Lavie Tidhar writes across science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, crime, historical fiction, children’s literature, comics, and short fiction. That range makes his bibliography look more interconnected than it actually is.
There are four continuities where reading order deserves particular attention: the Bookman Histories, the Central Station universe, the Anti-Matter of Britain sequence, and the Maror Trilogy. His Judge Dee stories also now have a convenient collected reading route.
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Most of Tidhar’s other novels stand alone.
For a new reader, the main question is therefore not “What was published first?” It is “Which version of Tidhar do you want to read?”
First Choose Your Way In
For steampunk and alternate Victorian history, begin with The Bookman.
For far-future science fiction, begin with Central Station.
For historical crime and literary fiction, begin with Maror.
For rewritten British legend, begin with By Force Alone.
For a completely self-contained novel, Osama, The Violent Century, A Man Lies Dreaming, Unholy Land, or The Escapement can all be approached independently.
For vampire detective fiction, The Three Coffin Problem now collects the Judge Dee material into one book.
The only major rule is not to mistake recurring themes for shared continuity. Tidhar frequently returns to alternate histories, pulp traditions, Israel, myth, detectives, robots, and speculative versions of familiar places, but those repetitions do not mean all of his novels occur in one universe.
Bookman Histories in Order
The Bookman Histories are Tidhar’s clearest conventional trilogy.
- The Bookman (2010)
- Camera Obscura (2011)
- The Great Game (2012)
Read them in publication order.
The trilogy takes place in an alternate nineteenth century populated by historical figures, literary characters, secret societies, strange technology, and imperial conspiracies. Although each volume changes emphasis and central characters, later books build on the alternate world established by the first.
Continuity: Included
Recommended order: Publication order
Series status: Complete trilogy
The Bookman Histories Omnibus
The Bookman Histories has also been published as an omnibus containing the three novels.
It is not an additional installment.
Readers with the omnibus already have:
- The Bookman
- Camera Obscura
- The Great Game
There is no need to list the omnibus separately in a complete reading sequence.
Central Station and Neom in Order
Tidhar’s Central Station setting is a far-future world of humans, robots, artificial intelligences, altered people, space travel, and interconnected communities centered on a transformed Middle East.
The published novel-length reading order is:
- Central Station (2016)
- Neom (2022)
Neom explicitly returns to the universe of Central Station, but it is not a conventional Book Two following exactly the same cast and plot.
That distinction makes the order flexible, but not meaningless.
Read Central Station first if you want the setting introduced in publication order. It establishes many of the technologies, communities, and ideas that make the wider future easier to understand.
Then read Neom, which shifts attention toward a desert city on the Red Sea and other inhabitants of the same broader future.
Continuity: Shared universe
Order importance: Helpful rather than mandatory
Are the Central Station Short Stories Required?
No.
Central Station itself grew from interconnected short fiction, and Tidhar has written additional work associated with this future.
Readers following the books do not need to track down every magazine appearance before reading the novel.
Treat the individual stories as optional supplementary material, particularly if you have already read the collected novel.
The Maror Trilogy in Order
The Maror Trilogy is Tidhar’s historical and crime sequence dealing with generations of characters across the history of modern Israel and the territory that preceded it.
Read the books in publication order:
- Maror (2022)
- Adama (2023)
- Golgotha (2025)
Golgotha is the final volume.
This trilogy handles continuity differently from a tightly serialized fantasy series. Characters recur and the books form a larger historical design, but each novel has substantial independence.
A reader could technically begin with Adama or Golgotha and still follow the immediate story.
For the intended cumulative effect, however, start with Maror.
Publication order lets recurring figures, family histories, political developments, and echoes between different periods build naturally.
Continuity: Included
Order importance: Recommended, not absolutely required
Series status: Complete
Does Golgotha Finish the Maror Trilogy?
Yes.
The sequence is:
- Maror
- Adama
- Golgotha
No fourth Maror novel is needed to complete the trilogy.
Anti-Matter of Britain Books in Order
Tidhar’s Anti-Matter of Britain project reworks major strands of British legend rather than telling one conventional hero’s story.
The published books are:
- By Force Alone (2020)
- The Hood (2021)
By Force Alone tackles Arthurian material.
The Hood moves forward to the legends surrounding Robin Hood and an England shaped by Norman rule.
Tidhar announced the project as a planned quartet, meaning four books are intended.
As of August 8, 2026, only the first two volumes have been published. No reliable publication date for books three or four should be treated as confirmed.
Continuity: Included thematic and historical sequence
Recommended order: Publication order
Series status: Two of a planned four books published
Can The Hood Be Read Without By Force Alone?
Possibly, because the books center on different bodies of legend.
It is still better to read By Force Alone first. The project is designed as a progression through British history and mythology, so publication order preserves that structure.
Judge Dee and The Three Coffin Problem
Tidhar began publishing Judge Dee vampire mysteries as individual short stories in 2020.
The easiest reading route is now:
- The Three Coffin Problem (2026)
The book gathers seven previously published Judge Dee stories and adds two original stories, arranging the material into a chronological sequence.
Judge Dee is an ancient vampire who solves crimes involving other vampires while traveling through medieval Europe with his human companion Jonathan.
Because the 2026 book deliberately organizes the stories into a reading sequence, new readers no longer need to reconstruct the order from their original magazine appearances.
Status: Included collection
Best starting point: The Three Coffin Problem
Should You Read the Original Judge Dee Stories Separately?
Not unless you specifically want their original publication history.
For normal reading purposes, The Three Coffin Problem is the cleaner option.
It combines the previously published stories with new material and places them into an intended narrative progression.
Lavie Tidhar Standalone Novels
A large portion of Tidhar’s bibliography consists of independent novels.
These do not need to be inserted between his series.
The Tel Aviv Dossier
The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009), written with Nir Yaniv, is an apocalyptic speculative novel.
It belongs to its own continuity.
Status: Separate continuity
Osama
Osama (2011) is an alternate-history noir novel built around a world in which Osama bin Laden exists as the fictional character of a series of pulp thrillers.
It is not connected to Tidhar’s Bookman universe despite appearing during roughly the same period of his career.
Status: Standalone
Martian Sands
Martian Sands (2013) combines Mars, alternate history, time, and questions surrounding the Second World War.
It can be read without any other Tidhar novel.
Status: Standalone
The Violent Century
The Violent Century (2013) presents an alternate twentieth century shaped by superhuman figures and war.
It is self-contained.
Do not confuse its alternate-history elements with either the Bookman Histories or Osama.
Status: Standalone
A Man Lies Dreaming
A Man Lies Dreaming (2014) combines alternate history, noir, political fiction, and metafiction.
It has thematic connections to Tidhar’s interest in pulp fiction and twentieth-century history, but not a required continuity with his other novels.
Status: Standalone
Unholy Land
Unholy Land (2018) imagines an alternate Jewish homeland established in East Africa and develops into a story involving competing realities.
It is an independent novel.
You do not need Osama, A Man Lies Dreaming, or the later Maror books before reading it.
Status: Standalone
The Escapement
The Escapement (2021) follows a journey through a surreal landscape shaped by fantasy, western imagery, dreams, and myth.
It belongs to its own world.
Status: Standalone
The Circumference of the World
The Circumference of the World (2023) is another independent science fiction novel.
Despite Tidhar’s recurring fascination with books, constructed realities, and speculative futures, it is not part of Bookman or Central Station.
Status: Standalone
Six Lives
Six Lives (2024) traces members of an extended family across multiple generations and historical periods.
It was published after Adama, but it is not Maror Trilogy Book Three. That position belongs to Golgotha.
Treat Six Lives separately.
Status: Standalone
Candy and The Candy Mafia
Tidhar’s middle-grade novel was published in the United Kingdom as:
Candy (2018)
The United States edition appeared under the title:
The Candy Mafia (2020)
These are not two different books.
Do not read or buy both expecting a sequel.
The story follows young private detective Nelle Faulkner in a city where sweets have been outlawed.
Candy / The Candy Mafia: Same novel, alternate titles
Other Children’s Books
The Children’s Book of the Future
The Children’s Book of the Future (2024), written with futurist Richard Watson, is a children’s nonfiction book about possible futures.
It is not connected to Candy.
It should also be separated from Tidhar’s fiction bibliography because it is nonfiction rather than a novel.
Status: Separate nonfiction title
Lavie Tidhar Novellas
Tidhar has published a substantial body of shorter work. These novellas are generally independent of his major novel series unless noted otherwise.
An Occupation of Angels
An Occupation of Angels was first published in 2005.
It is an alternate Cold War fantasy involving angels and intelligence operations.
Status: Standalone novella
Cloud Permutations
Cloud Permutations (2010) is a science fiction novella.
Status: Standalone
Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God
Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011) introduces Gorel, a gunslinger-like figure in Tidhar’s strange fantasy setting.
Additional Gorel material later appeared in Black Gods Kiss.
For readers interested in Gorel, begin with:
- Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God
- Black Gods Kiss
Status: Connected fiction
Jesus and the Eightfold Path
Jesus and the Eightfold Path (2011) is a self-contained novella combining religious narrative with martial-arts and adventure traditions.
Status: Standalone
The Vanishing Kind
The Vanishing Kind first appeared in 2016 and was later issued separately.
It is an alternate-history noir story.
Status: Standalone novella
New Atlantis
New Atlantis first appeared in 2019 and was subsequently released in a separate edition.
It is not a Central Station installment.
Status: Standalone novella
The Big Blind
The Big Blind (2020) centers on poker and crime rather than Tidhar’s speculative series.
Status: Standalone novella
Collections of Lavie Tidhar Short Fiction
Readers looking beyond the novels will encounter several collections.
HebrewPunk
HebrewPunk (2007) collects linked stories that combine Jewish folklore, history, and pulp traditions.
The stories share a conceptual world, but the collection does not connect to Bookman, Central Station, or Maror.
Status: Separate collection
Black Gods Kiss
Black Gods Kiss (2014) collects Gorel stories.
Read Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God first if you want the cleanest introduction to the character.
Status: Connected Gorel material
The Lunacy Commission
The Lunacy Commission (2021) collects Tidhar’s “Hitler: P.I.” stories.
It is separate from A Man Lies Dreaming, despite both works using alternate or fictionalized treatments of Hitler.
Do not treat it as a sequel.
Status: Separate collection
No One Hears the Last Shot
No One Hears the Last Shot (2025) is a collection of Tidhar’s crime fiction.
It includes previously published stories as well as new material.
It is not part of the Maror Trilogy simply because both involve crime.
Status: Separate collection
Lavie Tidhar Novels in Publication Order
Readers who want to see how Tidhar’s longer fiction developed over time can use this publication sequence.
- The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009), with Nir Yaniv
- The Bookman (2010)
- Osama (2011)
- Camera Obscura (2011)
- The Great Game (2012)
- Martian Sands (2013)
- The Violent Century (2013)
- A Man Lies Dreaming (2014)
- Central Station (2016)
- Candy (2018), later published in the US as The Candy Mafia
- Unholy Land (2018)
- By Force Alone (2020)
- The Hood (2021)
- The Escapement (2021)
- Maror (2022)
- Neom (2022)
- The Circumference of the World (2023)
- Adama (2023)
- Six Lives (2024)
- Golgotha (2025)
- The Three Coffin Problem (2026)
This list emphasizes novels and novel-length collections rather than every novella, anthology, edited volume, comic, or short-fiction collection.
Overall publication order is useful for seeing Tidhar’s career develop, but it is not the best reading strategy. It repeatedly moves between unrelated settings.
Edited Anthologies Are Not Lavie Tidhar Novels
Tidhar has also been an influential anthology editor.
These books belong in a complete bibliography, but not in a fiction reading order.
The Apex Book of World SF
Tidhar edited the first volumes of the international science fiction anthology project:
- The Apex Book of World SF (2009)
- The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012)
- The Apex Book of World SF 3 (2014)
Later volumes continued with additional editorial involvement from other editors.
These contain fiction by many authors and should not be counted as Tidhar novels.
The Best of World SF
Tidhar later edited:
- The Best of World SF: Volume 1 (2021)
- The Best of World SF: Volume 2 (2022)
- The Best of World SF: Volume 3 (2023)
Again, these are anthologies he edited rather than novels he wrote.
Jews vs Zombies and Jews vs Aliens
Tidhar and Rebecca Levene coedited:
- Jews vs Zombies (2015)
- Jews vs Aliens (2015)
They are anthology projects, not two installments in a Tidhar fiction series.
Adler Graphic Novel
Tidhar also created the comic miniseries Adler, with art by Paul McCaffrey.
The original story appeared as five comic issues and was later collected as a graphic novel.
For most readers, the collected Adler edition is the simplest format.
It uses figures drawn from Victorian and Edwardian popular literature but should not automatically be treated as a Bookman Histories installment.
Status: Separate graphic narrative
Is There a Lavie Tidhar Chronological Order?
Only individual continuities benefit from one.
The Bookman Histories should simply be read in publication order.
The Maror Trilogy moves through a broad span of history and sometimes approaches events from different periods, but rearranging the three novels would weaken their intended progression.
Central Station and Neom occupy the same future but do not require a complicated timeline.
Anti-Matter of Britain moves through successive layers of British legend, making publication order the natural route.
A master chronological order combining every Tidhar novel would be misleading because most books take place in unrelated realities.
The Reading Order I Would Use
For someone planning to explore Tidhar broadly rather than read every book by publication date, a grouped route works better.
Begin With the Bookman Trilogy
- The Bookman
- Camera Obscura
- The Great Game
This gives you one completed sequence without requiring any outside material.
Move to His Major Standalones
Try:
- Osama
- The Violent Century
- A Man Lies Dreaming
- Unholy Land
There is no continuity requirement between them, so this is simply a convenient progression through some of his major alternate-history and literary speculative work.
Then Enter the Central Station Future
- Central Station
- Neom
Keep these together because they share a universe.
Read the Anti-Matter of Britain Books Together
- By Force Alone
- The Hood
Then stop until further installments are reliably published.
Finish With the Maror Trilogy
- Maror
- Adama
- Golgotha
This is now a complete sequence.
Everything else can be added according to interest rather than continuity.
Latest Lavie Tidhar Book
As of August 8, 2026, Tidhar’s newest confirmed published book is The Three Coffin Problem, released on June 16, 2026.
It brings the Judge Dee vampire mysteries together in a single volume, including previously published stories and new material.
His previous major novel was Golgotha, published in 2025 as the concluding volume of the Maror Trilogy.
Tidhar has indicated that additional books are in development, but titles and publication dates that have not been formally confirmed should not be inserted into a reference reading order.
Lavie Tidhar Books in Order FAQs
What Lavie Tidhar book should I read first?
There is no required universal starting point.
The Bookman is the best choice for readers who want a complete series.
Central Station is the natural entry for his future-set science fiction.
Maror begins his completed historical trilogy.
For a standalone, Osama requires no preparation.
Are Lavie Tidhar’s books connected?
Most are not.
The main connected groups are:
- The Bookman Histories
- Central Station and Neom
- The Maror Trilogy
- Anti-Matter of Britain
- Gorel stories
- Judge Dee stories
His other major novels should normally be treated as separate continuities.
What order should I read the Bookman Histories?
Read:
- The Bookman
- Camera Obscura
- The Great Game
Publication order and recommended order are the same.
Is Neom a sequel to Central Station?
It is better described as another novel in the same universe than as a direct conventional sequel.
Read Central Station first for the best introduction to the future, then Neom.
What order should I read the Maror Trilogy?
Read:
- Maror
- Adama
- Golgotha
Each has substantial independence, but publication order gives recurring characters and historical connections more weight.
Is Golgotha the final Maror book?
Yes.
Golgotha is the third and concluding volume of the Maror Trilogy.
Is Six Lives part of the Maror Trilogy?
No.
Six Lives was published between Adama and Golgotha, but it is a separate novel.
The third Maror book is Golgotha.
Is The Hood a sequel to By Force Alone?
They belong to the same Anti-Matter of Britain project.
By Force Alone comes first and reworks Arthurian legend. The Hood follows with Tidhar’s treatment of Robin Hood.
Read them in that order.
How many Anti-Matter of Britain books are there?
Two have been published as of August 8, 2026:
- By Force Alone
- The Hood
The project was announced as a quartet, so four books are intended, but the remaining volumes should not be given speculative titles or dates without reliable confirmation.
Is Candy the same book as The Candy Mafia?
Yes.
Candy is the original UK title.
The novel was published in the United States as The Candy Mafia.
They are alternate editions of the same story.
Is The Three Coffin Problem a novel or a collection?
It functions as a collected Judge Dee book.
It brings together seven previously published Judge Dee stories and two original stories, arranged into a chronological sequence that gives the book an episodic, novel-like progression.
Do I need to read the Judge Dee stories online first?
No.
The Three Coffin Problem is now the simplest starting point because it collects and orders the stories for book readers.
Is The Violent Century part of the Bookman Histories?
No.
Both use alternate-history ideas, but they belong to separate continuities.
Are Osama and A Man Lies Dreaming connected?
No required story continuity has been established between them.
They share some of Tidhar’s interests in noir, history, fiction, and alternate realities, but one is not a sequel to the other.
Are Tidhar’s World SF books his own fiction?
No.
The Apex Book of World SF and The Best of World SF are anthology projects he edited. They collect work by numerous writers.
They should be separated from his authored novels.
The Simplest Way to Keep Everything Straight
Lavie Tidhar’s bibliography is easier to navigate once it is divided by continuity rather than genre.
Read The Bookman, Camera Obscura, and The Great Game together.
Read Central Station before Neom.
Keep By Force Alone and The Hood together while the Anti-Matter of Britain project remains incomplete.
Read Maror, Adama, and Golgotha in that order for the complete Maror Trilogy.
Use The Three Coffin Problem for Judge Dee rather than reconstructing the individual short-story sequence.
Everything else can largely be selected independently. Tidhar repeatedly crosses science fiction, fantasy, crime, history, and metafiction, but recurring ideas are not the same thing as shared continuity.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.