Dirk Pitt reading order

A plan for the whole series

27 volumes, 13,086 pages, about 240 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 11 months.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 7, “Deep Six” (by 40%). Plan your break after volume 6, before the series plans it for you.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2023. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

16 stages, with 15 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around November 19, 2027, about 9 weeks later than in one go.

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

   • 1. The Mediterranean Caper1973 · 256 pages · 5 h
   • 2. Iceberg1975 · 296 pages · 5 h
   • 3. Raise the Titanic!1976 · 373 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 19, 2026

   • 4. Vixen 031978 · 362 pages · 7 h
   • 5. Night Probe!1981 · 384 pages · 7 h
   • 6. Pacific Vortex!1983 · 270 pages · 5 h
4. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 29, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 39 h11 daysby January 9, 2027

   • 7. Deep Six1984 · 470 pages · 9 h
6. Short breakThe Emperor's Soul · Brandon Sanderson · 96 pp. · score 8.82 h, by January 12, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 420 habout 4 weeksby February 9, 2027

   • 8. Cyclops1986 · 500 pages · 9 h
   • 9. Treasure1988 · 608 pages · 11 h
8. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by February 13, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 510 h13 daysby February 26, 2027

   • 10. Dragon1990 · 550 pages · 10 h
10. Short breakAnimal Farm · George Orwell · 128 pp. · score 8.32 h, by March 2, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 611 h14 daysby March 16, 2027

    • 11. Sahara1992 · 576 pages · 11 h
12. Short breakTo Be Taught, If Fortunate · Becky Chambers · 153 pp. · score 8.33 h, by March 21, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
13. 7
    Stage 711 h15 daysby April 5, 2027

    • 12. Inca Gold1994 · 601 pages · 11 h
14. Short breakThe Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde · 102 pp. · score 8.22 h, by April 8, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
15. 8
    Stage 810 h13 daysby April 21, 2027

    • 13. Shock Wave1996 · 537 pages · 10 h
16. Short breakA Room of One's Own · Virginia Woolf · 144 pp. · score 8.23 h, by April 26, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
17. 9
    Stage 920 habout 4 weeksby May 23, 2027

    • 14. Flood Tide1997 · 560 pages · 10 h
    • 15. Atlantis Found1999 · 544 pages · 10 h
18. Short breakThe Prophet · Kahlil Gibran · 116 pp. · score 8.22 h, by May 27, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
19. 10
    Stage 1019 habout 4 weeksby June 21, 2027

    • 16. Valhalla Rising2001 · 544 pages · 10 h
    • 17. Trojan Odyssey2003 · 508 pages · 9 h
20. Short breakThe Screwtape letters · C. S. Lewis · 106 pp. · score 8.22 h, by June 25, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
21. 11
    Stage 1120 habout 4 weeksby July 22, 2027

    • 18. Black Wind2004 · 537 pages · 10 h
    • 19. Treasure of Khan2006 · 566 pages · 10 h
22. Short breakA Short Stay in Hell · Steven L. Peck · 80 pp. · score 8.21 h, by July 25, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
23. 12
    Stage 1211 h14 daysby August 8, 2027

    • 20. Arctic Drift2008 · 592 pages · 11 h
24. Short breakThornhedge · Ursula Vernon · 122 pp. · score 8.22 h, by August 12, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
25. 13
    Stage 1310 h13 daysby August 26, 2027

    • 21. Crescent Dawn2010 · 548 pages · 10 h
26. Short breakSmall Things Like These · Claire Keegan · 112 pp. · score 8.12 h, by August 29, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
27. 14
    Stage 1418 habout 3 weeksby September 23, 2027

    • 22. Poseidon's Arrow2012 · 520 pages · 10 h
    • 23. Havana Storm2014 · 464 pages · 9 h
28. Short breakNumber the Stars · Lois Lowry · 149 pp. · score 8.13 h, by September 27, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
29. 15
    Stage 1517 habout 3 weeksby October 20, 2027

    • 24. Odessa Sea2016 · 486 pages · 9 h
    • 25. Celtic Empire2019 · 464 pages · 9 h
30. Short breakRoadside Picnic · Arkady Strugatsky · 179 pp. · score 8.13 h, by October 26, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
31. 16
    Stage 1618 habout 3 weeksby November 19, 2027

    • 26. Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea2021 · ≈ 485 pages · 9 h
    • 27. Clive Cussler's The Corsican Shadow2023 · ≈ 485 pages · 9 h
32. The end of the series

    November 19, 2027

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

≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: uneven. Scores jump by 0.5 points with no clear direction.

Best volume: Sahara (7.9, 132 ratings). Weakest: The Mediterranean Caper (7.4). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 6 and 7: 40%. The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2023. The last volume (7.6) scores close to the series average or above it.