The Dresden Files reading order

A plan for the whole series

18 volumes, 7,918 pages, about 145 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 6 months.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 16, “Peace Talks” (by 28%). Plan your break after volume 15, before the series plans it for you.
• Readers scored volume 13, “Ghost Story”, below its predecessor (8.3 after 8.8). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you. From volume 15 the form returns.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2026. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

10 stages, with 9 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around June 26, 2027, about 7 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 120 habout 4 weeksby November 24, 2026

   • 1. Storm Front2000 · 352 pages · 6 h
   • 2. Fool Moon2001 · 368 pages · 7 h
   • 3. Grave Peril2001 · 358 pages · 7 h
2. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 4, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 215 h20 daysby December 24, 2026

   • 4. Summer Knight2002 · 416 pages · 8 h
   • 5. Death Masks2003 · 416 pages · 8 h
4. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by December 28, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 316 habout 3 weeksby January 19, 2027

   • 6. Blood Rites2004 · 465 pages · 9 h
   • 7. Dead Beat2005 · 426 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 411 h14 daysby February 6, 2027

   • 8. Proven Guilty2006 · 577 pages · 11 h
8. Short breakAnimal Farm · George Orwell · 128 pp. · score 8.32 h, by February 10, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 517 habout 3 weeksby March 5, 2027

   • 9. White Night2007 · 529 pages · 10 h
   • 10. Small Favor2008 · 423 pages · 8 h
10. Short breakThe Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde · 102 pp. · score 8.22 h, by March 9, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 616 habout 3 weeksby March 30, 2027

    • 11. Turn Coat2009 · 436 pages · 8 h
    • 12. Changes2010 · 441 pages · 8 h
12. Short breakA Room of One's Own · Virginia Woolf · 144 pp. · score 8.23 h, by April 4, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
13. 7
    Stage 77 h9 daysby April 13, 2027

    • 13. Ghost Story2011 · 383 pages · 7 h
14. Short breakThe Prophet · Kahlil Gibran · 116 pp. · score 8.22 h, by April 17, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
15. 8
    Stage 818 habout 3 weeksby May 11, 2027

    • 14. Cold Days2012 · 640 pages · 12 h
    • 15. Skin Game2014 · 359 pages · 7 h
16. BreakBorn a Crime · Trevor Noah · 304 pp. · score 8.96 h, by May 21, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
17. 9
    Stage 916 h21 daysby June 10, 2027

    • 16. Peace Talks2020 · 416 pages · 8 h
    • 17. Battle Ground2020 · 432 pages · 8 h
18. Short breakThe Screwtape letters · C. S. Lewis · 106 pp. · score 8.22 h, by June 14, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
19. 10
    Stage 109 h12 daysby June 26, 2027

    • 18. Twelve Months2026 · 481 pages · 9 h
20. The end of the series

    June 26, 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: it gets better. Readers scored the opening (7.9) below the ending (8.4). After the first volume you do not yet know how good this series is.

Best volume: Changes (8.8, 697 ratings). Weakest: Storm Front (7.5). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 15 and 16: 28%. The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2026. The last volume (8.4) scores close to the series average or above it.