Great Cities reading order

A plan for the whole series

3 volumes, 1,054 pages, about 19 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 weeks.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 2, “The World We Make” (by 73%). Plan your break after volume 1, before the series plans it for you.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2022. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 3, 2026, 9 days later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 116 habout 3 weeksby November 19, 2026

   • 0. The City Born Great2016 · 432 pages · 8 h
   • 1. The City We Became2020 · 437 pages · 8 h
2. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by November 28, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 23 h5 daysby December 3, 2026

   • 2. The World We Make2022 · 185 pages · 3 h
4. The end of the series

   December 3, 2026

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: even. Volume scores differ by at most 0.3 points. You get the same level from the first page to the last.

Best volume: The World We Make (8.0, 149 ratings). Weakest: The City We Became (7.8). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 1 and 2: 73%. The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2022. The last volume (8.0) scores close to the series average or above it.