BookRank

Reading order

The Strain Trilogy reading order

Guillermo del Toro

  1. The Strain2009
  2. The Fall2010
  3. The Night Eternal2011
7.47.4 / 10
577 ratings
Score
3 volumes
Volumes
2009–2011
Published
about 25 h
Reading time
Completed
Status
Horror#18
Genre

Quick answer

The Strain
Start withThe Strain2009 · Volume 1 of 3
Open the volume →Buy the first volumeListen to the audiobook

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Publication order

3 volumes2009–2011Completed

  • Vampire horror by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan: a plane lands at JFK with everyone aboard dead, and a CDC doctor traces a viral vampire outbreak.
  • Read The Strain, The Fall and The Night Eternal in order; The Fall rates highest, the finale lowest.
  • The FX series adapts all three.

A plan for the whole series

3 volumes, 1,388 pages, about 25 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 5 weeks.

44%

Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: medium

  • Readers scored volume 3, “The Night Eternal”, below its predecessor (7.2 after 7.5). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.

Stages

2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 6, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.

  1. Stage 116 h21 daysby November 19, 2026
  2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 23, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  3. Stage 210 h13 daysby December 6, 2026
  4. The end of the series
    December 6, 2026
In one goDecember 2, 2026about 5 weeks
In stages, with breaksDecember 6, 2026about 5 weeks · +2 h of other books

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

Does the series hold up

7.07.58.0
7.47.4 / 10
7.57.5 / 10
7.27.2 / 10
200920102011
7.07.58.0
200920102011
7.47.4 / 10
7.57.5 / 10
7.27.2 / 10
Score per volume3 volumes on a timeline, 2009 to 2011 · Best-rated volume: The Fall

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 Fall (7.5, 151 ratings). Weakest: The Night Eternal (7.2). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.2) 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

Read: 0 of 3
  1. The Strain
    The Strain2009 · 295 ratingsStart here
    7.47.4 / 10
  2. The Fall
    The Fall2010 · 151 ratings
    7.57.5 / 10
  3. The Night Eternal
    The Night Eternal2011 · 131 ratings
    7.27.2 / 10

Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

The Strain Trilogy books ranked, best to worst

  1. 1.The FallBook 2 · 20107.5
  2. 2.The StrainBook 1 · 20097.4
  3. 3.The Night EternalBook 3 · 20117.2
Top Horror series →

Frequently asked questions

Which Strain Trilogy book is the best?

By reader score, The Fall (7.5/10). The lowest-rated is The Night Eternal (7.2/10).

Which The Strain Trilogy book is the longest?

“The Night Eternal” is the longest at 539 pages; the shortest is “The Strain” with 401 pages.