C. S. E. Cooney writes fantasy novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, and collaborative work that ranges from necromantic secondary worlds to goblin realms, fairy tales, post-apocalyptic afterlives, and strange cities ruled by angels.
Her bibliography is not built around one large shared universe.
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The most important continuous sequence is the Saint Death trilogy, beginning with Saint Death’s Daughter. The Dark Breakers stories share another world, with Desdemona and the Deep serving as the best-known standalone entry point. Several earlier works have also been gathered into collections, which means readers can easily buy the same story twice under different covers.
For a new reader, the safest starting point depends on what you want.
For a novel series, begin with Saint Death’s Daughter.
For linked novellas and fairy-world fiction, begin with Desdemona and the Deep or the collection Dark Breakers.
For a broad sampling of Cooney’s earlier fiction, begin with Bone Swans: Stories.
The Four Reading Paths
Cooney’s books are easier to understand when separated into four groups.
Saint Death
- Saint Death’s Daughter
- Saint Death’s Herald
- Saint Death’s Doorway
The third book is announced but not yet published.
Dark Breakers
- “The Breaker Queen”
- “The Two Paupers”
- Desdemona and the Deep
- “Salissay’s Laundries”
- “Longergreen”
- “Susurra to the Moon”
Most of this material is now gathered in Dark Breakers.
Standalone or Separate Longer Fiction
- The Big Bah-Ha
- The Twice-Drowned Saint
These do not belong to Saint Death or Dark Breakers.
Collections
- Bone Swans: Stories
- The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories
- Dark Breakers
- Infernal Bargains: Stories and Poems from the Deck of Destiny
These collections contain work from different kinds of continuity, so they should not be treated as four volumes of one series.
Saint Death Books in Order
The Saint Death sequence is:
- Saint Death’s Daughter (2022)
- Saint Death’s Herald (2025)
- Saint Death’s Doorway (forthcoming)
Included. Direct trilogy. Read in order.
The books follow Miscellaneous “Lanie” Stones, a young necromancer born into a violent family despite having a dangerous physical reaction to violence.
This is Cooney’s most conventional continuing novel series.
Saint Death’s Daughter
- Saint Death’s Daughter (2022)
Start here.
Lanie Stones grows up among assassins despite being physically allergic to violence. Her own magical talents run in a different direction: she is a necromancer with an unusual relationship to death, the dead, and the gods surrounding her world.
The book establishes the Stones family, Lanie’s magic, the kingdom of Liriat, and the religious framework that becomes increasingly important later.
Nothing should be read before it for continuity.
Saint Death’s Herald
- Saint Death’s Herald (2025)
Direct sequel.
This is not a companion novel with a different protagonist.
Lanie remains central, and the story carries forward relationships, political consequences, divine complications, and personal developments from Saint Death’s Daughter.
Read Book 1 first.
The sequel expands the geographical and religious scope of the series, including new regions and powers outside Lanie’s familiar world.
Saint Death’s Doorway
- Saint Death’s Doorway
Forthcoming. Final book of the trilogy.
Cooney announced the title in October 2025 and has described it as the third and final Saint Death novel.
As of August 9, 2026, the book is still in development.
No reliable publication date has been announced, so it should not be listed with a speculative year.
The confirmed series order is therefore:
- Saint Death’s Daughter
- Saint Death’s Herald
- Saint Death’s Doorway
Is Saint Death a Trilogy?
Yes.
Earlier information described Saint Death’s Herald simply as the sequel to Saint Death’s Daughter. Cooney has since confirmed that the story will conclude with Saint Death’s Doorway.
That makes the intended structure a three-book sequence.
The third volume is not yet available.
Dark Breakers Reading Order
The Dark Breakers material occupies a layered world involving humans, goblins, the Gentry, and overlapping realms.
The principal sequence is:
- “The Breaker Queen”
- “The Two Paupers”
- Desdemona and the Deep
- “Salissay’s Laundries”
- “Longergreen”
- “Susurra to the Moon”
These stories are related, but they do not operate like six chapters of one novel.
Different characters move into the foreground, and some pieces can stand independently.
The Breaker Queen
“The Breaker Queen” is one of the foundational Dark Breakers stories.
It establishes important history behind the world later seen in Desdemona and the Deep.
The story first appeared before the eventual Dark Breakers collection and was later revised for the collected edition.
Included for a complete Dark Breakers read.
The Two Paupers
“The Two Paupers” is another early piece from the same world.
Like “The Breaker Queen,” it predates the full collection and contributes to the layered social and supernatural history of the setting.
Included for completists, but not required before Desdemona.
Desdemona and the Deep
- Desdemona and the Deep (2019)
Standalone novella within the Dark Breakers world.
This is the easiest individual entry point into the setting.
Desdemona Mannering discovers the cost behind her wealthy father’s industrial dealings and becomes entangled with powers beyond the human world.
Cooney and the original publisher explicitly presented the novella as standalone.
That means you can start here without first reading “The Breaker Queen” or “The Two Paupers.”
For a full chronological or publication-based exploration of Dark Breakers, however, include the earlier stories.
Dark Breakers
- Dark Breakers (2022)
Connected-world collection.
This book gathers stories from the world first explored in the earlier Dark Breakers pieces and Desdemona and the Deep.
It includes revised or collected material alongside newer stories.
The collection contains:
- “The Breaker Queen”
- “The Two Paupers”
- “Salissay’s Laundries”
- “Longergreen”
- “Susurra to the Moon”
Desdemona and the Deep belongs to the same world but was published separately.
That means the simplest complete shelf is:
- Desdemona and the Deep
- Dark Breakers
Those two books together provide the central published Dark Breakers material without forcing you to hunt for the original appearances of the earlier stories.
Should You Read Desdemona Before Dark Breakers?
There are two good options.
For the Simplest Entry
- Desdemona and the Deep
- Dark Breakers
This works well because Desdemona was deliberately designed to stand alone.
For a More Publication-Oriented World Read
- “The Breaker Queen”
- “The Two Paupers”
- Desdemona and the Deep
- Remaining stories in Dark Breakers
Both routes are valid.
The second gives more historical context, but the first is much easier for a reader buying currently available books.
Fiddle and the Dark Breakers World
Cooney has also worked on a project titled Fiddle.
It is set much later in the same broad Dark Breakers universe, in a period Cooney has compared to that world’s equivalent of the 1980s.
By then, the barriers among the Three Worlds have changed dramatically.
Unpublished work in progress.
Do not place Fiddle into a numbered published reading order yet.
As of August 2026, it has not been reliably confirmed as a published book with a release date.
Bone Swans: Stories
- Bone Swans: Stories (2015)
Short-fiction collection. Separate and mixed continuities.
This is one of Cooney’s most important books and won the World Fantasy Award for Best Collection.
It gathers five substantial pieces of fiction.
The collection includes:
- “Life on the Sun”
- “The Bone Swans of Amandale”
- “Martyr’s Gem”
- “How the Milkmaid Struck a Bargain with the Crooked One”
- The Big Bah-Ha
These stories do not form one continuous narrative.
Readers should treat Bone Swans as a showcase collection rather than Book 1 of a series.
The Bone Swans of Amandale
“The Bone Swans of Amandale” first appeared in the Bone Swans collection.
It reworks fairy-tale material associated with the Pied Piper while creating its own characters and world.
It is standalone.
No other Cooney story must be read first.
How the Milkmaid Struck a Bargain with the Crooked One
This story reworks material associated with Rumpelstiltskin.
It is also standalone.
The shared use of folklore does not make it part of the world of “The Bone Swans of Amandale.”
Martyr’s Gem
“Martyr’s Gem” is another independent story included in the collection.
It should not be placed into Saint Death continuity merely because death, religion, or the supernatural appear prominently.
Cooney returns to such themes across unrelated worlds.
The Big Bah-Ha
- The Big Bah-Ha (originally published 2010)
Standalone novella.
The story takes place after an apocalyptic event in which children face death, monsters, and a strange afterlife.
It later became one of the major pieces collected in Bone Swans: Stories.
If you own Bone Swans, you already have The Big Bah-Ha.
A separate edition is necessary only if you specifically want that printing.
Should You Buy The Big Bah-Ha Separately?
Not for a standard reading project.
The most efficient route is:
- Buy Bone Swans: Stories
- Read The Big Bah-Ha inside the collection
The standalone publication has bibliographic interest but does not add another sequel.
The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories
- The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories (2020)
Short-fiction collection.
The volume gathers several pieces of Cooney’s fiction, including the title novella and related or thematically compatible work.
Notable contents include:
- “The Witch in the Almond Tree”
- “Witch, Beast, Saint”
- “Braiding the Ghosts”
The collection does not connect to Saint Death.
The Witch in the Almond Tree
“The Witch in the Almond Tree” was originally published in 2014.
It follows Mar, a witch returning home to confront family and supernatural problems.
It later became the title work of the 2020 collection.
Witch, Beast, Saint
“Witch, Beast, Saint” was also published in 2014.
It has been associated with the same Witch’s Garden material as “The Witch in the Almond Tree.”
For readers collecting that small group, use:
- “The Witch in the Almond Tree”
- “Witch, Beast, Saint”
The 2020 collection is the easiest way to obtain the material together.
Is The Witch in the Almond Tree Part of Saint Death?
No.
The presence of witches, saints, demons, or unusual religious imagery across Cooney’s work does not create one continuity.
The Witch’s Garden material is separate.
The Twice-Drowned Saint
- The Twice-Drowned Saint (2023)
Standalone novel. Separate continuity.
This novel is set in Gelethel, a strange city ruled by angels.
The story follows Sín, who serves an angelic being and becomes entangled in rebellion, power, and the deeper structure of the city.
It does not belong to the Saint Death trilogy despite the word “Saint” appearing in both titles.
That distinction is particularly important.
Saint Death’s Daughter and The Twice-Drowned Saint are unrelated novels.
Is The Twice-Drowned Saint a Saint Death Book?
No.
The similarity in titles can easily suggest a connection, but the settings, cosmologies, characters, and stories are separate.
Do not read:
- Saint Death’s Daughter
- The Twice-Drowned Saint
- Saint Death’s Herald
That would interrupt the actual Saint Death sequence.
Instead:
- Saint Death’s Daughter
- Saint Death’s Herald
- Saint Death’s Doorway, when published
Read The Twice-Drowned Saint independently.
Infernal Bargains
- Infernal Bargains: Stories and Poems from the Deck of Destiny (2024)
Collection tied to Negocios Infernales.
Cooney created the roleplaying game Negocios Infernales with Carlos Hernandez.
Infernal Bargains uses the game’s Deck of Destiny as the basis for a mixture of stories and poems.
This is not Saint Death fiction.
It is also not a Dark Breakers collection.
Treat it as a separate creative project associated with the Negocios Infernales game.
Negocios Infernales
Negocios Infernales is a tabletop roleplaying game created by C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez.
The premise combines historical fantasy, supernatural bargaining, and extraterrestrial disruption.
For a book-only bibliography, keep the game separate from Cooney’s fiction collections.
Readers interested in the associated prose and poetry should choose:
- Infernal Bargains
You do not need to play the game before reading the collection.
Jack o’ the Hills
- Jack o’ the Hills
Short fiction collection or chapbook material.
This title gathers or presents Cooney material associated with Jack and related fantasy fiction.
It is not a Saint Death installment.
Cooney has discussed further unfinished Jack material, but no complete numbered Jack novel series should be inferred from that.
How to Flirt in Faerieland & Other Wild Rhymes
- How to Flirt in Faerieland & Other Wild Rhymes
Poetry collection.
This volume collects Cooney’s speculative poetry.
It includes work from the period in which she was already publishing fiction and performing music, but it does not belong to any prose story sequence.
Poetry readers can approach it independently.
C. S. E. Cooney Books in Broad Publication Order
For readers interested in Cooney’s career rather than strict continuity, the principal individually published books and collections broadly run as follows:
- The Big Bah-Ha (2010)
- Bone Swans: Stories (2015)
- Jack o’ the Hills
- How to Flirt in Faerieland & Other Wild Rhymes
- Desdemona and the Deep (2019)
- The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories (2020)
- Dark Breakers (2022)
- Saint Death’s Daughter (2022)
- The Twice-Drowned Saint (2023)
- Infernal Bargains: Stories and Poems from the Deck of Destiny (2024)
- Saint Death’s Herald (2025)
- Saint Death’s Doorway (forthcoming)
This broad list mixes novels, novellas, collections, and poetry-related work.
It should not be mistaken for one recommended story order.
Recommended C. S. E. Cooney Reading Order
A better first reading groups the books according to what they actually are.
Begin With the Saint Death Trilogy
- Saint Death’s Daughter
- Saint Death’s Herald
- Saint Death’s Doorway, when available
This is Cooney’s clearest novel sequence.
Then Read the Dark Breakers World
- Desdemona and the Deep
- Dark Breakers
This gives you the connected Three Worlds material without chasing older individual editions.
Then Read the Standalone Novel
- The Twice-Drowned Saint
It offers another large Cooney fantasy world without creating continuity obligations.
Then Explore the Collections
- Bone Swans: Stories
- The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories
- Infernal Bargains
This route minimizes duplicate story purchases and keeps the major connected worlds together.
Best C. S. E. Cooney Book to Read First
There are three especially strong choices depending on the experience you want.
For a Full Fantasy Novel
Start with:
- Saint Death’s Daughter
It begins an actual continuing series and gives you the clearest route into Cooney’s longer fiction.
For Shorter Fantasy
Start with:
- Desdemona and the Deep
It is a standalone novella despite belonging to the Dark Breakers world.
For a Range of Styles
Start with:
- Bone Swans: Stories
The collection gives you several different examples of Cooney’s fairy-tale, mythic, comic, dark, and lyrical modes.
Is Bone Swans a Series?
No.
It is a collection.
Individual stories may have their own settings, but the volume as a whole does not follow one timeline or protagonist.
Is Dark Breakers a Novel?
No.
It is a collection of connected tales set in the same broader world.
That makes it more internally unified than Bone Swans, but it still should not be described as one continuous novel.
Is Desdemona and the Deep Included in Dark Breakers?
It belongs to the same fictional world, but Desdemona and the Deep was published as its own novella.
The Dark Breakers collection expands the same setting through other stories.
For a complete shelf, keep both books.
Are Dark Breakers and Saint Death Connected?
No confirmed continuity connects them.
They are separate fantasy settings.
Both contain elaborate supernatural systems and unusual relationships between mortal and otherworldly powers, but those similarities are thematic.
Are The Twice-Drowned Saint and Saint Death’s Daughter Connected?
No.
They are separate stories in separate settings.
The repeated word “Saint” is not a series marker.
Does C. S. E. Cooney Write Under Another Name?
Cooney also performs and records music as Brimstone Rhine.
That name applies to musical work rather than a separate prose bibliography.
For Books in Order purposes, keep the Brimstone Rhine albums outside the literary sequence.
C. S. E. Cooney Collaborations
Cooney has collaborated with Carlos Hernandez on fiction and games.
Their work includes the Negocios Infernales project, as well as jointly written short fiction.
These collaborations should be identified separately rather than silently mixed into Cooney’s solo series.
They do not belong to Saint Death.
Latest C. S. E. Cooney Novel
The latest published C. S. E. Cooney novel as of August 9, 2026 is:
- Saint Death’s Herald (2025)
It is the second Saint Death novel.
Cooney has continued publishing short fiction after it, but no later completed novel has yet replaced it in the published novel sequence.
Latest C. S. E. Cooney Fiction
Cooney remains actively publishing short fiction in 2026.
Her official site records new fiction appearing during the year, while she continues work on the final Saint Death novel.
For a Books in Order page, those magazine appearances should remain separate from the principal book sequence unless later collected.
Next C. S. E. Cooney Book
The most important confirmed forthcoming novel is:
- Saint Death’s Doorway
It is Book 3 and the conclusion of the Saint Death trilogy.
As of August 9, 2026, no reliable publication date has been announced.
Do not assign it a speculative 2027 or 2028 date until Solaris or Cooney provides one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is C. S. E. Cooney’s first book?
One of Cooney’s earliest separately published substantial works is The Big Bah-Ha, originally published in 2010.
Her later bibliography includes collections, novellas, and novels rather than one uninterrupted sequence.
What is C. S. E. Cooney’s first novel?
Saint Death’s Daughter is her major full-length novel debut in the conventional commercial novel sense.
Earlier substantial prose works include novellas and collections.
What order should I read Saint Death?
Read:
- Saint Death’s Daughter
- Saint Death’s Herald
- Saint Death’s Doorway
The third book is forthcoming.
Is Saint Death’s Doorway confirmed?
Yes.
Cooney announced it as Book 3 and the final Saint Death novel.
It does not yet have a confirmed publication date.
Should I read The Twice-Drowned Saint between the Saint Death books?
No.
It is unrelated.
Read Saint Death’s Herald directly after Saint Death’s Daughter.
What order should I read Dark Breakers?
For the individual story sequence:
- “The Breaker Queen”
- “The Two Paupers”
- Desdemona and the Deep
- “Salissay’s Laundries”
- “Longergreen”
- “Susurra to the Moon”
For the easiest book-buying route:
- Desdemona and the Deep
- Dark Breakers
Can I read Desdemona and the Deep first?
Yes.
It was explicitly published as a standalone novella.
Is Dark Breakers a sequel to Desdemona and the Deep?
Not exactly.
It is a collection set in the same layered world, containing stories from different characters and periods.
Is Bone Swans connected to Dark Breakers?
No as a collection-wide continuity.
Bone Swans gathers unrelated or separately situated stories.
Is The Big Bah-Ha included in Bone Swans?
Yes.
Readers who own Bone Swans: Stories do not need a separate copy merely to read The Big Bah-Ha.
Is The Witch in the Almond Tree a series?
There is a small connected Witch’s Garden grouping, especially:
- “The Witch in the Almond Tree”
- “Witch, Beast, Saint”
The 2020 collection is the easiest way to access that material.
Is Infernal Bargains part of Negocios Infernales?
Yes.
It is a companion collection of fiction and poetry inspired by the game’s Deck of Destiny.
Is Fiddle published?
Not as of August 9, 2026.
Cooney has discussed and worked on Fiddle as a later-set story in the Dark Breakers world, but it should remain outside the numbered published bibliography until formally released.
What is C. S. E. Cooney’s latest novel?
Saint Death’s Herald, published in 2025.
What is coming next?
Saint Death’s Doorway, the third and final Saint Death novel, is confirmed and in development.
No publication date has yet been announced.
Conclusion
C. S. E. Cooney’s bibliography is best read by separating true sequence from shared-world storytelling.
The clearest series is Saint Death. Read Saint Death’s Daughter, then Saint Death’s Herald. Saint Death’s Doorway will complete the trilogy when published.
The Dark Breakers material is looser. Desdemona and the Deep works independently, while Dark Breakers gathers other stories from the same layered world. Readers who want the easiest route should read those two books together.
The Twice-Drowned Saint is entirely separate despite its title. Bone Swans: Stories and The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories are collections rather than sequels, and Infernal Bargains belongs to the Negocios Infernales project.
For one dependable starting point, choose Saint Death’s Daughter if you want a continuing novel series, or Bone Swans: Stories if you want the broadest introduction to Cooney’s shorter fiction.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.