Time Quintet reading order

A plan for the whole series

5 volumes, 1,369 pages, about 25 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 5 weeks.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 5, “An Acceptable Time” (by 46%). Plan your break after volume 4, before the series plans it for you.

Stages

2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 11, 2026, 9 days later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 119 habout 4 weeksby November 23, 2026

   • 1. A Wrinkle in Time1962 · 212 pages · 4 h
   • 2. A Wind in the Door1973 · 211 pages · 4 h
   • 3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet1978 · 278 pages · 5 h
   • 4. Many Waters1986 · 310 pages · 6 h
2. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 2, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 27 h9 daysby December 11, 2026

   • 5. An Acceptable Time1989 · 358 pages · 7 h
4. The end of the series

   December 11, 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 0.2 points. You get the same level from the first page to the last.

Best volume: A Swiftly Tilting Planet (7.7, 244 ratings). Weakest: A Wrinkle in Time (7.5). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 4 and 5: 46%. The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.6) scores close to the series average or above it.