Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chaos | 2011 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 2 | Return | 2011 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 3 | Sanctuary | 2012 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 4 | Taken | 2012 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 5 | Awakening | 2012 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 6 | Dissension | 2012 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 7 | Takedown | 2013 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 8 | Conspiracy | 2013 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 9 | Reckoning | 2014 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 10 | A New World: Untold Stories | 2014 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 11 | Storm | 2014 | John O’Brien | Buy |
| 12 | A New World: Untold Stories 2 | 2015 | John O’Brien | Buy |
A New World is John O’Brien’s flagship series and his longest work at 12 books. It begins with Chaos (2011), where a pandemic transforms most of humanity into feral, light-sensitive creatures. Jack Walker, a former military special operations officer, leads a group of survivors as they search for sanctuary and try to piece together what happened. The series follows their efforts across a ruined landscape where danger comes from both the creatures and other surviving humans.
The main storyline runs from Chaos through Storm (2014), with two Untold Stories collections that expand the world through side characters and parallel events. O’Brien draws on military tactics and survival knowledge throughout, giving the action sequences a grounded, procedural quality. The series built a dedicated readership in the indie publishing space and remains O’Brien’s most popular work.