Author guide
Martha Wells is an American author of science fiction and fantasy novels, novellas, short fiction, media tie-in fiction, and nonfiction. Her work includes The Murderbot Diaries, The Books of the Raksura, the Ile-Rien books, the Rising World novels, young-adult fantasy, and Star Wars and Stargate Atlantis tie-ins. She has won Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Alex, and Dragon Awards, and is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.
Catalog record updated .
novella · First published 2026
After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know. Including human children. Ugh. This may well call for... eye contact! (Emotion check: Oh, for f—)
Not sure where to begin?
The opening Murderbot novella and the clearest introduction to Wells's science fiction.
The opening Raksura novel and the best entry point to Wells's epic fantasy.
The first published Ile-Rien novel and a concise introduction to Wells's early fantasy.
The opening novel of the Rising World series and a self-contained introduction to Wells's newer epic fantasy.
Read in order
novel series · ongoing
A science-fiction series narrated by a self-aware security unit negotiating autonomy, corporate exploitation, friendship, and its preference for entertainment over human interaction.
Book 1 · novella · 2017
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts…
Book 2 · novella · 2018
It has a dark past -- one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself "Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a…
Book 3 · novella · 2018
Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.…
Book 4 · novella · 2018
Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right? Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as…
Book 5 · novel · 2020
When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action. Drastic action it is, then.
Book 5.5 · short_story · 2020 Optional
"Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory" is a short story set in the world of Martha Well's Murderbot Diaries. This story was originally given free to readers who pre-ordered Network Effect, the fifth entry in the series. The events of…
Book 6 · novella · 2021
Having captured the hearts of readers across the globe (Annalee Newitz says it's "one of the most humane portraits of a nonhuman I've ever read") Murderbot has also established Martha Wells as one of the great SF writers of today. No, I…
Book 7 · novel · 2023
Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back. Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical…
Book 7.5 · novelette · 2025 Optional
Perihelion and its crew embark on a dangerous new mission at a corporate-controlled station in the throes of a hostile takeover...
Book 8 · novella · 2026
After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know. Including human children. Ugh. This may well call for... eye contact! (Emotion check: Oh,…
novel series · complete
A fantasy series set in the Three Worlds, following Moon and the Raksura through questions of identity, kinship, court politics, ancient threats, and survival.
Book 0.1 · short_story · 2009 Optional
Book 1 · novel · 2011
Now available in mass market paperback, The Cloud Roads is the first in the Hugo Award-nominated Books of the Raksura series, from New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries). Moon has spent his life hiding what…
Book 1.5 · short_story · 2011 Optional
Book 2 · novel · 2012
Nominated for the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Series Moon, once a solitary wanderer, has become consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. Together, they travel with their people on a pair of flying ships in hopes of finding a…
Book 2.5 · short_story · 2012 Optional
Book 3 · novel · 2012
All his life, Moon roamed the Three Worlds, a solitary wanderer forced to hide his true nature — until he was reunited with his own kind, the Raksura, and found a new life as consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. But…
Book 3.5 · collection · 2014 Optional
Book 3.75 · collection · 2015 Optional
Book 4 · novel · 2016
"An expedition of groundlings from the Empire of Kish have traveled through the Three Worlds to the Indigo Cloud court of the Raksura, shape-shifting creatures of flight that live in large family groups. The groundlings have found a…
Book 5 · novel · 2017
A former friend has betrayed the Raksura and their groundling companions, and now the survivors must race across the Three Worlds to rescue their kidnapped family members. When Moon and Stone are sent ahead to scout, they quickly…
universe · complete
A fantasy universe centered on the kingdom and cultures of Ile-Rien, including standalone novels, the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, and related short fiction.
Book 1 · novel · 1993
The kingdom of Ile-Rein lies in peril, menaced by sorcerous threats and devious court intrigues. As the weak King Roland, flattered and misled by treacherous companions, rules the country, only his ruthless mother, the Dowager Queen…
Book 2 · novel · 1998
Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien.…
Book 3.1 · novel · 2003
“A mysterious army known only as the Gardier has surrounded Ile-Rien, attacking in ominous black airships. When a magical spell goes disastrously awry, young Tremaine Valiarde and a brave band are transported to another world. A world of…
Book 3.2 · novel · 2004
Ile-Rien has fallen to a ruthless army of sorcerers intent on conquering all civilization. Now a small band of heroes aboard a majestic rescue ship must undertake an epic journey to preserve the remnants of a once-great land and drive the…
Book 3.3 · novel · 2005
Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit. With The Wizard Hunters and The Ships of Air, she launched her most…
Book 4 · novella · 2014
Book 5 · collection · 2015
This collection includes the previously published stories “The Potter’s Daughter” (a prequel to the novel The Element of Fire), “Holy Places,” “Rites of Passage,” “Houses of the Dead,” “Reflections” (the Giliead and Ilias stories,…
novel series · complete
A trilogy about Tremaine Valiarde and the struggle to save Ile-Rien from the Gardier invasion.
Book 1 · novel · 2003
“A mysterious army known only as the Gardier has surrounded Ile-Rien, attacking in ominous black airships. When a magical spell goes disastrously awry, young Tremaine Valiarde and a brave band are transported to another world. A world of…
Book 2 · novel · 2004
Ile-Rien has fallen to a ruthless army of sorcerers intent on conquering all civilization. Now a small band of heroes aboard a majestic rescue ship must undertake an epic journey to preserve the remnants of a once-great land and drive the…
Book 3 · novel · 2005
Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit. With The Wizard Hunters and The Ships of Air, she launched her most…
novel series · complete
A complete young-adult fantasy series following Emilie through steampunk adventures beneath and above her world.
Book 1 · novel · 2013
While running away from home, for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie's plans to stow away on the steamship *Merry Bell* and reach her cousin in the big city go awry. Suddenly she's on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a…
Book 2 · novel · 2014
When Emilie and Daniel arrive in Silk Harbor, Professor Abindon, an old colleague of the Marlendes, warns them that she's observed something strange and potentially deadly in the sky, a disruption in an upper air aether current. But as…
novel series · ongoing
An epic fantasy series about Kai, a witch king whose return from imprisonment draws him into the political and magical struggles of a transformed world.
Book 1 · novel · 2023
From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes a remarkable story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose. Kai-Enna is the Witch King, though he hasn’t always been, and he hasn’t even…
Book 2 · novel · 2025
Dahin believes he has clues to the location of the Hierarchs' Well, and the Witch King Kai, along with his companions Ziede and Tahren, knowing there's something he isn't telling them, travel with him to the rebuilt university of…
Book 1 · novel · 2006
Book 2 · novel · 2007
Outside the series
novel · 1995
Charisat is a city at the Fringe of the Waste, a rocky and treacherous area of desolation formed more than a thousand years ago when a mysterious holocaust drained the sea and destroyed the flourishing civilization of the Ancients. It is…
novel · 2000
Every year the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly remade to ensure another year of peace and harmony for the Celestial Empire. Every hundred years the very fabric of the world must be rewoven. Linked by the mystic…
novel · 2013
novel · 2014
Manny Boreaux, a troubled adolescent from Texas, is magically transported into the body of a goblin pickpocket in an alternate world inhabited by faerie creatures. Manny must quickly adapt to the danger all around him and try to find a…
nonfiction · 2017
short_story · 2018
omnibus · 2013
The Complete Raksura Series, by Martha Wells. Containing Cloud Roads (2011), The Serpent Sea (2012), The Siren Depths (2013).
omnibus · 2021
omnibus · 2024
Collecting Martha Wells' Element of Fire and Death of the Necromancer for the first time in one place, in a new and revised edition! From the author of Witch King and the Murderbot Diaries: Both novels included in this volume have been…
omnibus · 2025
Two novel-length steampunk adventures from the author of the wildly successful Murderbot Diaries. Together in one volume for the first time: Emilie and the Hollow World Running away from home and stowing away on the wrong ship, Emilie…
collection · 2025
collection · 2025
collection · 2025
The adventures of Murderbot continue in the fifth and sixth novellas, collected in paperback for the first time! “No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.” In Fugitive Telemetry, when…
Martha Wells is an American science-fiction and fantasy author from Fort Worth, Texas. She earned a B.A. in anthropology from Texas A&M University and writes adult, young-adult, media-tie-in, and nonfiction works.
Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)marthawells.com (opens in a new tab)
After graduating, Wells worked for nine years as technical support for Texas A&M’s Ocean Drilling Program. Her first novel, The Element of Fire, was published in 1993.
Sources: artsci.tamu.edu (opens in a new tab)marthawells.com (opens in a new tab)
Wells has said that studying real-world cultures helped her build fictional cultures, cities, and societies. Her early love of science fiction and fantasy, along with her involvement in Texas A&M’s Cepheid Variable club, also helped shape her writing career.
Wells has won Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Alex, and Dragon Awards. Her honors include the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel for Network Effect and the Hugo Award for Best Series for The Murderbot Diaries.
Sources: marthawells.com (opens in a new tab)thehugoawards.org (opens in a new tab)nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)
She is best known for The Murderbot Diaries, which won the Hugo Award for Best Series and was adapted for Apple TV+, with Wells serving as a consulting producer. She was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame in 2022.
Sources: artsci.tamu.edu (opens in a new tab)library.tcu.edu (opens in a new tab)marthawells.com (opens in a new tab)
