Martha Wells is an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose bibliography ranges from court fantasy and shapeshifter societies to planetary adventure and the artificial intelligence centered Murderbot Diaries.
Her books are divided among several independent settings. Murderbot is one science fiction continuity. Ile-Rien is a separate fantasy world. The Books of the Raksura take place in the Three Worlds. Witch King and Queen Demon form the newer Rising World sequence. Emilie has her own two-book young adult adventure.
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Most of Wells’s series are straightforward once separated by world. The main exception is Murderbot, because Fugitive Telemetry was published after Network Effect but takes place before it, and several short stories belong at still earlier points.
Three Decisions Solve Most of the Bibliography
- For Murderbot, use internal chronology for the main books, but save some later-written short fiction until its characters have been introduced.
- For Ile-Rien, begin with The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer before entering The Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy.
- For the Raksura, read the first three novels, then the two story collections, then The Edge of Worlds and The Harbors of the Sun.
Everything else can be treated as a separate series or standalone.
Best Martha Wells Starting Points
- All Systems Red (2017): A self-aware SecUnit secretly disables its governor module and would rather watch entertainment than interact with its human clients, until sabotage turns a routine planetary survey deadly.
- The Cloud Roads (2011): Moon, a shapeshifter who has spent his life hiding among other peoples, finally meets someone who may know what he is and where he belongs.
- The Element of Fire (1993): Queen’s Guard captain Thomas Boniface faces court conspiracy and fayre magic when the dangerous Kade Carrion returns to Ile-Rien.
- Witch King (2023): The demon Kai wakes after being murdered and imprisoned, then begins investigating who trapped him and what changed during his absence.
- City of Bones (1995): Relic dealer Khat is hired to recover artifacts from an ancient civilization, drawing him into the dangerous politics of a desert city.
For most science fiction readers, begin with All Systems Red. For fantasy readers, The Cloud Roads or Witch King provides the easiest modern entry.
The Murderbot Diaries Books in Order
The Murderbot Diaries follows a SecUnit constructed from organic and mechanical components and rented to clients as corporate security.
Murderbot has secretly hacked the governor module that is supposed to control its behavior. Its main priorities are survival, privacy, and watching media, but it repeatedly becomes attached to humans and other machine intelligences despite insisting otherwise.
The recommended main reading sequence is:
- All Systems Red
- Artificial Condition
- Rogue Protocol
- Exit Strategy
- Fugitive Telemetry
- Network Effect
- System Collapse
This differs slightly from publication order because Fugitive Telemetry takes place before Network Effect.
All Systems Red
All Systems Red (2017): Murderbot secretly operates without a governor module while protecting a scientific survey team whose supposedly routine expedition becomes a fight for survival after neighboring researchers disappear.
The novella introduces Dr. Mensah, PreservationAux, the Corporation Rim, SecUnits, and Murderbot’s complicated desire to be left alone while still protecting people.
This is the required starting point.
Artificial Condition
Artificial Condition (2018): Murderbot travels to the mining facility where it once supposedly massacred humans and forms an uneasy partnership with the highly capable research transport it nicknames ART.
The story investigates Murderbot’s fragmented memories while introducing a relationship that becomes important much later.
Read it directly after All Systems Red.
Rogue Protocol
Rogue Protocol (2018): Murderbot infiltrates an abandoned GrayCris facility to gather evidence against the corporation and becomes involved with another survey team and a human-form bot named Miki.
The novella pushes Murderbot into situations where its assumption that all human attachment is inconvenient becomes harder to maintain.
It is Book Three.
Exit Strategy
Exit Strategy (2018): Murderbot returns to help Dr. Mensah after GrayCris turns its corporate power against her, forcing it to choose between disappearing and protecting someone who treated it as a person.
This concludes the first four-novella GrayCris arc.
Do not skip it before moving to Preservation Station.
Fugitive Telemetry
Fugitive Telemetry (2021): Murderbot discovers a murdered human on Preservation Station and reluctantly assists station security with an investigation involving identity, smuggling, and corporate exploitation.
Although published after Network Effect, Wells explicitly places this story between Exit Strategy and Network Effect.
Read it fifth for the smoothest chronology.
Network Effect
Network Effect (2020): Murderbot and members of the Preservation team are attacked and taken aboard a familiar research transport, leading to a crisis involving ART, missing crew members, alien contamination, and a colonized planet.
This is the first full-length Murderbot novel.
Knowledge of Artificial Condition is especially important because ART returns as a central character.
System Collapse
System Collapse (2023): Immediately after Network Effect, Murderbot, ART’s crew, and Preservation representatives try to prevent Barish-Estranza from exploiting colonists stranded on a dangerous planet.
Murderbot is also dealing with psychological consequences from the previous novel and discovers that normal performance cannot simply be restored by ignoring trauma.
Read it directly after Network Effect.
The Recommended Murderbot Order With Short Stories
A first reading can use:
- All Systems Red (2017): Murderbot protects a survey team after a mission turns lethal.
- Artificial Condition (2018): Murderbot meets ART while investigating its past.
- Rogue Protocol (2018): Evidence against GrayCris leads to another dangerous infiltration.
- Exit Strategy (2018): Murderbot returns to protect Mensah.
- home: habitat, range, niche, territory (2020): Dr. Mensah deals with Murderbot’s arrival on Preservation from her own perspective.
- Fugitive Telemetry (2021): Murderbot investigates a killing on Preservation Station.
- Network Effect (2020): ART returns during an attack that becomes a larger alien contamination crisis.
- System Collapse (2023): The planetary conflict continues without a time break.
- Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (2025): Return to an earlier ART mission after already knowing ART and its crew.
“Compulsory” can be read after All Systems Red even though it takes place earlier.
Compulsory
Compulsory (2019): Before the events of All Systems Red, Murderbot is still operating on corporate assignments and must decide whether its hacked freedom changes what it owes to vulnerable humans.
The story is chronologically earlier than the first novella.
Do not use it as the introduction to Murderbot. All Systems Red explains the character and world more effectively.
home: habitat, range, niche, territory
home: habitat, range, niche, territory (2020): Dr. Mensah processes the aftermath of her kidnapping and Murderbot’s return while trying to give a traumatized SecUnit freedom without turning that freedom into another obligation.
The story is told from Mensah’s viewpoint rather than Murderbot’s.
It belongs after Exit Strategy and before Fugitive Telemetry.
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (2025): Perihelion and its human crew undertake a covert research mission at a corporate-controlled station, showing how ART’s encounter with Murderbot affects the way it thinks about SecUnits.
The story takes place after Artificial Condition and before ART’s reunion with Murderbot.
For a first reading, save it until after Network Effect or System Collapse. ART’s crew and several implications are more meaningful once their later roles are known.
Murderbot Publication Order
The main books were released in this order:
- All Systems Red (2017): Murderbot gains its first published adventure with PreservationAux.
- Artificial Condition (2018): Its investigation of the Ganaka Pit massacre introduces ART.
- Rogue Protocol (2018): Murderbot searches for evidence against GrayCris.
- Exit Strategy (2018): The first four-book arc concludes around Mensah and GrayCris.
- Network Effect (2020): ART returns in the first full novel.
- Fugitive Telemetry (2021): A murder mystery returns to an earlier period on Preservation Station.
- System Collapse (2023): The immediate sequel to Network Effect continues the colony crisis.
Publication order is workable, but placing Fugitive Telemetry before Network Effect creates cleaner continuity.
Is Murderbot Complete?
No final book has been announced.
System Collapse is the latest published Murderbot novel as of August 7, 2026. “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy,” published in 2025, is the newest original Murderbot fiction.
The existing books do not end on a simple unresolved cliffhanger, but Murderbot’s larger life and relationships remain open for further stories.
Books of the Raksura in Order
The Books of the Raksura take place in the Three Worlds, a setting filled with numerous intelligent species and no humans.
Moon is a shapeshifter who has spent most of his life pretending to belong among groundling peoples. He eventually learns that he is a Raksura, one of a winged species organized into courts around queens, consorts, warriors, hunters, mentors, and Arbora.
The complete published sequence has seven numbered volumes because the two story collections are officially counted as Books Four and Five.
The Cloud Roads
The Cloud Roads (2011): Moon is expelled from yet another adopted community before meeting Stone, an older Raksura who offers him the possibility of joining Indigo Cloud and discovering what his species expects from him.
The novel establishes the Three Worlds, Raksuran courts, Moon’s outsider identity, and the predatory Fell.
Begin here.
The Serpent Sea
The Serpent Sea (2012): Moon travels with Indigo Cloud to the court’s ancestral colony tree, only to discover that the tree’s vital seed has been stolen and must be recovered before the court can build a new home.
The novel continues only days after The Cloud Roads.
Moon’s relationship with Jade and his position as a consort develop alongside the search.
The Siren Depths
The Siren Depths (2012): Another Raksuran court claims Moon as one of its missing consorts, forcing him to confront the truth about his birth family while the Fell return with a new strategy.
This completes the opening three-novel arc surrounding Moon’s identity.
Do not skip it before the story collections.
Stories of the Raksura, Volume I
Stories of the Raksura, Volume I: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (2014): Two novellas and two short stories expand Moon’s present-day life and the older history of Indigo Cloud.
“The Falling World” follows Moon and Stone searching for Jade after she disappears during a visit to another court.
“The Tale of Indigo and Cloud” reaches far into the past to explain how the court gained its name and how Indigo and Cloud’s relationship changed its history.
The volume also contains “The Forest Boy,” about Moon as a child, and “Adaptation,” about Chime before the main novels.
Read the volume after The Siren Depths.
Stories of the Raksura, Volume II
Stories of the Raksura, Volume II: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below (2015): The second collection combines two novellas with shorter adventures from different points in the Three Worlds timeline.
“The Dead City” follows a younger Moon before Indigo Cloud, when he enters another ruined groundling settlement.
“The Dark Earth Below” returns to Moon and Indigo Cloud as disappearances beneath the colony tree coincide with major changes in Moon and Jade’s family.
The volume also includes “Trading Lesson,” “Mimesis,” and “The Almost Last Voyage of the Wind-ship Escarpment.”
Read it fifth.
The Edge of Worlds
The Edge of Worlds (2016): Explorers from the Empire of Kish ask the Raksura for help opening an ancient sealed city, but visions warn Indigo Cloud that the site may contain a threat connected to the Forerunners.
This begins the final two-novel Raksura arc.
The story assumes familiarity with events and relationships from both story collections.
The Harbors of the Sun
The Harbors of the Sun (2017): Moon, Jade, Stone, Malachite, and their allies race to recover kidnapped companions and prevent a stolen artifact from causing devastation across the Reaches.
The novel begins immediately after The Edge of Worlds.
It is the seventh numbered volume and the final book in the published Raksura series.
Complete Raksura Reading Order
- The Cloud Roads (2011): Moon discovers the Raksura and Indigo Cloud.
- The Serpent Sea (2012): The court searches for the stolen seed needed for its colony tree.
- The Siren Depths (2012): Moon confronts his origins and another court’s claim on him.
- Stories of the Raksura, Volume I (2014): Present-day and historical stories widen Indigo Cloud’s history.
- Stories of the Raksura, Volume II (2015): Earlier and later stories expand Moon’s life and the Three Worlds.
- The Edge of Worlds (2016): The Kishan expedition reaches a dangerous Forerunner city.
- The Harbors of the Sun (2017): The final expedition and rescue bring the published sequence to its conclusion.
This is the easiest first-reading order.
Raksura Chronological Order
Wells maintains a detailed internal timeline, but chronology is better for rereading.
Some earlier-set stories occur before the novels:
- “The Tale of Indigo and Cloud”
- “The Forest Boy”
- “The Dead City”
- “Adaptation”
- The Cloud Roads
- The Serpent Sea
- The Siren Depths
- “Mimesis”
- “Trading Lesson”
- “The Falling World”
- “The Dark Earth Below”
- The Edge of Worlds
- The Harbors of the Sun
Additional independent Three Worlds stories can be fitted around this framework.
Do not begin with “The Tale of Indigo and Cloud.” The Raksuran social system is much easier to understand after Moon learns it himself.
Is the Raksura Series Complete?
Yes.
The Harbors of the Sun is identified by Wells as the final book in the series.
Short stories can still revisit the Three Worlds, but the seven-volume reading sequence has a published ending.
Ile-Rien Books in Order
Ile-Rien is Wells’s earliest major fantasy setting.
The series spans different generations. The Element of Fire is set first. The Death of the Necromancer occurs later. The Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy follows characters connected to the second novel and turns the setting’s political fantasy into a war across worlds.
The recommended order is publication order.
The Element of Fire
The Element of Fire (1993): Thomas Boniface, captain of the Queen’s Guard, tries to protect Ile-Rien from court conspiracy and supernatural attack after Kade Carrion, the king’s illegitimate fayre sister, suddenly returns.
The novel mixes court intrigue, muskets, sword fighting, and dangerous fayre magic.
It stands on its own but also establishes the earlier history of Ile-Rien.
The Death of the Necromancer
The Death of the Necromancer (1998): Master criminal Nicholas Valiarde pursues revenge against Count Montesq until a series of inexplicable murders reveals that someone is practicing an ancient form of necromancy beneath the gaslit streets of Vienne.
The story takes place generations after The Element of Fire.
It can be read independently, but its characters and family connections become important in The Fall of Ile-Rien.
The Book of Ile-Rien
The Book of Ile-Rien (2024): This omnibus collects Wells’s revised, author-preferred editions of The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer.
It contains two previously published novels, not a new third installment.
Readers who own this edition can begin the setting there and then continue into The Fall of Ile-Rien.
The Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy in Order
The Wizard Hunters
The Wizard Hunters (2003): As the mysterious Gardier attack Ile-Rien with black airships, Tremaine Valiarde becomes involved in an experimental magical escape that transports a group of Rienish survivors to another world.
Tremaine is the daughter of Nicholas Valiarde.
Read The Death of the Necromancer first if you want the strongest family and character context.
The Ships of Air
The Ships of Air (2004): Tremaine and the surviving Rienish forces travel aboard the Queen Ravenna while searching other worlds for information and allies capable of stopping the Gardier.
The sequel broadens the war and develops Tremaine’s relationship with Ilias, Giliead, and the Syprians.
It continues directly from The Wizard Hunters.
The Gate of Gods
The Gate of Gods (2005): Tremaine, Nicholas, Ilias, Giliead, and their allies search for a way to attack the Gardier at the source while the remaining defenses of Ile-Rien approach collapse.
This concludes The Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy.
The three books form one continuous wartime narrative.
Complete Ile-Rien Reading Order
- The Element of Fire (1993): Thomas and Kade confront court and fayre threats in an earlier era.
- The Death of the Necromancer (1998): Nicholas investigates necromantic murders in Vienne.
- The Wizard Hunters (2003): Tremaine enters the war against the Gardier.
- The Ships of Air (2004): The refugees travel between worlds seeking a military answer.
- The Gate of Gods (2005): The Gardier conflict reaches its conclusion.
- Between Worlds (2015): The collected short fiction can be read afterward.
This keeps the generational progression intact.
Between Worlds
Between Worlds: The Collected Ile-Rien and Cineth Stories (2015): This collection gathers Wells’s shorter fiction connected to Ile-Rien and Cineth, including “The Potter’s Daughter,” “Holy Places,” “Rites of Passage,” “Houses of the Dead,” “Reflections,” and “Night at the Opera.”
Several stories take place earlier than the novels.
“Night at the Opera” features Nicholas Valiarde and Reynard Morane before The Death of the Necromancer.
The collection is optional. Read it after the five novels if avoiding disruption matters more than strict chronology.
The Rising World Books in Order
The Rising World is Wells’s newest fantasy series.
Its central character is Kaiisteron, usually called Kai, a demon who participated in the rebellion against the Hierarchs and now lives among a complicated chosen family of witches, immortals, and former revolutionaries.
Witch King
Witch King (2023): Kai wakes after being murdered and imprisoned in a water trap, then searches for the missing Ziede while the investigation alternates with his memories of the war that overthrew the Hierarchs.
The novel introduces the Rising World through two timelines.
It must be read before Queen Demon.
Queen Demon
Queen Demon (2025): Kai, Ziede, Tahren, and Dahin investigate clues concerning the Hierarchs’ Well, leading them toward Ancartre and the possibility that someone is attempting to recreate the power of their defeated enemies.
The novel continues relationships and political consequences established in Witch King.
It was published on October 7, 2025 in its original hardcover, ebook, and audiobook editions. Later 2026 edition dates refer to new formats, not a newly written sequel.
Rising World Reading Order
- Witch King (2023): Kai wakes from imprisonment and reconstructs the conspiracy around his disappearance.
- Queen Demon (2025): The survivors pursue the Hierarchs’ Well and confront a renewed threat.
The series is ongoing or open for continuation. No third Rising World novel had a confirmed title and publication date as of August 7, 2026.
Martha Wells Standalone Fantasy Novels
Several Wells fantasy novels are completely separate from her major series.
City of Bones
City of Bones (1995): Khat, a relic dealer adapted to survive the Waste, is hired by powerful Warders to locate ancient artifacts and becomes caught in a conspiracy involving Charisat’s rigid social hierarchy and forgotten technology.
The novel is a standalone.
An author-preferred revised edition was published in 2023, but it remains the same story rather than a sequel.
Wheel of the Infinite
Wheel of the Infinite (2000): Exiled priestess Maskelle is summoned back to investigate why the magical Wheel that maintains reality is failing, forcing her to confront both an approaching supernatural disaster and the consequences of her past.
The book is a complete standalone fantasy.
A revised author-preferred edition appeared in 2024.
Blade Singer
Blade Singer (2014): Co-written with Aaron de Orive, the novel follows teenager Manny Boreaux after he is transported into the body of a goblin pickpocket and becomes involved in a plot against a young king.
The story combines portal fantasy, faerie creatures, thieves, and political conspiracy.
It is separate from Ile-Rien, Raksura, and the Rising World.
The Emilie Adventures Books in Order
The Emilie Adventures are young adult planetary fantasies inspired by older scientific adventure fiction.
Emilie begins as a runaway hoping to reach a city and instead joins expeditions into physically impossible regions.
Emilie and the Hollow World
Emilie and the Hollow World (2013): Emilie accidentally boards an expedition vessel using experimental aether technology to travel into the planet’s interior, where missing explorers, sabotage, and unfamiliar civilizations turn her escape from home into a much larger journey.
This is the first Emilie novel.
Emilie and the Sky World
Emilie and the Sky World (2014): Emilie joins another expedition after an object appears in the upper aether currents, leading her toward a new world and renewed complications involving explorers and her own family.
The story builds on relationships established in the first novel.
Read it second.
The Emilie Adventures Omnibus
The Emilie Adventures (2025): This combined edition contains Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World.
It is a reissue of both novels, not a third Emilie adventure.
Complete Emilie Order
- Emilie and the Hollow World (2013): Emilie joins a journey into the planet’s interior.
- Emilie and the Sky World (2014): Emilie travels upward into another aetheric realm.
The two-book sequence is complete as currently published.
Stargate Atlantis Books by Martha Wells
Wells wrote two licensed Stargate Atlantis novels.
They belong to the television franchise and should not be mixed with her original science fiction or fantasy.
Reliquary
Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary (2006): Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, and Ronon follow an Ancient stargate address to a ruined city whose technology may contain valuable knowledge or a deadly trap.
The novel uses the early Atlantis team and explores Ancient technology.
Entanglement
Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement (2007): McKay discovers a dangerous Ancient device on a distant moon, but destroying it becomes difficult when an unexpected visitor claims to need the machine.
This is Wells’s second Stargate Atlantis novel.
It is not a direct sequel to Reliquary in the sense of one continuing original plot, but publication order is the easiest way to read Wells’s contributions.
Star Wars: Razor’s Edge
Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion, Razor’s Edge (2013): Leia Organa and Han Solo seek supplies for the Rebel Alliance and encounter pirates from destroyed Alderaan, forcing Leia to confront survivors who chose a very different path after their world’s destruction.
The novel takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
It belongs to Star Wars Legends continuity.
No Martha Wells series knowledge is required.
Bespin Escape
Bespin Escape (2020): This Star Wars short story revisits the evacuation of Cloud City during the events surrounding The Empire Strikes Back from another character’s viewpoint.
It appears in From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back.
The story is licensed fiction and separate from Razor’s Edge.
Magic: The Gathering, Return to Dominaria
Return to Dominaria (2018): Wells wrote the serialized Magic: The Gathering story for the Dominaria set, following characters including Gideon and Liliana as the Gatewatch returns to one of Magic’s oldest planes.
This is licensed game fiction.
It should be read according to Magic continuity rather than Martha Wells publication order.
Other Martha Wells Short Fiction
Wells has written numerous independent stories outside her principal series.
Thorns
Thorns (1995): An early fantasy story explores danger, human relationships, and magic in a compact setting unrelated to Wells’s later novel series.
It can be read independently.
Bad Medicine
Bad Medicine (1997): A standalone fantasy story uses supernatural danger and personal conflict without connecting to Ile-Rien or another continuing world.
No series placement is required.
Wolf Night
Wolf Night (2006): A self-contained dark fantasy story centers on danger associated with wolves and the people attempting to survive it.
It is independent short fiction.
Revenants
Revenants (2012): Jelith and Kryranen investigate persistent ghosts troubling a merchant family in the shared-world anthology Tales of the Emerald Serpent.
The story belongs to that anthology setting rather than one of Wells’s own novel universes.
Soul of Fire
Soul of Fire (2014): Jelith and Kryranen return for another adventure involving an offer they cannot safely ignore.
It continues Wells’s contribution to the Emerald Serpent shared world.
The Dark Gates
The Dark Gates (2015): A Lovecraft-inspired story confronts characters with forces beyond ordinary human understanding.
It is standalone horror rather than part of Murderbot or Wells’s fantasy series.
Obsolescence
Obsolescence (2020): A science fiction story examines human and machine relationships in a future involving constructs and technological labor.
The story has thematic connections to Murderbot ideas but is not part of the canonical Murderbot sequence.
Treat it as separate continuity.
The Salt Witch
The Salt Witch (2020): A woman with supernatural knowledge becomes involved in a situation shaped by magic, danger, and an uncertain relationship with the people seeking her help.
This is a standalone fantasy story.
Data Ghost
Data Ghost (2025): Published in a Tanith Lee tribute anthology, this independent speculative story is Wells’s newest identified non-Murderbot short fiction as of August 7, 2026.
It is not part of Murderbot, Raksura, Ile-Rien, or the Rising World.
Martha Wells Books in Publication Order
The following list focuses on novels, novellas, story collections, and major book-length editions rather than every short story.
- The Element of Fire (1993): Thomas Boniface and Kade Carrion confront intrigue and fayre magic in Ile-Rien.
- City of Bones (1995): Khat searches for Ancient relics in the desert city of Charisat.
- The Death of the Necromancer (1998): Nicholas Valiarde’s revenge plot collides with necromantic murder.
- Wheel of the Infinite (2000): Maskelle returns from exile to repair a magical system that sustains reality.
- The Wizard Hunters (2003): Tremaine enters the war against the Gardier.
- The Ships of Air (2004): Ile-Rien’s refugees seek allies and answers across worlds.
- The Gate of Gods (2005): The Gardier war reaches its conclusion.
- Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary (2006): Sheppard and McKay investigate an Ancient ruin.
- Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement (2007): Another Ancient device threatens the Pegasus Galaxy.
- The Cloud Roads (2011): Moon discovers the Raksura.
- The Serpent Sea (2012): Indigo Cloud searches for the stolen colony-tree seed.
- The Siren Depths (2012): Moon learns the truth about his birth court.
- Emilie and the Hollow World (2013): Emilie joins an expedition into the planet.
- Star Wars: Razor’s Edge (2013): Leia confronts Alderaanian pirates while seeking Rebel supplies.
- Emilie and the Sky World (2014): Emilie joins another expedition into the upper aether.
- Blade Singer (2014): Manny is transported into the body of a goblin pickpocket.
- Stories of the Raksura, Volume I (2014): Novellas and stories expand Moon’s world and Indigo Cloud’s past.
- Stories of the Raksura, Volume II (2015): Earlier and later Raksura stories broaden the Three Worlds.
- Between Worlds (2015): The Ile-Rien and Cineth short fiction is collected.
- The Edge of Worlds (2016): The Raksura investigate a sealed Forerunner city.
- The Harbors of the Sun (2017): The published Raksura sequence concludes.
- All Systems Red (2017): Murderbot begins its escape from corporate control.
- Artificial Condition (2018): Murderbot meets ART.
- Rogue Protocol (2018): Murderbot investigates GrayCris.
- Exit Strategy (2018): The first Murderbot arc concludes.
- Network Effect (2020): ART returns in Murderbot’s first full novel.
- Fugitive Telemetry (2021): Murderbot investigates a death on Preservation Station.
- Witch King (2023): Kai wakes after murder and imprisonment.
- System Collapse (2023): Murderbot continues the colony conflict after Network Effect.
- The Book of Ile-Rien (2024): Revised preferred editions of The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are collected.
- Queen Demon (2025): Kai’s group investigates the Hierarchs’ Well.
- The Emilie Adventures (2025): Both Emilie novels are reissued in one volume.
This publication list includes reissues only when they significantly change how readers encounter the bibliography.
Which Editions Are Revised?
Wells has issued author-preferred versions of several older novels.
City of Bones: A revised author-preferred edition appeared in 2023.
The Element of Fire: The version collected in The Book of Ile-Rien is revised and represents Wells’s preferred text.
The Death of the Necromancer: The 2024 collected edition also uses a revised preferred text.
Wheel of the Infinite: A revised edition appeared in 2024.
These are not sequels. Readers buying the newer editions do not need the original versions unless comparing textual changes.
A Recommended Order for Reading Everything
A full Martha Wells reading plan is easier when each world remains together.
Start With Murderbot
- All Systems Red (2017): Meet Murderbot during a sabotaged planetary survey.
- Artificial Condition (2018): Investigate Murderbot’s past and meet ART.
- Rogue Protocol (2018): Gather evidence against GrayCris.
- Exit Strategy (2018): Return to Mensah and complete the opening arc.
- home: habitat, range, niche, territory (2020): Read Mensah’s perspective.
- Fugitive Telemetry (2021): Solve the Preservation Station murder.
- Network Effect (2020): Rejoin ART during the alien contamination crisis.
- System Collapse (2023): Continue directly from the novel’s ending.
- Rapport (2025): Return to ART’s earlier life with full context.
Continue With the Raksura
- The Cloud Roads (2011): Moon discovers his people.
- The Serpent Sea (2012): Indigo Cloud searches for a home.
- The Siren Depths (2012): Moon confronts his origins.
- Stories of the Raksura, Volume I (2014): Explore Indigo Cloud’s past and present.
- Stories of the Raksura, Volume II (2015): Add more Three Worlds adventures.
- The Edge of Worlds (2016): Begin the final Forerunner expedition.
- The Harbors of the Sun (2017): Complete the series.
Read Ile-Rien as a Generational Saga
- The Element of Fire (1993): Enter the earlier royal court.
- The Death of the Necromancer (1998): Move forward to Nicholas Valiarde.
- The Wizard Hunters (2003): Begin Tremaine’s wartime trilogy.
- The Ships of Air (2004): Continue the interworld campaign.
- The Gate of Gods (2005): Complete The Fall of Ile-Rien.
- Between Worlds (2015): Finish with the collected shorter fiction.
Move to the Rising World
- Witch King (2023): Meet Kai and reconstruct the history of the Hierarch war.
- Queen Demon (2025): Continue through the search for the Hierarchs’ Well.
Finish With the Independent Books
- City of Bones (1995): Read a self-contained archaeological fantasy in the Waste.
- Wheel of the Infinite (2000): Follow Maskelle’s attempt to repair a failing magical cosmos.
- Emilie and the Hollow World (2013): Begin Emilie’s young adult adventure.
- Emilie and the Sky World (2014): Continue into the upper aether.
- Blade Singer (2014): Read the co-written portal fantasy.
- Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary (2006): Enter licensed Atlantis continuity.
- Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement (2007): Continue Wells’s Atlantis contributions.
- Star Wars: Razor’s Edge (2013): Read the separate Leia-focused Star Wars Legends adventure.
There is no continuity reason to follow this complete route exactly. It simply keeps connected books together.
Latest Martha Wells Book
Queen Demon (2025): Published on October 7, 2025, this is Martha Wells’s latest newly published full-length novel as of August 7, 2026.
It is the second Rising World novel and continues Kai’s story after Witch King.
Some listings show September 1, 2026 for later editions of Queen Demon. That is a format-specific publication date, not a new novel.
Latest Murderbot Story
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (2025): Published on July 11, 2025, this is the latest original Murderbot fiction as of August 7, 2026.
It follows ART and its crew during an earlier mission.
An audiobook edition is scheduled for September 1, 2026, but the story itself was first published in 2025.
Upcoming Martha Wells Books
No new Martha Wells novel with a confirmed post-August 7, 2026 publication date was reliably listed at the time of this update.
The Rising World can continue beyond Queen Demon, and Murderbot remains open for further stories, but titles without confirmed publication schedules should not be inserted into the numbered reading orders.
Reissues, paperback editions, and audiobooks should also remain separate from new-story status.
Series Completion Status
The Murderbot Diaries
Ongoing or open: Seven main books are published through System Collapse, plus shorter stories.
No final volume has been announced.
Books of the Raksura
Complete: Seven numbered volumes, ending with The Harbors of the Sun.
Ile-Rien
Complete as a published sequence: Two earlier novels lead into the completed three-book Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy.
Short fiction adds background but no unresolved main novel arc remains.
The Rising World
Ongoing or open: Witch King and Queen Demon are published.
No third novel has a confirmed release date.
The Emilie Adventures
Complete as currently published: Two novels.
City of Bones
Standalone: No sequel is required.
Wheel of the Infinite
Standalone: No sequel is required.
Blade Singer
Standalone: Co-written with Aaron de Orive.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Martha Wells book should I read first?
Start with All Systems Red for science fiction.
Start with The Cloud Roads for fantasy, or Witch King if you want her newest fantasy setting.
What is the correct Murderbot order?
Read All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Fugitive Telemetry, Network Effect, and System Collapse.
This places Fugitive Telemetry according to internal chronology.
Why is Fugitive Telemetry before Network Effect?
Wells explicitly states that Fugitive Telemetry occurs between Exit Strategy and Network Effect.
It was simply published later.
Is Network Effect Book Five or Book Six?
Numbering varies because some publishers count by publication order and some discussions emphasize chronology.
For reading purposes, the title sequence matters more than the number. Read Fugitive Telemetry before Network Effect when following internal chronology.
Where does Rapport fit?
Chronologically, it takes place after Artificial Condition.
For a first reading, save it until after Network Effect or System Collapse because ART and its crew have much more meaning after their later appearances.
Is Murderbot complete?
No final ending has been announced.
System Collapse is the latest main book.
What is the Books of the Raksura order?
Read The Cloud Roads, The Serpent Sea, The Siren Depths, Stories of the Raksura Volume I, Stories of the Raksura Volume II, The Edge of Worlds, and The Harbors of the Sun.
Are the Raksura story collections optional?
They are technically collections rather than novels, but they are officially Books Four and Five of the seven-volume sequence.
Read them before The Edge of Worlds for the complete intended experience.
Is The Harbors of the Sun the last Raksura book?
Yes. Wells identifies it as the final book in the published series.
What is the Ile-Rien reading order?
Read The Element of Fire, The Death of the Necromancer, The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods.
Read Between Worlds afterward for the short fiction.
Is The Book of Ile-Rien a new novel?
No.
It collects revised author-preferred editions of The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer.
Can I start Ile-Rien with The Wizard Hunters?
You can follow its immediate plot, but it is better to read The Death of the Necromancer first because Tremaine’s family history and returning characters carry more weight.
Is Witch King a standalone?
It has a complete central investigation but now begins the Rising World series.
Read Queen Demon second.
What comes after Witch King?
Queen Demon, published in 2025.
Is Queen Demon already published?
Yes. The original hardcover, ebook, and audiobook were released on October 7, 2025.
Later 2026 edition dates refer to additional formats.
Are City of Bones and Wheel of the Infinite connected?
No.
They are separate standalone fantasy novels.
What is the Emilie order?
Read Emilie and the Hollow World before Emilie and the Sky World.
What is The Emilie Adventures?
It is a 2025 omnibus containing both Emilie novels.
Did Martha Wells write Star Wars?
Yes. She wrote Razor’s Edge, a Leia-focused Star Wars Legends novel, and the short story “Bespin Escape.”
Did Martha Wells write Stargate?
Yes. She wrote Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary and Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement, plus the shorter SG-1 story “Archaeology 101.”
Are the tie-in novels connected to Murderbot?
No.
Star Wars, Stargate, and Magic: The Gathering are licensed continuities entirely separate from Wells’s original universes.
What is Martha Wells’s latest novel?
Queen Demon, published October 7, 2025, is her latest newly published novel as of August 7, 2026.
What is her latest new fiction?
Her latest identified original stories from 2025 include the Murderbot novelette “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy” and the independent story “Data Ghost.”
The Most Reliable Reading Plan
For Murderbot, begin with All Systems Red and keep the first four novellas together. Then read Fugitive Telemetry, Network Effect, and System Collapse. Save “Rapport” until ART and its crew are familiar.
For the Raksura, follow all seven numbered volumes in order, including both story collections. Those collections are part of the designed progression, not merely bonus material.
For Ile-Rien, move through the generations: The Element of Fire, The Death of the Necromancer, then The Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy. Use Between Worlds as supplemental reading afterward.
For Wells’s newest fantasy, read Witch King before Queen Demon. Keep City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite, and Blade Singer on separate shelves because none shares continuity with the major series.
The simplest overall starting point remains All Systems Red. It requires the smallest commitment and opens Martha Wells’s largest currently active readership sequence without needing background from any other book.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.