Reading order
A Time Odyssey reading order
1- 7.67.6 / 1059 ratings
- Score
- 3 volumes
- Volumes
- 2003–2007
- Published
- about 21 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Science fiction
- Genre
Quick answer
Publication order
3 volumes2003–2007Completed
- Arthur C. Clarke’s last collaboration, written with Stephen Baxter, a companion to his Space Odyssey books rather than a sequel.
- In Time’s Eye, the Earth is suddenly broken into fragments from different eras stitched back together, so that British soldiers of 1885, a UN helicopter crew from 2037, Alexander the Great and the Mongols share one world, watched by mysterious floating spheres.
- Sunstorm and Firstborn widen the threat.
- Big ideas, thin characters; ratings are modest.
- Read in order.
A plan for the whole series
3 volumes, 1,132 pages, about 21 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 weeks.
Stages
2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around November 30, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.
- Stage 114 h18 daysby November 16, 2026
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 27 h9 daysby November 30, 2026
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Which A Time Odyssey book is the longest?
“Firstborn” is the longest at 388 pages; the shortest is “Time's Eye” with 360 pages.
What should I read after A Time Odyssey?
Other series by Arthur C. Clarke: Space Odyssey, Rama.
