Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter reading order

A plan for the whole series

28 volumes, 11,460 pages, about 210 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 9 months.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 10, “Narcissus in Chains” (by 44%).
• Readers scored volume 7, “Burnt Offerings”, below its predecessor (7.3 after 7.7). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.

Stages

14 stages, with 13 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around October 4, 2027, about 8 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 117 habout 3 weeksby November 21, 2026

   • 1. Guilty Pleasures1993 · 272 pages · 5 h
   • 2. The Laughing Corpse1994 · 293 pages · 5 h
   • 3. Circus of the Damned1995 · 360 pages · 7 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 25, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 219 habout 4 weeksby December 20, 2026

   • 4. The Lunatic Cafe1996 · 369 pages · 7 h
   • 5. Bloody Bones1996 · 370 pages · 7 h
   • 6. The Killing Dance1997 · 322 pages · 6 h
4. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 30, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 315 h20 daysby January 18, 2027

   • 7. Burnt Offerings1998 · 392 pages · 7 h
   • 8. Blue Moon1998 · 418 pages · 8 h
6. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by January 23, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 416 habout 3 weeksby February 13, 2027

   • 9. Obsidian Butterfly2000 · 386 pages · 7 h
   • 10. Narcissus in Chains2001 · 486 pages · 9 h
8. Short breakAnimal Farm · George Orwell · 128 pp. · score 8.32 h, by February 17, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 59 h11 daysby February 28, 2027

   • 11. Cerulean Sins2003 · 464 pages · 9 h
10. Short breakTo Be Taught, If Fortunate · Becky Chambers · 153 pp. · score 8.33 h, by March 5, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 617 habout 3 weeksby March 28, 2027

    • 12. Incubus Dreams2004 · 672 pages · 12 h
    • 13. Micah2006 · 280 pages · 5 h
12. Short breakThe Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde · 102 pp. · score 8.22 h, by April 1, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
13. 7
    Stage 717 habout 3 weeksby April 24, 2027

    • 14. Danse Macabre2006 · 483 pages · 9 h
    • 15. The Harlequin2007 · 448 pages · 8 h
14. Short breakA Room of One's Own · Virginia Woolf · 144 pp. · score 8.23 h, by April 28, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
15. 8
    Stage 818 habout 3 weeksby May 23, 2027

    • 16. Blood Noir2008 · 340 pages · 6 h
    • 17. Skin Trade2009 · 486 pages · 9 h
    • 18. Flirt2010 · 171 pages · 3 h
16. Short breakThe Prophet · Kahlil Gibran · 116 pp. · score 8.22 h, by May 26, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
17. 9
    Stage 919 habout 4 weeksby June 20, 2027

    • 19. Bullet2010 · 356 pages · 7 h
    • 20. Hit List2011 · 310 pages · 6 h
    • 21. Kiss the Dead2012 · 359 pages · 7 h
18. Short breakThe Screwtape letters · C. S. Lewis · 106 pp. · score 8.22 h, by June 24, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
19. 10
    Stage 1014 h18 daysby July 12, 2027

    • 22. Affliction2013 · 570 pages · 10 h
    • 23. Jason2014 · 176 pages · 3 h
20. Short breakSmall Things Like These · Claire Keegan · 112 pp. · score 8.12 h, by July 16, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
21. 11
    Stage 1111 h14 daysby July 30, 2027

    • 24. Dead Ice2015 · 587 pages · 11 h
22. Short breakNumber the Stars · Lois Lowry · 149 pp. · score 8.13 h, by August 4, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
23. 12
    Stage 1213 h17 daysby August 21, 2027

    • 25. Crimson Death2016 · 708 pages · 13 h
24. Short breakRoadside Picnic · Arkady Strugatsky · 179 pp. · score 8.13 h, by August 27, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
25. 13
    Stage 139 h12 daysby September 8, 2027

    • 26. Serpentine2018 · 486 pages · 9 h
26. Short breakThe Richest Man in Babylon · George Samuel Clason · 124 pp. · score 8.02 h, by September 12, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
27. 14
    Stage 1416 habout 3 weeksby October 4, 2027

    • 27. Sucker Punch2020 · 608 pages · 11 h
    • 28. Rafael2021 · 288 pages · 5 h
28. The end of the series

    October 4, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: best at the start. Readers scored the first volumes (7.5) above the last ones (7.2).

Best volume: Circus of the Damned (7.8, 153 ratings). Weakest: Micah (6.9). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 9 and 10: 44%. The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.2) scores close to the series average or above it.