Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Deep | 1975 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 2 | Beasts | 1976 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 3 | Engine Summer | 1979 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 4 | Little, Big | 1981 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 5 | Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land | 2005 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 6 | Four Freedoms | 2009 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 7 | The Translator | 2009 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 8 | The Chemical Wedding | 2016 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 9 | Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr | 2017 | John Crowley | Buy |
| 10 | Flint and Mirror | 2018 | John Crowley | Buy |
John Crowley’s standalone novels span more than four decades, from his debut The Deep (1975) through Flint and Mirror (2018). Crowley is one of the most respected literary fantasy writers in American fiction, and his work has earned the World Fantasy Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, and praise from critics including Harold Bloom.
His early novels are short and experimental. The Deep (1975) is a science fiction parable, Beasts (1976) imagines a near-future America with genetically altered animal-human hybrids, and Engine Summer (1979) is a post-apocalyptic story told through a young man’s memories. Then came Little, Big (1981), the novel that established his reputation. It is a multi-generational family saga set in a house on the border of the fairy realm, and Ursula K. Le Guin wrote that it “all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.”
The later novels move in different directions. Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land (2005) is a literary puzzle built around a fictional manuscript by Byron. The Translator (2009) follows a poet during the Cold War. Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (2017) tells the story of a crow who lives through thousands of years of human history. Flint and Mirror (2018) is a short historical novel about Hugh O’Neill and the colonization of Ireland. Crowley has taught creative writing at Yale since 1993, and his prose reflects a careful, thoughtful style that rewards patient readers.