World Engines books in order

World Engines is a two-book hard science fiction series by Stephen Baxter following an astronaut who wakes up 500 years in his future to find Earth changed and the solar system full of mysterious megastructures. The books explore parallel realities and the deep future of both Earth and the universe.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 Destroyer 2019 Stephen Baxter Buy
2 World Engines: Destroyer: A post climate change high concept science fiction odyssey 2019 Stephen Baxter N/A
3 Creator 2020 Stephen Baxter Buy
4 World Engines: Creator: A post climate change high concept science fiction odyssey 2020 Stephen Baxter N/A

Reid Malenfern, not the same character as in Manifold but sharing a name as a kind of authorial signature, wakes in the 25th century to find the Moon occupied and the planets transformed. The central mystery involves structures of enormous scale built by intelligences operating on timescales far beyond human history.

Destroyer and Creator together form a complete story, though like most Baxter duologies the second book operates on a much larger scale than the first. The series represents Baxter in his more recent mode: slightly more accessible than the early Xeelee books, but still committed to physics and deep time as organizing principles.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the World Engines series?

There are four books in the World Engines series, published between 2019 and 2020.

What is the first book in the World Engines series?

The first book in the World Engines series is Destroyer, published in 2019.

Is World Engines connected to the Xeelee Sequence or other Baxter series?

World Engines shares some thematic concerns with Baxter’s other work but is a self-contained duology with its own characters and setting.

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