Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Weird Tales #292: Fall 1988 |
1988 |
N/A |
| Weird Tales #296: Spring 1990 |
1990 |
Buy |
| The Anthology of Fantasy and the Supernatural |
1994 |
Buy |
| Immortal Unicorn |
1995 |
Buy |
| DAW 30th Anniversary Science Fiction |
2002 |
Buy |
| DAW 30th Anniversary Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthologies |
2002 |
Buy |
| Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian |
2003 |
Buy |
| The Wood Boy / The Burning Man |
2005 |
Buy |
| Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance |
2009 |
Buy |
| Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary |
2009 |
Buy |
| Warriors 1 |
2010 |
Buy |
| The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection |
2011 |
Buy |
| The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities |
2011 |
Buy |
| Lightspeed Magazine, December 2012 |
2012 |
Buy |
| Oz Reimagined |
2013 |
Buy |
| Multiverse |
2014 |
Buy |
| Dead Man’s Hand |
2014 |
Buy |
| Unfettered III: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy |
2019 |
Buy |
Bobby Dollar Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Dirty Streets of Heaven |
2012 |
Buy |
| Happy Hour in Hell |
2013 |
Buy |
| God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlepig |
2014 |
Buy |
| Sleeping Late on Judgement Day |
2014 |
Buy |
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Legende |
1998 |
N/A |
| Smoczy Tron |
- |
N/A |
| The Dragonbone Chair |
1988 |
Buy |
| Stone of Farewell |
1990 |
Buy |
| Скала Прощания |
1990 |
N/A |
| To Green Angel Tower |
1993 |
Buy |
| To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 |
1993 |
Buy |
| Der Engelsturm |
1996 |
N/A |
Ordinary Farm Adventures Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Smoki ze Zwyczajnej Farmy |
2009 |
N/A |
| Die Geheimnisse der Tinkerfarm |
2010 |
N/A |
| The Secrets of Ordinary Farm |
2011 |
Buy |
| The Dragons of Ordinary Farm |
2009 |
Buy |
Otherland Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| City of Golden Shadow |
1996 |
Buy |
| River of Blue Fire |
1998 |
Buy |
| Mountain of Black Glass |
1999 |
Buy |
| Sea of Silver Light |
2001 |
Buy |
| Rite |
2006 |
N/A |
| The Boy Detective of Oz |
2013 |
N/A |
Shadowmarch Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Shadowmarch |
2004 |
Buy |
| Shadowplay |
2007 |
Buy |
| Shadowrise |
2010 |
Buy |
| Shadowheart |
2010 |
Buy |
Short Story Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Rite: Short Work |
2006 |
Buy |
| A Stark and Wormy Knight |
2011 |
Buy |
| The Very Best of Tad Williams |
2014 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Tailchaser’s Song |
1985 |
Buy |
| Child of an Ancient City |
1992 |
Buy |
| Caliban’s Hour |
1994 |
Buy |
| Tad Williams’ Mirror World |
1998 |
Buy |
| The War of the Flowers |
2003 |
Buy |
| The Helmet of Fate |
2007 |
Buy |
| Diary of a Dragon |
2012 |
Buy |
The Last King of Osten Ard Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Heart of What Was Lost |
2017 |
Buy |
| Brothers of the Wind |
2021 |
Buy |
| The Witchwood Crown |
2017 |
Buy |
| Empire of Grass |
2018 |
Buy |
| Into the Narrowdark |
2022 |
Buy |
| The Navigator’s Children |
2024 |
Buy |
Tad Williams has been writing fantasy and science fiction since the mid-1980s. His debut novel, Tailchaser’s Song, told the story of a house cat on a dangerous journey, and it showed the imaginative worldbuilding that would define his career. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, starting with The Dragonbone Chair in 1988, became one of the most influential epic fantasy series of its era and was a direct inspiration for George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.
Williams went on to write the four-volume Otherland series, a blend of science fiction and virtual reality adventure, and the Shadowmarch quartet, another epic fantasy. His Bobby Dollar books moved into urban fantasy territory with an angel detective in San Francisco. He returned to the world of Osten Ard decades later with The Last King of Osten Ard, a sequel series that began in 2017 and concluded with The Navigator’s Children in 2024. Across all of these projects, Williams has maintained a reputation for richly detailed worlds and long, immersive storytelling.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Tad Williams written?
Tad Williams has written 60 books across nine series.
What was Tad Williams's first book?
Tad Williams’s first book is Tailchaser’s Song, published in 1985.
What should you read first by Tad Williams?
Most readers start with either The Dragonbone Chair, the first book in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, or Tailchaser’s Song, his standalone debut novel about a cat on a quest. Both are good entry points to his work.