogy
Cora Sandel,
Norway,
novel series
Includes Alberta and Jacob, Alberta and Freedom, Alberta Alone
1930–1936
U.S.A.
John Dos Passos,
United States,
novel series
Includes The 42nd Parallel, 1919, The Big Money
1932–1935
Studs Lonigan
James T. Farrell,
United States,
novel series
Includes Young Lonigan, The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan, Judgment Day
1932–1942
Josephus trilogy
Lion Feuchtwanger,
Germany,
novel series
Includes Josephus; The Jews of Rome; The Day Will Come, Josephus and the Emperor
1933–1973
Perry Mason mysteries
Erle Stanley Gardner,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Case of the Velvet Claws, …the Sulky Girl, ...the Lucky Legs, …the Howling Dog, and others
1934–1988
Mary Poppins
P.L. Travers,
England,
novel series
1937–1954
Lensman series
E.E. (Doc) Smith,
United States,
novel series
Includes Triplanetary, First Lensman, Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, and others
1937–1967
Horatio Hornblower
C.S. Forester,
England,
novel series
1938–1945
The Space Trilogy
C.S. Lewis,
England,
novel series
Includes Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength
1939–1958
Philip Marlowe series
Raymond Chandler,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Big Sleep; Farewell, My Lovely; The Lady in the Lake; The Long Goodbye; and others
1945–1948
Pippi Longstocking
Astrid Lindgren,
Sweden,
novella series
Includes Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes on Board, Pippi in the South Seas
1946–1959
Gormenghast trilogy
Mervyn Peake,
England,
novel series
Includes Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone
1949–1959
The Emigrants
Vilhelm Moberg,
Sweden,
novel series
Includes The Emigrants, Unto a Good Land, The Settlers, The Last Letter Home
1949–1976
Lew Archer series
United States,
novel
Includes The Moving Target, The Drowning Pool, The Ivory Grin, The Galton Case, The Blue Hammer, and others
1950–1956
C.S. Lewis,
England,
novel series
Includes The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; and others
1951–1953
The Trilogy
Samuel Beckett,
Ireland,
novel series
Includes Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable
United States,
novel series
Includes Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation
1951–1975
A Dance to the Music of Time
Anthony Powell,
England,
novel series
1953–1966
James Bond series
Ian Fleming,
England,
novel series
Includes Casino Royale, From Russia with Love,n Dr. No, Goldfinger, and others
1955-1962
Cities in Flight
James Blish,
United States,
novel series
Includes They Shall Have Stars; A Life for the Stars; Earthman, Come Home; A Clash of Cymbals
1956–1957
Cairo trilogy
Naguib Mahfouz,
Egypt,
novel series
Includes Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street
1957–1960
The Alexandria Quartet
Laurence Durrell,
England,
novel series
1960–1964
The Country Girls
Edna O'Brien,
Ireland,
novel series
Includes The Country Girls, The Lonely Girl, Girls in Their Married Bliss
1960–1968
Stockholm
Pers Ansers Fogelström,
Sweden,
novel series
Includes City of My Dreams, Children of Their City, Remember the City, City Transformed, City in the World
1960–1990
Rabbit Angstrom series
John Updike,
United States,
novel series
Includes Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich, Rabbit at Rest
1964–2000
Hainish Cycle
United States,
novel series
Includes Rocannon's World, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Word for World Is Forest, The Dispossessed, and others
1965–1971
The Sea of Fertility
Yukio Mishima,
Japan,
novel series
Includes Spring Snow, Runaway Horses, The Temple of Dawn, The Decay of The Angel
1965–1975
Martin Beck novels
Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö,
Sweden,
novel series
Includes Roseanna, The Man Who Went Up in Smoke, The Laughing Policeman; Murder at the Savoy, The Abominable Man, and others
1965–1989
Lord Ramage
Dudley Pope,
England,
novel series
1965–1995
Dune series
Frank Herbert,
United States,
novel series
Includes Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, and others
1965–2003
Alisa's Adventures
Kir Bulychev,
Russia,
novel series
1967–1970
Slaves trilogy
Thorkild Hansen,
Denmark,
novel series
Includes Coast of Slaves, Ships of Slaves, Islands of Slaves
1968–1978
The Dragon Riders of Pern
Anne McCaffrey,
United States,
novel series
Includes Dragonflight, Dragonquest, The White Dragon
1968–2001
The Earthsea Cycle
United States,
novel series
Includes A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, The Other Wind
1969–1999
Aubrey–Maturin series
Patrick O'Brian,
England,
novel series
Includes Master and Commander, Post Captain, HMS Surprise, The Mauritius Command, Desolation Island, and others
1970–1975
The Deptford Trilogy
Robertson Davies,
Canada,
novel series
Includes Fifth Business, The Manticore, World of Wonders
1970–2004
Ringworld series
Larry Niven,
United States,
novel series
Includes Ringworld, The Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne, Ringworld's Children
1970–2009
Dalziel and Pascoe series
Reginald Hill,
England,
novel series
Includes A Clubbable Woman; Deadheads; Under World; On Beulah Height; Good Morning, Midnight; and others
1971–1983
United States,
novel series
Includes To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Fabulous Riverboat, The Dark Design, The Magic Labyrinth, The Gods of Riverworld
1973–2011
Spenser series
Robert B. Parker,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Godwulf Manuscript, God Save the Child, Promised Land, The Judas Goat, and others
1974–1979
Karla trilogy
John le Carré,
England,
novel series
Includes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley's People
1975–2011
Bolitho novels
Alexander Kent,
England,
novel series
1976–1982
The Plantagenet Saga
Jean Plaidy,
England,
novel series
Includes The Plantagenet Prelude, The Revolt of the Eaglets, and others
1977–1994
Cadfael Chronicles
Ellis Peters,
England,
novel series
1977–2018
Vampire Chronicles
Anne Rice,
United States,
novel series
1978–2004
The Dark Tower
Stephen King,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, and others
1978–2014
Tales of the City
Armistead Maupin,
United States,
novel series
Includes Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, and others
1979–1985
Zuckerman Bound
United States,
novel series
Includes The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman Unbound, The Anatomy Lesson, The Prague Orgy
1979–1992
England,
novel series
Includes The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and more
1980–1987
The Book of the New Sun
Gene Wolfe,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch
1980–1989
To the Ends of the Earth
William Golding,
England,
novel series
1982–1984
The Belgariad
David Eddings,
United States,
novel series
1982–1986
Memory of the Fire
Eduardo Galeano,
Uruguay,
novel series
1982–2017
Alphabet Mystery series
Sue Grafton,
United States,
novel series
Includes "A" Is for Alibi, "B" Is for Burglar, "C" Is for Corpse,"Y" is for Yestereday, and others
1983–2015
Discworld
Terry Pratchett,
England,
novel series
Includes The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Small Gods, Night Watch, Going Postal, I Shall Wear Midnight, and others
1984–1986
The Fionavar Tapestry
Guy Gavriel Kay,
Canada,
novel series
1984–1988
Sprawl trilogy
William Gibson,
Canada,
novel series
Includes Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive
1984–2005
Love Medicine series
Louise Erdrich,
United States,
novel series
Includes Love Medecine, The Beet Queen, Tracks, The Bingo Palace, and others
1985–1986
New York trilogy
Paul Auster,
United States,
novel series
Includes City of Glass, Ghosts, The Locked Room
1985–2008
Ender series
Orson Scott Card,
United States,
novel series
Includes Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, and others
1986–2011
Redwall
Brian Jacques,
England,
novel series
1986–present
The Vorkosigan Saga
Lois McMaster Bujold,
United States,
novel series
Includes Test of Honour, Dreamweaver's Dilemma, Shards of Honour, Barrayar and others
1987–2012
Culture series
Iain M. Banks,
Scotland,
novel series
Includes Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, The State of the Art, and others
1989–1996
Sandman
Neil Gaiman,
England,
graphic novel series
1989–1997
Hyperion Cantos
Dan Simmons,
United States,
novel series
Includes Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion, and stories
1990–2013
The Witcher Saga
Andrzej Sapkowski,
Poland,
Novels, stories
Includes The Witcher, Sword of Destiny, The Last Wish, Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, and others
The Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan,
United States,
novel series
1990–2021
Easy Rawlins mysteries
Walter Mosley,
United States,
novel series
1991–1993
Thrawn trilogy
Timothy Zahn,
United States,
novel series
Includes Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command
1991–1995
Pat Barker,
England,
novel series
Includes Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road
1991–present
Outlander series
Diana Gabaldon,
United States,
novel series
Includes Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, and others
1992–1996
Mars trilogy
Kim Stanley Robinson,
United States,
novel series
Includes Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars
1995–1997
The Warlord Chronicles
Bernard Cornwell,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Winter King, Enemy of God, Excalibur
Farseer trilogy
Robin Hobb,
United States,
novel series
Includes Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest
1995–2000
His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman,
England,
novel series
Includes Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
1995–2003
The Old Kingdom
Garth Nix,
Australia,
novel series
Includes Sabriel; Lirael; Abhorsen; Clariel; Goldenhand; Terciel and Elinor
1996–2023
A Song of Ice and Fire
George R.R. Martin,
United States,
novel series
Includes A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Cragons, and others
1997–2007
Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling,
England,
novel series
Includes Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, ...and the Chamber of Secrets, ...and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and others
1998–2018
Fandorin
Boris Akunin,
Russia,
novel series
Includes The Winter Queen, The Turkish Gambit, Murder on the Leviathan, The Death of Achilles, and others
1998–2022
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith,
Scotland,
novel series
Includes The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency; Tears of the Giraffe; Morality for Beautiful Girls, and others
1999–2006
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Lemony Snicket,
United States,
novel series
2001–2005
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Ann Brashares,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants, Forever in Blue, and others
2003–2004
The Baroque Cycle
Neal Stephenson,
United States,
novel series
2003–2013
Emperor
Conn Iggulden,
England,
novel series
2005–2007
Stieg Larsson,
Sweden,
novel series
Includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
2005–2008
The Twilight Saga
Stephenie Meyer,
United States,
novel series
Includes Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn
2006–2008
Mistborn: Era One
Brandon Sanderson,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Final Empire,The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages
2007–2011
Conqueror
Conn Iggulden,
England,
novel series
2007–2017
The Adventures of Hector Lynch
Tim Severin,
England,
novel series
The Kingkiller Chronicle
Patrick Rothfuss,
United States,
novel
2010–present
The Stormlight Archives
Brandon Sanderson,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War
2011–present
Dublin Murder Squad
Tana French,
Ireland,
novel
Includes In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, The Trespasser, and others
2008–2010
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Liu Cixin,
China,
novel series
Includes The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Death's End
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
2015–2017
Broken Earth trilogy
N.K. Jemisin,
United States,
novel series
Includes The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky
2015–2018
Sands of the Emperor
Mia Couto,
Mozambique,
novel series
Includes Woman of the Ashes, The Sword and the Spear, The Drinker of Horizons
Binti trilogy
Nnedi Okorafor,
United States,
novella series
Includes Binti, Binti: Home, Binti: The Night Masquerade
2017–2019
The Loyal League
Alyssa Cole,
United States,
novel series
Includes An Extraordinary Union, A Hope Divided, An Unconditional Freedom
2017–present
The Murderblot Diaries
Martha Wells,
United States,
novella series
Includes All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, and others
