Arthur Phillips Standalone Novels books in order

Standalone literary novels by Arthur Phillips exploring history, identity, and the art of storytelling through formally inventive fiction.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 Prague 2002 Arthur Phillips Buy
2 The Egyptologist 2004 Arthur Phillips Buy
3 Angelica 2007 Arthur Phillips Buy
4 The Song Is You 2009 Arthur Phillips Buy
5 The Tragedy of Arthur 2011 Arthur Phillips Buy
6 The King at the Edge of the World 2020 Arthur Phillips Buy

Arthur Phillips’ six standalone novels each take a different approach to the relationship between stories and truth. Prague uses a city its characters have never visited as a symbol of dissatisfaction. The Egyptologist builds competing unreliable narratives across time. Angelica rewrites a Victorian ghost story from multiple angles. The Song Is You follows an obsessive music lover. The Tragedy of Arthur includes a complete fake Shakespeare play. The King at the Edge of the World uses Elizabethan espionage to explore faith and identity.

Published between 2002 and 2020, Phillips’ novels reward readers who enjoy fiction that questions its own premises and treats form as part of the story’s meaning.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Arthur Phillips Standalone Novels series?

There are six books in the Arthur Phillips Standalone Novels series, published between 2002 and 2020.

What is the first book in the Arthur Phillips Standalone Novels series?

The first book in the Arthur Phillips Standalone Novels series is Prague, published in 2002.

Which Arthur Phillips novel should I read first?

Prague is the natural starting point — it established Phillips as a major literary voice and won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for best first novel. For something more experimental, The Tragedy of Arthur is a remarkable literary puzzle built around a fake Shakespeare play.

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