Susan Ee’s bibliography splits into two very different lanes. One is the completed Penryn & the End of Days trilogy, which should be read straight through in order. The other is Midnight Tales, a set of dark fairy-tale novels that the author explicitly says can be read in any order, though she also gives a preferred order.
That means there is no single author-wide continuity to protect. The real choice is whether you want post-apocalyptic angels first or dark fairy tales first.
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If you like this, start with this
If you like angel apocalypse fantasy, start with: Angelfall
If you like completed YA trilogies, start with: Angelfall
If you like dark fairy-tale retellings, start with: Cinder & the Prince of Midnight
If you like stand-alone fantasy inside a shared story world, start with: Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight
If you like Sleeping Beauty turned sharper and stranger, start with: Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight
The clearest way to read Susan Ee
There are two good paths, depending on what you want.
Path 1: the main bestselling trilogy
- Angelfall
- World After
- End of Days
Path 2: the dark fairy-tale books
- Cinder & the Prince of Midnight
- Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight
- Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight
That second sequence is the author’s preferred order, but those books are designed to work as stand-alones.
Susan Ee books in publication order
- Angelfall (2011; later widely republished): Six weeks after angels destroy the modern world, Penryn makes a desperate alliance with the wingless angel Raffe to rescue her kidnapped sister.
- World After (2013): Penryn searches a ruined San Francisco for Paige while Raffe hunts for his wings, pushing the trilogy into a darker and broader second act.
- End of Days (2015): The trilogy finale turns Penryn and Raffe’s survival story into a larger war over the fate of the earthly realm.
- Cinder & the Prince of Midnight (2019): In the dark Kingdom of Midnight, an orphan girl faces ritual hunts, enslaved fairies, and a prince trapped by his father’s brutal rule.
- Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight (2019): Ruby tries to escape Midnight Castle and survive a deadly forest filled with hunters and monsters in a Red Riding Hood-shaped dark fantasy.
- Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight (2021): Briar fights back against a cruel fairy and enters the Dreaming, where rebels and nightmares blur together in the most openly dream-driven Midnight Tales book.
Penryn & the End of Days in order
This is the only true must-read-in-sequence series in Susan Ee’s catalog.
- Angelfall (2011): The opening book introduces Penryn, Raffe, the fallen world, and the core survival alliance that drives the rest of the trilogy.
- World After (2013): Book two expands the apocalypse, deepens Paige’s role, and forces Penryn closer to the angels’ larger plans.
- End of Days (2015): Book three closes the trilogy and should always be read last because it pays off the major character and war arcs built across the first two novels.
Best order: publication order, no detours. This is a direct trilogy and the reveals work best that way.
Midnight Tales in order
These books share the Kingdom of Midnight setting, but the author says they can be read in any order. She also recommends a preferred order, which is the safest one for new readers.
- Cinder & the Prince of Midnight (2019): A Cinderella-shaped fairy-tale thriller about survival in a kingdom built on hunts, fear, and court power.
- Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight (2019): A darker Little Red Riding Hood-style story with werewolves, a hunter, and a heroine trying to escape the castle system that trapped her.
- Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight (2021): A Sleeping Beauty-inspired novel that shifts into dream rebellion, frozen imprisonment, and fairies hunting their enemies through nightmares.
Best order: start with Cinder & the Prince of Midnight, then Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight, then Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight.
Important note: unlike Penryn & the End of Days, these are not strict direct sequels. They are best understood as linked stand-alones in the same dark-fantasy world.
Recommended reading orders by reader type
If you want Susan Ee’s signature books
- Angelfall
- World After
- End of Days
That is still the core Susan Ee experience for most readers.
If you want the fullest published bibliography in the smoothest order
- Angelfall
- World After
- End of Days
- Cinder & the Prince of Midnight
- Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight
- Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight
That route keeps the older completed trilogy together, then moves into the later Midnight books.
If you only want books that can stand more independently
- Cinder & the Prince of Midnight
- Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight
- Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight
This is the better lane if you do not want to commit immediately to a trilogy arc.
Where to start with Susan Ee
Start with Angelfall if you want the book most associated with her name. It is the opening of her best-known series and still the strongest single entry point for most readers.
Start with Cinder & the Prince of Midnight if you are here for fairy-tale fantasy rather than post-apocalyptic YA.
Start with Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight only if you specifically want a Midnight Tales book that works especially well as a stand-alone.
Do you need a chronological order?
No. Susan Ee’s books are separated by series rather than one shared mega-continuity.
The only sequence that really matters is:
- Angelfall
- World After
- End of Days
For Midnight Tales, publication order is the best default, but chronology is not a major issue because those books are built to be read more flexibly.
Latest release status
The most recent book currently listed on Susan Ee’s official site is Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight. Her official books page still presents Midnight Tales as an active series and invites readers to sign up to hear about the next book, but I did not find a later confirmed published title on the official site, so it is safer to stop the main order at Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight.
FAQs
Do Susan Ee’s books need to be read in order?
Only Penryn & the End of Days does. Midnight Tales can be read more flexibly, though the author gives a preferred order.
Is Midnight Tales a trilogy?
It is a three-book series as currently listed, but the books are not strict direct sequels in the same way as Penryn & the End of Days.
What is the best Susan Ee book to start with?
For most readers, Angelfall. For fairy-tale readers, Cinder & the Prince of Midnight.
Is Briar & the Dreamers of Midnight a sequel?
It is part of Midnight Tales, but it is presented as a stand-alone novel in that world rather than a direct continuation you must read only after one specific prior book.
Final recommendation
For most readers, start with Angelfall and read the full Penryn & the End of Days trilogy first. After that, switch to Midnight Tales if you want Susan Ee in a different mode: darker fairy tales, more stand-alone freedom, and a less rigid reading order.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.