Meagan Spooner Books in Order (Updated March 10, 2026)

Meagan Spooner’s bibliography is easiest to navigate when you split it into three lanes: her solo fantasy books, her co-authored science-fantasy books with Amie Kaufman, and the newer collaboration Lady’s Knight. There is no single giant continuity linking everything together, so the safest reading rule is to stay in publication order inside each series.

The biggest continuity note is simple: Skylark, Starbound, Unearthed, and The Other Side of the Sky are all separate from one another. Hunted and Sherwood are standalones, not a duology.

If you like this, start with this

If you like dystopian fantasy, start with: Skylark

If you like romantic sci-fi, start with: These Broken Stars

If you like fairy-tale retellings, start with: Hunted

If you like Robin Hood retellings, start with: Sherwood

If you like ancient-tech adventure, start with: Unearthed

If you like star-crossed fantasy, start with: The Other Side of the Sky

If you like funny, romantic, high-energy medieval fantasy, start with: Lady’s Knight

The easiest way to read Meagan Spooner

If you want the smoothest path through the published books, this order works well:

1. Skylark
2. Shadowlark
3. Lark Ascending
4. These Broken Stars
5. This Shattered World
6. This Night So Dark
7. Their Fractured Light
8. Hunted
9. Unearthed
10. Undying
11. Sherwood
12. The Other Side of the Sky
13. Beyond the End of the World
14. Lady’s Knight

That order keeps each series intact and places the Starbound novella after the second novel, which is the most natural place to read it.

Meagan Spooner books in publication order

1. Skylark (2012): Lark lives in a world where magic is extracted and controlled, and her growing power pushes her out of safety and into a much larger conflict.
2. Shadowlark (2013): Lark’s escape turns into resistance as the trilogy widens from survival into rebellion.
3. These Broken Stars (2013, with Amie Kaufman): A luxury spaceliner crashes onto an alien planet, leaving Lilac and Tarver stranded in a romantic survival story that opens the Starbound universe.
4. This Shattered World (2014, with Amie Kaufman): On Avon, a rebel and a military captain become the next central pair in a sequel that expands the politics and scope of Starbound.
5. Lark Ascending (2014): The Skylark trilogy closes as Lark’s journey becomes a final reckoning over power, identity, and the future of her world.
6. This Night So Dark (2014, with Amie Kaufman): A Starbound novella focused on Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase, best read after This Shattered World.
7. Their Fractured Light (2015, with Amie Kaufman): The Starbound trilogy finale pulls multiple threads and characters together for the series’ largest-scale conclusion.
8. Hunted (2017): A Beauty and the Beast-inspired standalone in which Yeva follows her missing father into the woods and finds a story much darker than the version she thought she knew.
9. Unearthed (2018, with Amie Kaufman): Jules and Mia race through an alien ruin on Gaia in a fast-moving sci-fi adventure built around puzzles, ancient technology, and competing motives.
10. Undying (2019, with Amie Kaufman): The Unearthed duology concludes by turning the first book’s mysteries into a larger fight for humanity’s future.
11. Sherwood (2020): A Robin Hood retelling centered on Maid Marian, who returns to Nottingham after Robin’s death and finds that the legend still needs someone to carry it forward.
12. The Other Side of the Sky (2020, with Amie Kaufman): Nimh and North come from two very different worlds, and their meeting opens a fantasy duology built on fate, class, and impossible love.
13. Beyond the End of the World (2022, with Amie Kaufman): The duology concludes as Nimh and North try to reunite, cross worlds, and stop both of their homes from collapsing.
14. Lady’s Knight (2025, with Amie Kaufman): A sapphic medieval fantasy-romance with jousting, dragons, disguises, and a heroine trying to win freedom by becoming the knight she is not supposed to be.

By series

Skylark trilogy

1. Skylark (2012): The right place to start Spooner’s solo dystopian fantasy line, with Lark discovering how dangerous her magic really is.
2. Shadowlark (2013): Book two deepens the rebellion and the world’s steampunk-fantasy machinery.
3. Lark Ascending (2014): The finale pays off the trilogy’s central conflict and should always be read last.

Best order: publication order. This is one direct trilogy.

Starbound trilogy

1. These Broken Stars (2013): A crash-survival romance on an alien planet that begins the larger Starbound sequence.
2. This Shattered World (2014): A second couple and a war-torn setting widen the universe without breaking the larger continuity.
3. This Night So Dark (2014): A bridging novella centered on Flynn and Jubilee, best placed here before the final novel.
4. Their Fractured Light (2015): The concluding novel brings the trilogy’s threads together into a final confrontation.

Best order: These Broken Stars, This Shattered World, This Night So Dark, then Their Fractured Light.

Unearthed duology

1. Unearthed (2018): The first book sets up the alien-ruin race and the uneasy partnership between Jules and Mia.
2. Undying (2019): The second book completes the duology and should not be read out of order.

Best order: straight publication order.

The Other Side of the Sky duology

1. The Other Side of the Sky (2020): Nimh and North meet across radically different worlds in the opening half of this fantasy duology.
2. Beyond the End of the World (2022): The sequel completes the story and resolves the split-world conflict.

Best order: publication order.

Standalones

• Hunted (2017): A darker fairy-tale standalone for readers who want Spooner outside a series structure.
• Sherwood (2020): Another standalone retelling, this time shifting the Robin Hood legend toward Marian.
• Lady’s Knight (2025, with Amie Kaufman): The start of a new collaboration-branded line, but currently the only published book in that sequence.

Recommended reading orders by reader type

If you want solo Meagan Spooner first

1. Skylark
2. Shadowlark
3. Lark Ascending
4. Hunted
5. Sherwood

That gives you the solo work without crossing into the Kaufman collaborations.

If you want the best-known collaborative books first

1. These Broken Stars
2. This Shattered World
3. This Night So Dark
4. Their Fractured Light
5. Unearthed
6. Undying
7. The Other Side of the Sky
8. Beyond the End of the World
9. Lady’s Knight

That route starts with the most established Kaufman-Spooner series and moves toward the newest collaboration.

If you want the easiest current entry point

Start with Lady’s Knight if you want the newest published book and do not mind beginning with a newer collaboration rather than the older backlist.

Where to start with Meagan Spooner

Start with These Broken Stars if you want the book most closely associated with her name.

Start with Skylark if you want her solo fiction first.

Start with Hunted if you want a standalone and do not want a series commitment.

Start with Lady’s Knight if you want something newer, faster, and more openly playful in tone.

Latest release status

The most recent published Meagan Spooner book I confirmed is Lady’s Knight, released in 2025. I did not find a later confirmed Spooner title on her official books page, so it is safer to stop the order there rather than guess at an unannounced next book.

FAQs

Do Meagan Spooner’s books need to be read in order?

Only within each series. The separate series do not connect to one another.

Is Hunted connected to Sherwood?

No. They are both retellings, but they are separate standalones.

Do I need to read This Night So Dark?

No, but it fits neatly between This Shattered World and Their Fractured Light if you want the fullest Starbound experience.

Is Lady’s Knight part of a larger series?

It is presented as Lady’s Knight, Book 1, but at the moment it is the only published entry I could confirm.

What is the best first Meagan Spooner book?

For most readers, These Broken Stars. For solo Spooner, Skylark or Hunted are the clearest starts.

Final recommendation

If you want the safest all-purpose starting point, begin with These Broken Stars. If you want to keep the focus on Meagan Spooner alone, begin with Skylark. If you want only one book, choose Hunted.