Author guide

Max Gladstone Books in Order

Max Gladstone is a New York Times bestselling author and occasional game designer. His work includes the Craft Sequence and Craft Wars fantasy novels, Empress of Forever, Last Exit, and This Is How You Lose the Time War, co-written with Amal El-Mohtar. He created the serial fiction series Bookburners and co-created The Witch Who Came in from the Cold. Gladstone studied Chinese literature at Yale, lived and taught in rural Anhui, and has worked as a researcher, translator, editor, teacher, and technology analyst.

fantasyscience fictionurban fantasyspeculative fiction

Catalog record updated August 25, 2026.

Max Gladstone's Newest Book

Dead Hand Rule

novel · First published 2025

The time until the endtimes is ticking away. If the world has any hope to survive, it must come together now. The foundations of the world are quaking. Markets crash and cities burn as a new god struggles to be born. Ancient hunters skitter across space, eager and hungry. Dark forces conspire to undermine that could stand in their way. Divided, the world of the craft is certain to fall. In Alt Coulomb, the great powers of the world gather in conference. Empires, divinities, and corporate concerns take seats at the table. Untold wealth and inexhaustible might is on offer, but coalition will not come easily. Can these forces come together to save the world? And if they do, what parts of it will they choose to save, and for whom?

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Three Parts Dead

The debut novel and first publication in the Craft Sequence.

Dead Country

An officially described entry point to the Craft world and the first Craft Wars novel.

Empress of Forever

A standalone science-fiction novel.

Last Exit

A standalone fantasy novel.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

A standalone, co-written award-winning novella.

Read in order

Books by series

series · completed

The Craft Sequence

A postindustrial fantasy series about gods, necromantic law, finance, faith, and the Craft, in a world rebuilding after the God Wars.

Series guide →

4
Last First Snow
Book 1 · novel · 2015

"Forty years after the God Wars, Dresediel Lex bears the scars of liberation--especially in the Skittersill, a poor district still bound by the fallen gods' decaying edicts. As long as the gods' wards last, they strangle development; when…
2
Two Serpents Rise
Book 2 · novel · 2013

Shadow demons plague the city reservoir, and Red King Consolidated has sent in Caleb Altemoc — casual gambler and professional risk manager — to cleanse the water for the sixteen million people of Dresediel Lex. At the scene of the crime,…
1
Three Parts Dead
Book 3 · novel · 2012

A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the…
5
Four Roads Cross
Book 4 · novel · 2016

"The great city of Alt Coulumb is in crisis. The moon goddess Seril, long thought dead, is back--and the people of Alt Coulumb aren't happy. Protests rock the city, and Kos Everburning's creditors attempt a hostile takeover of the fire…
3
Full Fathom Five
Book 5 · novel · 2014

On the island of Kavekana, Priestess Kai builds gods to order—sort of. Kai's creations are perfect vehicles for Craftsmen and Craftswomen operating in the Old World. For beyond the ocean, true deities still thrive, untouched by the God…
6
The Ruin of Angels
Book 6 · novel · 2017

The God Wars destroyed the city of Alikand. Now, a century and a half and a great many construction contracts later, Agdel Lex rises in its place. Dead deities litter the surrounding desert, streets shift when people aren't looking, a…

series · completed

The Craft Wars

A concluding sequence of Craft-world novels that follows the continuing struggle over the fate of the world and the Craft.

Series guide →

1
Dead Country
Book 1 · novel · 2023

Since her village chased her out with pitchforks, Tara Abernathy has resurrected gods, pulled down monsters, averted wars, and saved a city, twice. She thought she'd left her dusty little hometown forever. But that was before her father…
2
Wicked Problems
Book 2 · novel · 2024

Gods and lawyers battle for the soul of the world in the action-packed second volume of Max Gladstone's Craft Wars, an epic fantasy like no other. A deadly force has been unleashed into the world. With apocalypse on the horizon, a girl…
3
Dead Hand Rule
Book 3 · novel · 2025

The time until the endtimes is ticking away. If the world has any hope to survive, it must come together now. The foundations of the world are quaking. Markets crash and cities burn as a new god struggles to be born. Ancient hunters…

serial fiction · completed

Bookburners

A collaborative urban-fantasy serial about a Vatican-backed team that hunts dangerous magic hidden in books and artifacts.

Series guide →

1
Bookburners: Season One
Book 1 · serial fiction collection · 2017
2
Bookburners: Season Two
Book 2 · serial fiction collection · 2017

serial fiction · completed

The Witch Who Came in from the Cold

A collaborative Cold War supernatural spy-thriller serial set in 1970s Prague, where intelligence agents encounter hidden magic.

Series guide →

1
The Witch Who Came in from the Cold: Season One
Book 1 · serial fiction collection · 2017

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

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Novels (3)

Empress of Forever
novel · 2019

“A classic space opera...a universe we’ve never seen before.” —Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author From Hugo Award finalist Max Gladstone comes a smart, swashbuckling, wildly imaginative adventure; the saga of a rag-tag…
This Is How You Lose the Time War
novella · 2019

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something…
Last Exit
novel · 2022

American Gods meets The Amber Chronicles: A hitchhiker wizard gathers her estranged friends to defend the world from her long lost lover--and the monsters that return with her. Imagine that the American highway system is a vast magical…

Frequently asked questions about Max Gladstone

Who is Max Gladstone?

Max Gladstone is a speculative-fiction author and occasional game designer. His career includes fantasy novels, collaborative fiction, and interactive projects, including the co-written This Is How You Lose the Time War.

Sources: maxgladstone.com (opens in a new tab)us.macmillan.com (opens in a new tab)

What did Max Gladstone study, and what did he do before becoming a full-time writer?

He studied Chinese literature at Yale and lived and taught for two years in rural Anhui province. Before writing full-time, he worked as a researcher, translator, editor, teacher, and technology-industry analyst.

Source: maxgladstone.com (opens in a new tab)

Which writers and works have influenced Max Gladstone?

Gladstone has cited Dorothy Dunnett, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Robin McKinley among his core influences, along with The Sandman, Terry Pratchett, and Journey to the West. He has also said his fiction draws on experiences involving finance, law, academia, and engineering.

Source: thequilltolive.com (opens in a new tab)

What awards has Max Gladstone won?

Gladstone is a Hugo-, Nebula-, and Locus Award-winning author. With Amal El-Mohtar, he won the 2019 Nebula and 2020 Hugo Awards for Best Novella for This Is How You Lose the Time War.

Sources: us.macmillan.com (opens in a new tab)nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)thehugoawards.org (opens in a new tab)

What themes is Max Gladstone’s fiction known for?

Gladstone often blends fantasy with law, justice, economics, finance, and politics. Discussing the Craft novels, he has described using real-world legal and financial concepts as parallels for their magic system.

Sources: reactormag.com (opens in a new tab)goodauthority.org (opens in a new tab)