All 30+ Shannara Books in Order | 3 Ways to Read Terry Brooks Books

There are few fantasy authors as well known as Terry Brooks. It’s nearly impossible for a fan of fantasy books to not know about Terry Brooks or his Shannara series. But that doesn’t mean we’ve all read them, and there’s so many. Where do you start? Well, this list of all 30+ Shannara books in order is here to help.

In full disclosure, I’ve not read all the Shannara books by Terry Brooks. In fact, I’ve only read four as I’ve only recently dared to delve into the daunting backlist of Mr. Brooks.

But a fan of my blog contacted me on Facebook after reading my review of The Last Druid and asked for a reading list similar to the one I did for all 30+ Legend of Drizzt books in order.

So without further ado, here are three ways to read the Shannara books in order.

Shannara Books in Order of Publication

I always start these list-type posts with the most basic and most obvious of reading orders. The order in which the Shannara books were published.

This is the order the Shannara books were read by fans who bought every book as they came out. This isn’t necessarily the best way to read them, and it’s definitely not in chronological order.

But it is how millions of fans read them, and if it was good enough for them, it warrants consideration for you.

And here it is. All 30+ of Terry Brooks’ Shannara books in order of publication:

The Original Shannara Trilogy
1. The Sword of Shannara (1977)
2. The Elfstones of Shannara (1982)
3. The Wishsong of Shannara (1985)

Heritage of Shannara Series
4. The Scions of Shannara (1990)
5. The Druid of Shannara (1991)
6. The Elf Queen of Shannara (1992)
7. The Talismans of Shannara (1993)

Original Trilogy Prequel
8. First King of Shannara (1996)

Word and Void Series
9. Running with the Demon (1997)
10. A Knight of the Word (1998)
11. Angel Fire East (1999)

Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Series
12. Ilse Witch (2000)
13. Antrax (2001)
14. Morgawr (2002)

High Druid of Shannara Series
15. Jarka Ruus (2003)

Original Trilogy Short Story
16. Indomitable (2003)

High Druid of Shannara Cont.
17. Tanequil (2004)
18. Straken (2005)

Genesis of Shannara Series
19. Armageddon’s Children (2006)
20. The Elves of Cintra (2007)

Original Trilogy Graphic Novel
21. Dark Wraith of Shannara (2008)

Genesis of Shannara Cont.
22. The Gypsy Morph (2008)

The Legends of Shannara Series
23. Bearers of the Black Staff (2010)
24. The Measure of the Magic (2011)

Word and Void Cont.
25. Imaginary Friends (2011)

The Paladins of Shannara Short Story Series
26. Allanon’s Quest (2012)

The Dark Legacy of Shannara Series
27. Wards of Faerie (2012)
28. Bloodfire Quest (2012)

The Paladins of Shannara Short Stories Cont.
29. The Weapons Master’s Choice (2013)
30. The Black Irix (2013)

The Dark Legacy of Shannara Cont.
31. Witch Wraith (2013)

The Defenders of Shannara Series
32. The High Druid’s Blade (2014)
33. The Darkling Child (2015)
34. The Sorcerer’s Daughter (2016)

The Fall of Shannara Series
35. The Black Elfstone (2017)
36. The Skaar Invasion (2018)
37. The Stiehl Assassin (2019)
38. The Last Druid (2020)

Shannara Books in Chronological Order

The second most requested type of reading order is chronological order. For those who want to read the whole Shannara series from the earliest date in-world, this is the reading order for you.

This reading order also isn’t necessarily the best option as it’s possible to be spoiled for a later series since Brooks wrote some of the earlier books in the timeline after he wrote many of the others.

Meaning, he could inadvertently share something he assumes all readers are aware of because they’d already read his previously written books.

Chronological order is perfect for fans of the series looking for a reread.

All 30+ of Terry Brooks’ Shannara books in order by chronology:

1. Imaginary Friends (Prequel, out of print)

2. Running with the Demon (Word and Void Series)
3. A Knight of the Word
4. Angel Fire East

5. Armageddon’s Children (Genesis of Shannara Series)
6. The Elves of Cintra
7. The Gypsy Morph

8. Bearers of the Black Staff (The Legends of Shannara Series)
9. The Measure of the Magic

10. First King of Shannara (Prequel)
11. Allanon’s Quest (Short Story)
12. The Sword of Shannara (Original Book 1)
13. The Black Irix (Short Story)
14. The Elfstones of Shannara (Original Book 2)
15. The Weapons Master’s Choice (Short Story)
16. The Wishsong of Shannara (Original Book 3)
17. Indomitable (Original Short Story)
18. Dark Wraith of Shannara (Original Graphic Novel)

19. The Scions of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara Series)
20. The Druid of Shannara
21. The Elf Queen of Shannara
22. The Talismans of Shannara

23. Ilse Witch (Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Series)
24. Antrax
25. Morgawr

26. Jarka Ruus (High Druid of Shannara Series)
27. Tanequil
28. Straken

29. Wards of Faerie (The Dark Legacy of Shannara Series)
30. Bloodfire Quest
31. Witch Wraith

32. The High Druid’s Blade (The Defenders of Shannara Series)
33. The Darkling Child
34. The Sorcerer’s Daughter

35. The Black Elfstone (The Fall of Shannara Series)
36. The Skaar Invasion
37. The Stiehl Assassin
38. The Last Druid

Shannara Books in Order of Preference

The third and final way to read the Shannara books in order is by reading them according to Terry Brook’s recommended reading path.

This is the best way to read the Shannara books for a newcomer. As an author, ideas for prequels and spinoffs come upon us after years of working in a series.

Brooks wrote these books as they came to him, but they don’t necessarily neatly fit into publication order, and due to potential spoilers, reading them in chronological order isn’t always advised.

Therefore, Terry Brooks came up with his own recommended reading path.

All 30+ of Terry Brooks’ Shannara books in order of preference:

The Original Shannara Trilogy
1. The Sword of Shannara (1977)
2. The Elfstones of Shannara (1982)
3. The Wishsong of Shannara (1985)

Original Trilogy Short Story
4. Indomitable (2003)

Original Trilogy Graphic Novel
5. Dark Wraith of Shannara (2008)

Heritage of Shannara Series
6. The Scions of Shannara (1990)
7. The Druid of Shannara (1991)
8. The Elf Queen of Shannara (1992)
9. The Taslismans of Shannara (1993)

Original Trilogy Prequel
10. First King of Shannara (1996)

Word and Void Series
11. Imaginary Friends (Prequel, Out of print)
12. Running with the Demon (1997)
13. A Knight of the Word (1998)
14. Angel Fire East (1999)

Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Series
15. Ilse Witch (2000)
16. Antrax (2001)
17. Morgawr (2002)

High Druid of Shannara Series
18. Jarka Ruus (2003)
19. Tanequil (2004)
20. Straken (2005)

Genesis of Shannara Series
21. Armageddon’s Children (2006)
22. The Elves of Cintra (2007)
23. The Gypsy Morph (2008)

The Legends of Shannara Series
24. Bearers of the Black Staff (2010)
25. The Measure of the Magic (2011)

The Dark Legacy of Shannara Series
26. Wards of Faerie (2012)
27. Bloodfire Quest (2012)
28. Witch Wraith (2013)

The Paladins of Shannara Short Stories
29. Allanon’s Quest (2012)
30. The Weapons Master’s Choice (2013)
31. The Black Irix (2013)

The Defenders of Shannara Series
32. The High Druid’s Blade (2014)
33. The Darkling Child (2015)
34. The Sorcerer’s Daughter (2016)

The Fall of Shannara Series
35. The Black Elfstone (2017)
36. The Skaar Invasion (2018)
37. The Stiehl Assassin (2019)
38. The Last Druid (2020)

Looking for more great books to read?

If you love books by Terry Brooks, you might also like my book, Soul Render.

Looking for more book orders? Check out Throne of Glass In Order.