Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Moon Dwellers | 2012 | David Estes | Buy |
| 2 | The Star Dwellers | 2012 | David Estes | Buy |
| 3 | The Sun Dwellers | 2012 | David Estes | Buy |
| 4 | The Earth Dwellers | 2013 | David Estes | Buy |
The Dwellers series begins with The Moon Dwellers, where Adele lives in one of the lowest subchapters of the underground world — a place reserved for criminals and outcasts. She is the daughter of a man who has been imprisoned for reasons she does not fully understand, and her story starts when she meets Tristan, the son of the President, in unexpected circumstances. The underground society is sharply stratified, with those near the surface living in relative comfort while those in the depths struggle under much harder conditions.
The series uses the underground setting to examine questions about class, authority, and what information governments control and withhold. As Adele and Tristan’s paths keep crossing, they gradually learn that the official history of the surface — said to be poisoned and uninhabitable — may not be the whole story. The relationship between the two leads is central to the series, though Estes keeps the romance secondary to the survival plot.
By the fourth book, The Earth Dwellers, the series reaches the surface and broadens the scope considerably. The Dwellers was one of Estes’s earliest series and remains a good entry point for readers interested in his YA work, particularly those who enjoy underground or enclosed-world dystopias.