Reading order
The Lunar Chronicles reading order
1
2
3
4
5- 5 volumes
- Volumes
- 2012–2015
- Published
- about 45 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Young adult#20
- Genre
Quick answer
Publication order
5 volumes2012–2015Completed
- Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter — four books, one continuous story, and each adds a narrator without dropping the last, so by book four you are following four heroines at once.
- Read them in that order; there is no other.
- Fairest is the exception worth timing: it is Levana's story, a prequel published between Cress and Winter, and it works best exactly there — after Cress, before Winter — because it turns the villain of the finale into someone you understand.
- Stars Above is a collection of extras for afterwards.
A plan for the whole series
5 volumes, 2,589 pages, about 45 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 9 weeks.
Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: medium
- Readers scored volume 5, “Fairest”, below its predecessor (7.7 after 8.4). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.
Stages
3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around January 8, 2027, 8 days later than in one go.
- Stage 117 habout 3 weeksby November 21, 2026
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 210 h14 daysby December 8, 2026
- Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.4
- Stage 320 habout 4 weeksby January 8, 2027
- 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: peak in the middle. The middle volumes (8.3) are the best; the ending (7.7) does not match them.
Best volume: Cress (8.4, 627 ratings). Weakest: Fairest (7.7). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.7) is below the average (8.1); the best volumes come earlier.
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 Lunar Chronicles books ranked, best to worst
- 1.CressBook 3 · 20148.4
- 1.WinterBook 4 · 20158.4
- 3.ScarletBook 2 · 20138.0
- 3.CinderBook 1 · 20128.0
- 5.FairestBook 57.7
Frequently asked questions
Which Lunar Chronicles book is the best?
By reader score, Cress (8.4/10). The lowest-rated is Fairest (7.7/10).
Which The Lunar Chronicles book is the longest?
“Winter” is the longest at 827 pages; the shortest is “Fairest” with 272 pages.
What should I read after The Lunar Chronicles?
Other series by Marissa Meyer: Renegades.
