Reading order
The Giver Quartet reading order
1
2
3
4- 4 volumes
- Volumes
- 1993–2012
- Published
- about 18 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Dystopian#7
- Genre
Quick answer
Publication order
4 volumes1993–2012Completed
- Four loosely linked novels — Gathering Blue (2000) is set in a different community and for most of its length shows no connection to The Giver.
- Messenger draws the strands together and Son closes the story begun in book one.
- Read in publication order.
A plan for the whole series
4 volumes, 987 pages, about 18 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 3 weeks.
Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: low
- From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 3, “Messenger” (by 37%).
- Readers scored volume 2, “Gathering Blue”, below its predecessor (7.4 after 8.0). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.
Stages
This series fits in one stage. You finish around November 22, 2026.
- Stage 118 habout 3 weeksby November 22, 2026
- The end of the series
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 (8.0) above the last ones (7.7).
Best volume: The Giver (8.0, 3,281 ratings). Weakest: Gathering Blue (7.4). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 2 and 3: 37%. The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.7) scores close to the series average or above it.
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
The Giver Quartet books ranked, best to worst
- 1.The GiverBook 1 · 19938.0
- 2.SonBook 4 · 20127.7
- 3.MessengerBook 3 · 20047.5
- 4.Gathering BlueBook 2 · 20007.4
Frequently asked questions
Which Giver Quartet book is the best?
By reader score, The Giver (8.0/10). The lowest-rated is Gathering Blue (7.4/10).
Which The Giver Quartet book is the longest?
“Son” is the longest at 393 pages; the shortest is “Messenger” with 175 pages.