Caroline Stevermer Books in Order (Updated August 7, 2026)

Caroline Stevermer is an American fantasy writer whose bibliography crosses historical fantasy, alternate history, young adult fiction, and post-apocalyptic adventure. She is particularly associated with the Cecelia and Kate novels, written with Patricia C. Wrede, and the magical European setting introduced in A College of Magics.

Her books do not belong to one shared universe. That distinction matters more than arranging every title into a single sequence.

The main reading decisions concern three groups: the early Nicholas Coffin novels, the interconnected Cecelia and Kate material, and the books surrounding A College of Magics. Everything else can be approached separately.

The Short Version

For a first Caroline Stevermer book, there are two especially useful starting points.

Choose Sorcery and Cecelia if you want her best-known collaborative series, an alternate Regency England, and a story built around correspondence between two cousins.

Choose A College of Magics if you would rather begin with Stevermer writing alone.

For each continuity, follow these basic rules:

1. Read the two Nicholas Coffin novels in publication order.
2. Read the three main Cecelia and Kate novels in order.
3. Treat Magic Below Stairs as an optional connected novel set between the second and third Cecelia and Kate books.
4. Begin the Scholarly Magics sequence with A College of Magics if you want publication order.
5. Read When the King Comes Home first only if you specifically prefer chronological order.
6. Read Stevermer’s other novels independently.

There is no reason to combine all of these books into one fictional timeline.

Nicholas Coffin Books in Order

Stevermer’s first two published novels appeared under the name C. J. Stevermer.

They feature Nicholas Coffin, an English alchemist in Renaissance Italy.

Publication and Recommended Order

1. The Alchemist: Death of a Borgia (1980)
2. The Duke and the Veil (1981)

These form a distinct early series.

Read them in publication order. There is no useful alternate sequence that improves on it.

Continuity: Included
Order importance: Moderate
Connection to later Stevermer series: None required

Readers searching older catalogs may find shortened or variant listings for The Alchemist, but it is the first Nicholas Coffin book.

Cecelia and Kate Books in Order

Caroline Stevermer wrote the Cecelia and Kate novels with Patricia C. Wrede.

The series takes place in an alternate Regency England where magic exists alongside the social world of balls, marriages, family obligations, travel, and politics.

The central trilogy should be kept in sequence.

Main Cecelia and Kate Trilogy

1. Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (1988)
2. The Grand Tour, or The Purloined Coronation Regalia (2004)
3. The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years After (2006)

The first novel was originally published in 1988 and later returned to print in a revised edition in 2003. The 2003 edition is not a separate fourth story.

Publication order is also the best order for new readers.

Characters grow older, relationships change, and later books assume familiarity with events and marriages established earlier. Beginning with The Grand Tour or The Mislaid Magician would remove much of that context.

Where Does Magic Below Stairs Fit?

Magic Below Stairs (2010) is a middle-grade novel written by Caroline Stevermer alone.

It belongs to the same magical England as Cecelia and Kate and features connections to characters from the main books.

Its chronological position is:

1. Sorcery and Cecelia
2. The Grand Tour
3. Magic Below Stairs
4. The Mislaid Magician

That does not mean it must be inserted there on a first read.

The cleanest first-time route is to read the original trilogy in publication order, then read Magic Below Stairs as an optional return to the setting.

Readers who strongly prefer internal chronology can place it between books two and three without disrupting the broad timeline.

Magic Below Stairs: Optional, connected continuity

Cecelia and Kate Omnibus Editions

Several collected editions can make this series look larger than it is.

Magicians of Quality collects earlier Cecelia and Kate material and should not be counted as a new novel.

The Cecelia and Kate Novels is a collection of the three main collaborative books.

If you own an omnibus, follow the order of the individual novels inside it. Do not add the omnibus to a reading list in addition to those same novels.

A College of Magics Books and Related Novels

This part of Stevermer’s bibliography needs more explanation because publication order and chronological order are different.

The relevant books are:

1. A College of Magics (1994)
2. When the King Comes Home (2000)
3. A Scholar of Magics (2004)

These books share a broader magical European setting, but they do not operate like three consecutive installments following one protagonist.

Publication Order

1. A College of Magics (1994)
2. When the King Comes Home (2000)
3. A Scholar of Magics (2004)

This is the recommended sequence for most readers.

A College of Magics establishes the setting in the form through which readers originally encountered it. When the King Comes Home then reaches much further into that world’s past. A Scholar of Magics returns to the later era and functions as a companion or sequel to A College of Magics.

Chronological Order

If you want to follow the fictional history instead, use:

1. When the King Comes Home
2. A College of Magics
3. A Scholar of Magics

When the King Comes Home takes place centuries before the other two novels.

It is sufficiently self-contained that reading it first will not make the story incomprehensible. Even so, publication order has an advantage: the historical connections are encountered after the later world has already been established.

What Is the Best Order?

For a first reading:

1. A College of Magics
2. When the King Comes Home
3. A Scholar of Magics

For a reread focused on the world’s history:

1. When the King Comes Home
2. A College of Magics
3. A Scholar of Magics

Publication order better preserves the way Stevermer developed the setting. Chronological order creates a smoother historical timeline but changes how some background material is discovered.

Scholarly Magics Omnibus

Scholarly Magics collects:

1. A College of Magics
2. A Scholar of Magics

It is an omnibus, not an additional installment.

The collection does not include When the King Comes Home, even though that novel is set in the same broader world.

Caroline Stevermer Standalone Novels

Several Stevermer novels require no series reading.

The Serpent’s Egg

The Serpent’s Egg was published in 1988.

It is a standalone fantasy and Stevermer’s first novel published under the name Caroline Stevermer rather than C. J. Stevermer.

Some online bibliographies incorrectly give 1998 as its publication year. The original publication is from 1988.

Status: Separate continuity

River Rats

River Rats (1992) is a post-apocalyptic adventure centered on a group traveling the Mississippi River aboard a paddlewheel steamboat.

It is not connected to Cecelia and Kate or A College of Magics.

Status: Separate continuity

The Glass Magician

The Glass Magician (2020) is a historical fantasy set in an alternate version of New York in 1905.

Its protagonist, Thalia Cutler, is a stage magician who discovers that the world’s supernatural divisions are more relevant to her life than she believed.

It begins a setting separate from Stevermer’s earlier magical worlds.

The ending leaves room for continuation, and Stevermer’s official biography states that a sequel is intended. As of August 7, 2026, however, no reliably confirmed sequel title or publication date is available.

For now, The Glass Magician should therefore be treated as the only published novel in its continuity.

Status: Published first book, sequel intended but unscheduled

Caroline Stevermer Novels in Publication Order

Readers building a complete Stevermer shelf can use the following sequence of original novels:

1. The Alchemist: Death of a Borgia (1980), as C. J. Stevermer
2. The Duke and the Veil (1981), as C. J. Stevermer
3. The Serpent’s Egg (1988)
4. Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (1988), with Patricia C. Wrede
5. River Rats (1992)
6. A College of Magics (1994)
7. When the King Comes Home (2000)
8. A Scholar of Magics (2004)
9. The Grand Tour, or The Purloined Coronation Regalia (2004), with Patricia C. Wrede
10. The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years After (2006), with Patricia C. Wrede
11. Magic Below Stairs (2010)
12. The Glass Magician (2020)

This list excludes omnibuses because they reproduce novels already counted above.

The two 2004 books belong to separate continuities, so their precise ordering relative to one another has no reading-order consequence.

The Most Useful Complete Reading Route

Someone who wants to read Stevermer extensively does not gain much by jumping between unrelated series according to publication date.

A continuity-based route is easier:

Start with Cecelia and Kate

1. Sorcery and Cecelia
2. The Grand Tour
3. The Mislaid Magician
4. Magic Below Stairs

Keep Magic Below Stairs for afterward unless chronological placement is important to you.

Then Read the Scholarly Magics World

1. A College of Magics
2. When the King Comes Home
3. A Scholar of Magics

This keeps publication order while preserving the strongest introduction to the setting.

Then Explore the Remaining Books

1. The Alchemist: Death of a Borgia
2. The Duke and the Veil
3. The Serpent’s Egg
4. River Rats
5. The Glass Magician

These titles do not need to be interwoven with the other groups.

Caroline Stevermer Short Stories

Stevermer has also published short fiction in anthologies, including stories in shared worlds and collaborations.

Verified examples include:

1. Cenedwine Brocade
2. Waiting for Harry
3. The Springfield Swans, with Ryan Edmonds
4. Watching the Bobolinks
5. Rag
6. Uncle Bob Visits
7. The Language of Flowers
8. The Vital Importance of the Superficial, with Ellen Kushner

These stories are optional for a novels-in-order reading project.

Some belong to anthology or shared-world contexts rather than Stevermer’s principal novel series, so they should not be inserted into the Cecelia and Kate or Scholarly Magics sequences without a confirmed continuity reason.

Is The Glass Magician Getting a Sequel?

A sequel has been stated as the author’s intention.

What is not currently confirmed is more important for a reading-order guide: there is no reliable publication date or clearly announced final title available as of August 7, 2026.

Readers should therefore avoid treating speculative sequel listings as firm releases.

The published reading order remains simply:

1. The Glass Magician

Any sequel can be added once publication information is formally established.

What Is Caroline Stevermer’s Latest Book?

As of August 7, 2026, The Glass Magician remains Caroline Stevermer’s most recent published novel.

It was released in 2020.

No later Stevermer novel could be reliably confirmed during the current bibliography check.

Her website has continued to discuss her existing books, including newer audio and ebook editions, but a new format or reissue does not count as a new novel in the reading order.

Caroline Stevermer Books in Order FAQs

What should I read first by Caroline Stevermer?

Sorcery and Cecelia is the strongest starting point if you want her best-known collaborative work.

For a novel written by Stevermer alone, begin with A College of Magics.

Do Caroline Stevermer’s books all connect?

No.

Cecelia and Kate plus Magic Below Stairs form one continuity.

A College of Magics, A Scholar of Magics, and When the King Comes Home share another setting.

The Nicholas Coffin novels form an earlier series.

The Serpent’s Egg, River Rats, and The Glass Magician should be treated separately from those groups.

What order should I read the Cecelia and Kate books?

Read the main trilogy as:

1. Sorcery and Cecelia
2. The Grand Tour
3. The Mislaid Magician

Then read Magic Below Stairs as optional connected material.

If you prefer strict story chronology, put Magic Below Stairs between The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician.

Is Magic Below Stairs part of the Cecelia and Kate series?

It is set in the same world and uses connected characters, but it is not one of the three novels Stevermer coauthored with Patricia C. Wrede.

It is best labeled as a connected middle-grade novel.

Should I read When the King Comes Home before A College of Magics?

Not for a first reading.

Although When the King Comes Home occurs much earlier in the fictional history, A College of Magics was published first and provides the better entry point to the setting.

Chronological readers can reverse them without creating a major continuity problem.

Is A Scholar of Magics a sequel to A College of Magics?

Yes, although it is better understood as a companion-style sequel than as a simple continuation focused exclusively on the same protagonist.

Read A College of Magics first.

Is When the King Comes Home a standalone?

It can be read independently, but it takes place in the same broader world as A College of Magics and A Scholar of Magics.

For bibliography purposes, it is more useful to group the three together while noting that the connections are looser than those of a conventional trilogy.

What are the first Caroline Stevermer books?

Her first two novels were published as C. J. Stevermer:

1. The Alchemist: Death of a Borgia
2. The Duke and the Veil

They form the Nicholas Coffin series.

When was The Serpent’s Egg published?

The Serpent’s Egg was published in 1988.

The 1998 date found in some secondary listings is incorrect.

Is Scholarly Magics another novel?

No.

Scholarly Magics is an omnibus containing A College of Magics and A Scholar of Magics. Readers who own the individual novels do not need to add it separately.

Is the Cecelia and Kate series complete?

The central collaborative sequence contains three published novels and reaches a natural later stage with The Mislaid Magician.

Magic Below Stairs adds another story in the same world but is separate from the three-book collaboration.

No additional Cecelia and Kate novel has been reliably confirmed for publication as of August 7, 2026.

The Best Place to Begin

There is no single sequence covering every Caroline Stevermer novel because her major groups belong to different continuities.

For the most straightforward introduction, begin with Sorcery and Cecelia and continue through the Cecelia and Kate trilogy in publication order. Add Magic Below Stairs afterward if you want another story from that magical England.

For Stevermer’s solo fantasy, A College of Magics is the better doorway. Read When the King Comes Home next, then A Scholar of Magics.

The larger rule is simple: keep each continuity together, favor publication order on a first read, and treat chronological rearrangements as optional rather than necessary.