How to read The Broken Earth series in order

N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth series is a fantastic look at a civilization thousands of years into the future, sparked by events that leave an entire planet completely broken and covered in ash, creating an entirely new season.

What sets The Broken Earth series apart is that it toes the line between sci-fi and fantasy. I always love books that do this because science was deemed magic for so long in our history until it was understood. When you take that idea and apply it to the future, though, it seems so much scarier. That’s exactly what you’ll find in this series, which consists of a main trilogy and a side story to enhance your understanding of the world.

How to read The Broken Earth series in order

Below, I’ve outlined The Broken Earth series books in reading order so you can read through them from start to finish. This is the recommended order because it’ll get you through the story and give you the context for the novellas so you can see more of this universe in context.

• The Fifth Season: Published 2015
• The Obelisk Gate: Published 2016
• The Stone Sky: Published 2017
• Stone Hunger: Published in Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 94 in July 2014

With this order, you have the main trilogy to get your teeth into. What starts out as feeling quite sci-fi soon starts to draw upon fantasy elements as you read each book, making for a gripping set that you won’t want to put down.

Stone Hunger is an anomaly here because it was written and published before the rest of the books. It’s unclear exactly when it takes place within the main trilogy, but fans agree that it’s essential reading if you enjoy the other three books. You can read some of it on the Clarkesworld website if you want to get a taste of what this entry has in store for you.

What I like most about this series is that it’s a completely different kind of post-apocalypse. The world is shattered by someone, not something, and then every living soul must deal with the consequences as if they were the last remaining lifeforms on Earth right after the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs hit.

Each entry in the main trilogy feels better than the last, which is extremely difficult for any writer to do. Fans agree that’s exactly the case with The Broken Earth series. If you’re looking for a perfect trilogy for your next three reads, then look no further than this one.