The Expanse Books in Order: All 9 Novels + Novellas & Stories

It can be surprisingly hard to find a long-running SFF series that’s actually finished, which is one reason reading The Expanse books in order is so appealing. While plenty of big-name science fiction and fantasy series are still ongoing, this one gives readers something better: a complete story from beginning to end.

That’s a big part of what makes The Expanse so satisfying to dive into. You’re getting nine full-length novels, several shorter stories and novellas, and a series that already sticks the landing, so you can start with confidence instead of wondering whether the ending will ever arrive.

Jump to:

The Expanse Books in Publication Order
The Expanse Books in Chronological Order
The Expanse Adaptations
About The Expanse

The Expanse Books in Publication Order

For most readers, publication order is the best way to read The Expanse books in order. It follows the way the series was originally released, keeps the reveals where they belong, and gives the novels and shorter side stories room to build on each other naturally.

This list folds the short fiction into the same order, so you don’t have to bounce between two separate sections. You can absolutely read just the nine main novels and still follow the core story, but this is the cleanest all-in publication order if you want the full experience.

One quick note before you start: The Last Flight of the Cassandra was originally published in The Expanse Roleplaying Game, so it sits a little outside the usual novel-and-ebook path. It still belongs in publication order, though, so I’ve kept it in the master list below.

Leviathan Wakes (2011)
The Butcher of Anderson Station (2011) (Short Story)
Caliban’s War (2012)
Gods of Risk (2012) (Novella)
Drive (2012) (Short Story)
Abaddon’s Gate (2013)
The Churn (2014) (Novella)
Cibola Burn (2014)
Nemesis Games (2015)
The Vital Abyss (2015) (Novella)
Babylon’s Ashes (2016)
Strange Dogs (2017) (Novella)
Persepolis Rising (2017)
Tiamat’s Wrath (2019)
The Last Flight of the Cassandra (2019) (Short Story)
Auberon (2019) (Novella)
Leviathan Falls (2021)
The Sins of Our Fathers (2022) (Novella)

The Expanse Short Story Collection

Memory’s Legion (March 15, 2022) is the collected edition of the Expanse short fiction. It’s the easiest way to pick up Drive, The Butcher of Anderson Station, The Churn, Gods of Risk, The Vital Abyss, Strange Dogs, Auberon, and The Sins of Our Fathers in one place. It does not include The Last Flight of the Cassandra.

The Expanse Books in Chronological Order

The second way to read The Expanse books in order is by following the chronological timeline. That said, it’s not the best choice for first-time readers.

Publication order works better because it preserves the mystery, reveals, and character introductions the way the series was originally built. Leviathan Wakes is still the strongest place to start, while chronological order begins much earlier with a short story set roughly 150 years before the first novel.

Still, chronological order can be a fun way to revisit the series on a reread or clear up where each story fits in the larger timeline. This list also leaves out Memory’s Legion and breaks out the individual short stories instead.

Note: A few of the shorter works overlap events or span a wider stretch of time, so this chronology is approximate.

The Expanse Adaptations

The Expanse made the jump from page to screen with a television adaptation that premiered on Syfy in December 2015. The show ran for three seasons there before Syfy canceled it in 2018, then Amazon picked it up and produced three more seasons. The sixth and final season finished airing on January 14, 2022.

The series stars Steven Strait as James Holden, Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata, Wes Chatham as Amos Burton, and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala. Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck were also closely involved in the adaptation, which helped the show stay connected to the tone and larger world of the books.

That still wasn’t quite the end of The Expanse. Beyond the TV series, the franchise also continued in comics, including The Expanse: Origins, The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, and later The Expanse: A Little Death. Some of these expand on character backstory, while others continue the screen-side continuity after the adapted events of book six.

The Expanse Graphic Novels and Comics

Beyond the TV series, The Expanse also has a small line of graphic novels and comics tied to the screen side of the franchise. If you want to include those too, here they are in release order.

The Expanse: Origins (2018)
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth Vol. 1 (2023)
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth Vol. 2 (2024)
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth Vol. 3 (2024)
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth Deluxe Edition (2026) (3-Volume Collection)
The Expanse: A Little Death (2026)

The Expanse: Origins serves as a prequel-style tie-in, while the Dragon Tooth books and A Little Death continue the TV continuity after the adapted events of book six.

About The Expanse

The Expanse is a nine-book space opera series that begins with Leviathan Wakes. Set in a future where humanity has spread across the solar system but still hasn’t reached the stars beyond it, the story follows James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante as political tensions, class conflict, and an alien mystery start colliding in dangerous ways.

James S.A. Corey is the shared pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Together, they built a series that mixes big-scale science fiction with sharp character work, shifting alliances, and just enough noir energy to keep the whole thing feeling tense and unpredictable instead of dry or overly technical.

The series ran from Leviathan Wakes in 2011 to Leviathan Falls in 2021, and it won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2020. That’s part of why The Expanse still works so well for new readers today. You’re not starting an unfinished saga and hoping it all comes together later. You’re getting a complete story with a real ending, plus plenty of optional short fiction if you want more from the world afterward.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more science fiction authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Science Fiction Books in Order index.