How to read the Outlander books in order

Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series is one of the most popular works of historical fiction. Here's how to read the Outlander books in order.

If you want to dive deeper into the lore, you can read The Outlandish Companion (1999) and The Outlandish Companion Volume Two (2015), guides to the series, as well as some spin-offs, like the Lord John Series.

Novellas and short stories

For those who’re already familiar with the novels and the TV series, we can recommend some novellas and short stories set in the same universe:

• “A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows” (2010), a short story published in Songs of Love and Death and later collected in A Trail of Fire and Seven Stones to Stand or Fall.
• The Space Between (2013), a novella
• Virgins (2013), a novella
• “Past Prologue” (2017), a short story
• A Fugitive Green (2017), a novella

Graphic novel

Written by Diana Gabaldon and illustrated by Hoang Nguyen, The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel is thus far the only graphic novel in the series. In short, it is a retelling of the first novel but told from the perspective of Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser, Jamie’s godfather.

Lord John series

The Lord John series is a collection of spin-off novels set in the same Outlander universe but centering on another character, namely Lord John Grey, a British soldier and a closeted homosexual in a time when revealing his identity would bring grave consequences.

Novels

• Lord John and the Private Matter (2003)
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007)
• The Scottish Prisoner (2011)

Novellas

• Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998)
• Lord John and the Succubus (2003)
• Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (2007)
• Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007)
• The Custom of the Army (2010)
• Lord John and the Plague of Zombies (2011)
• Besieged (2017)

Chronological order of the Outlander books

Reading the series in the order it came out is not the only way to enjoy the series—you can also read the books and other installments in the series we mentioned above in chronological order:

• Outlander (1991)
• Dragonfly in Amber (1992)
• Voyager (1993)
• Drums of Autumn (1996)
• Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998)
• The Fiery Cross (2001)
• Lord John and the Private Matter (2003)
• Lord John and the Succubus (2003)
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005)
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007)
• Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (2007)
• An Echo in the Bone (2009)
• The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel (2010)
• The Custom of the Army (2010)
• The Scottish Prisoner (2011)
• A Plague of Zombies (2011)
• The Space Between (2012)
• A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows (2012)
• Virgins (2013)
• Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (2014)
• A Fugitive Green (2017)
• Besieged (2018)
• Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (2021)

Outlander series audiobooks

The Outlander books are a bestselling series, and they’re available in all formats, both physical and digital. Since the series is an epic adventure full of romance and intrigue, however, we recommend you listen to the audiobooks if you want to give the story a whole new dimension and get to know Claire, Hal, Ian, Brianna, Roger, and Jaime more intimately. The books are available on most major audiobook platforms, such as Amazon Audible and Speechify.

Speechify

For the most immersive experience, choose Speechify, a new audiobook platform with over 60,000 titles available for download—the first one for free. Speechify is available on all platforms, including mobile, desktop, and tablet, so you can enjoy your favorite works of historical fiction at home and on the go. The sound quality is superb, the app is highly intuitive, and the Speechify digital library is always growing, so be sure you download it today and dive right into Gabaldon’s imaginative universe.