Olivia Atwater Books in Order (Updated May 9, 2026)

Olivia Atwater writes historical fantasy, cozy fantasy, faerie romance, steampunk fantasy, and nonfiction for authors. She is best known for Half a Soul, the first full novel in her Regency Faerie Tales world.

Her books are not all one continuous series. The Regency Faerie Tales books share a world and should be read in order. The Witchwood Knot begins the later Victorian Faerie Tales branch and returns to the same broad faerie setting. Tales of the Iron Rose, co-written with Nicholas Atwater, is a separate steampunk fantasy sequence.

The safest first book is Half a Soul.

Where Each Olivia Atwater Book Belongs

1. Start with Regency faeries: Read Half a Soul, then the rest of Regency Faerie Tales.
2. Move to Victorian faeries later: Read The Witchwood Knot after the Regency books if you want the broader faerie-world continuity.
3. Read the goblin airship books separately: Tales of the Iron Rose is co-written with Nicholas Atwater and has its own steampunk adventure continuity.
4. Save Small Miracles for a standalone break: It is contemporary cozy fantasy, not part of the Regency or Victorian faerie series.

Regency Faerie Tales Books in Order

The Regency Faerie Tales books are Olivia Atwater’s core historical-fantasy sequence. They combine Regency society, faerie bargains, class pressure, romance, and satire.

Read the main novels in order. The novellas are useful but optional.

1. The Lord Sorcier (2020): A prequel novella set during the Napoleonic era, showing Elias Wilder before the main events of Half a Soul.
2. Half a Soul (2020): Dora Ettings enters London society while living under a faerie curse that stole half her soul, and her connection with Elias Wilder pulls her into dangerous faerie politics.
3. The Latch Key (2022): A short novella from Elias Wilder’s perspective, set after Half a Soul and best read only after that novel.
4. Ten Thousand Stitches (2020): Housemaid Effie Reeves makes a risky bargain with a well-meaning faerie lord, turning a Cinderella-like premise into a story about class, labor, and desire.
5. Longshadow (2021): Abigail Wilder investigates mysterious deaths among London’s young women while pushing against the limits placed on female magicians.

Best Regency Faerie Tales Reading Order

For new readers, use this order:

1. Half a Soul (2020): Start here because it introduces Dora, Elias, London society, and the rules of Atwater’s Regency faerie world.
2. The Latch Key (2022): Read here if you want Elias’s perspective and more emotional background after Half a Soul.
3. The Lord Sorcier (2020): Read here as a prequel bonus once Elias already matters to you.
4. Ten Thousand Stitches (2020): Continue with Effie’s story and a different class position inside the same magical England.
5. Longshadow (2021): Finish the Regency sequence with Abigail Wilder’s mystery and magical coming-of-age arc.

You can read The Lord Sorcier first by internal chronology, but it works better as background after Half a Soul.

Victorian Faerie Tales Books in Order

The Victorian Faerie Tales series moves the faerie setting forward into Victorian England. It is connected by world, tone, and magical history rather than by requiring every Regency detail first.

• The Witchwood Knot (2023): Governess Winifred Hall enters Witchwood Manor, where faeries have stolen the young lord, creating a darker gothic faerie story than the Regency trilogy.

Reading note: Read The Witchwood Knot after Longshadow if you want the cleanest world progression. It can be read alone, but returning readers will understand the faerie background more easily.

Tales of the Iron Rose Books in Order

Tales of the Iron Rose is co-written by Olivia Atwater and Nicholas Atwater. It is a separate steampunk fantasy sequence involving goblins, airships, faeries, ghosts, heists, and adventure.

Read this sequence in series order.

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin (2026): A short introductory story about Captain William Blair, a suspicious job, a betrayal, bounty hunters, and a warehouse disaster.
2. A Matter of Execution (2024): A prequel novella in which Captain William Blair is sentenced to hang for another goblin’s crime and must use his crew, wit, and a dangerous theft to survive.
3. Echoes of the Imperium (2024): The first full Tales of the Iron Rose novel, sending Captain Blair and the Iron Rose crew into a larger steampunk adventure involving ghosts, goblins, faeries, and the remnants of empire.

Date note: Some databases list Echoes of the Imperium with an earlier 2021 date, while current retail and publisher-style listings show the 2024 release. For reading-order purposes, its series position matters more than the edition date.

Standalone Fantasy

• Small Miracles (2022): A contemporary cozy fantasy about angels, demons, temptation, grief, romance, and chocolate, separate from the Regency and Victorian faerie books.

Reading note: Read this whenever you want a standalone Olivia Atwater novel. It does not depend on Half a Soul or any other series.

Nonfiction Books for Authors

Olivia Atwater has also written practical nonfiction for writers. These are separate from her fiction and do not belong in the story reading order.

1. Better Blurb Writing for Authors (2021): A craft and marketing guide focused on writing stronger book blurbs.
2. Reader-Friendly Writing for Authors (2023): A guide for authors focused on clarity, reader expectations, and making stories easier to enter and follow.

Anthologies and Stories by Olivia Atwater

These are optional for most readers.

• The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment (2026): A romantasy anthology containing a new Olivia Atwater story among twelve magical romance tales.

Olivia Atwater Books in Publication Order

Publication order is useful if you want to follow Atwater’s career from Regency fantasy into standalone cozy fantasy, Victorian gothic faerie fiction, steampunk fantasy, and nonfiction.

1. The Lord Sorcier (2020): A Regency Faerie Tales prequel novella about Elias Wilder during the war years before Half a Soul.
2. Half a Soul (2020): The first full Regency Faerie Tales novel and the best place to begin Olivia Atwater’s fiction.
3. Ten Thousand Stitches (2020): The second full Regency Faerie Tales novel, centered on Effie Reeves and a dangerous faerie bargain.
4. Longshadow (2021): The third Regency Faerie Tales novel, following Abigail Wilder into murder, magic, and queer romance.
5. Better Blurb Writing for Authors (2021): A nonfiction guide for writers, separate from the fiction bibliography.
6. The Latch Key (2022): A short Regency Faerie Tales novella set after Half a Soul.
7. Small Miracles (2022): A standalone cozy fantasy about ordinary temptations, grief, friendship, and divine meddling.
8. Reader-Friendly Writing for Authors (2023): A nonfiction craft guide for writers.
9. The Witchwood Knot (2023): The first Victorian Faerie Tales book, moving Atwater’s faerie world into a darker gothic setting.
10. A Matter of Execution (2024): A Tales of the Iron Rose prequel novella co-written with Nicholas Atwater.
11. Echoes of the Imperium (2024): The first full Tales of the Iron Rose novel, co-written with Nicholas Atwater.
12. The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin (2026): A short Tales of the Iron Rose story, listed as series number 0 on the author’s site.
13. The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment (2026): A multi-author romantasy anthology with a new Olivia Atwater contribution.

Recommended Olivia Atwater Reading Order

This order keeps continuity clear while placing optional material where it is most useful.

1. Half a Soul (2020): Begin here because it establishes the Regency faerie world, Dora’s curse, Elias Wilder, and the balance of romance and satire.
2. The Latch Key (2022): Read after Half a Soul for Elias’s perspective and family background.
3. The Lord Sorcier (2020): Add the prequel here once Elias’s later role is already clear.
4. Ten Thousand Stitches (2020): Continue with the second full Regency novel and Effie’s class-conscious faerie bargain.
5. Longshadow (2021): Finish the Regency sequence with Abigail Wilder’s magical investigation.
6. The Witchwood Knot (2023): Move next to the Victorian branch of the faerie world.
7. Small Miracles (2022): Take this as a standalone cozy fantasy break after the historical faerie books.
8. The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin (2026): Start Tales of the Iron Rose with the short introductory story if you have access to it.
9. A Matter of Execution (2024): Read the Iron Rose prequel novella before the first full novel.
10. Echoes of the Imperium (2024): Continue with the main Iron Rose steampunk adventure.
11. The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment (2026): Read as optional anthology material.
12. Better Blurb Writing for Authors (2021): Read separately if you want writing advice.
13. Reader-Friendly Writing for Authors (2023): Read separately as author craft nonfiction.

Chronological Order

A strict chronological order is only partly useful.

The Regency Faerie Tales prequel comes before the main novels, but new readers should not start there unless they already know they prefer timeline order over publication effect.

Chronological order for the faerie books is:

1. The Lord Sorcier (2020): Elias Wilder’s earlier military-era prequel.
2. Half a Soul (2020): Dora and Elias’s main story.
3. The Latch Key (2022): Elias’s post-Half a Soul novella.
4. Ten Thousand Stitches (2020): Effie’s faerie bargain story.
5. Longshadow (2021): Abigail Wilder’s later Regency mystery.
6. The Witchwood Knot (2023): The Victorian-era continuation of the broader faerie world.

Chronological order for Tales of the Iron Rose is:

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin (2026): Listed as series number 0.
2. A Matter of Execution (2024): Listed as series number 0.5.
3. Echoes of the Imperium (2024): Listed as series number 1.

Collections and Omnibus Editions

• Regency Faerie Tales (2022): A collected edition of the three main Regency Faerie Tales novels: Half a Soul, Ten Thousand Stitches, and Longshadow.

Use the collection for convenience. Do not count it as a separate story after the trilogy.

Latest Olivia Atwater Book Status

The latest confirmed original Olivia Atwater-related fiction item available before this update is The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin (2026), a short Tales of the Iron Rose story co-written with Nicholas Atwater.

The next confirmed Olivia Atwater appearance found during this update is The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment (2026), a romantasy anthology scheduled for September 2026 and featuring a new Atwater story.

No later full-length Olivia Atwater solo novel after The Witchwood Knot was reliably confirmed during this update.

FAQs

Do Olivia Atwater books need to be read in order?

Yes, for the connected series. Read Regency Faerie Tales in order, read The Witchwood Knot after the Regency books if you want world continuity, and read Tales of the Iron Rose in series order. Small Miracles stands alone.

What Olivia Atwater book should I read first?

Start with Half a Soul. It is the first full Regency Faerie Tales novel and the clearest entry point into Atwater’s style.

Should I read The Lord Sorcier before Half a Soul?

Not for a first read. The Lord Sorcier happens earlier, but it works better after Half a Soul because Elias Wilder’s background matters more once you know him.

Is The Latch Key required?

No. The Latch Key is an optional novella set after Half a Soul. It adds Elias’s perspective and background, but you can still understand the main trilogy without it.

Is The Witchwood Knot part of Regency Faerie Tales?

No. It is book one of Victorian Faerie Tales. It returns to the broader faerie world, but it begins a later branch in a darker Victorian gothic setting.

Is Small Miracles connected to Half a Soul?

No. Small Miracles is a standalone contemporary cozy fantasy. It involves angels, demons, romance, grief, and chocolate rather than Regency faeries.

Who writes Tales of the Iron Rose?

Tales of the Iron Rose is co-written by Olivia Atwater and Nicholas Atwater. It is separate from the Regency and Victorian faerie books.

What is Olivia Atwater’s newest book?

The newest confirmed original fiction item before this update is The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin (2026). The next confirmed Atwater appearance is in The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment (2026).

Conclusion

The best Olivia Atwater reading order begins with Half a Soul, then continues through The Latch Key, The Lord Sorcier, Ten Thousand Stitches, and Longshadow before moving to The Witchwood Knot.

After that, read Small Miracles as a standalone, then start Tales of the Iron Rose with The Good, the Bad, and the Goblin, A Matter of Execution, and Echoes of the Imperium.