Author

Piers Anthony

Q: What should I read first by Piers Anthony?

Start with the Battle Circle series and read it in publication order.

Piers Anthony has written 137 books across 13 series. Start with Battle Circle.

Piers Anthony is a prolific British-born American author best known for Xanth, his long-running comic fantasy series built around magical puns and wordplay, which has run to more than forty novels since 1977. Before Xanth made him a bestseller, Anthony worked through a wide range of genres and collaborations, including the pulpy 1970s martial-arts adventure series Jason Striker (co-written with Roberto Fuentes) and hard science-fiction work such as the Cluster and Bio of a Space Tyrant series, showing an early willingness to write across genre boundaries and in partnership with other writers. Anthony's fiction is distinguished by its playfulness with language, its willingness to blend genres within a single series, and a famously prolific output sustained across more than five decades. He has been outspoken about author rights and self-publishing well ahead of most of his peers, maintaining a detailed, opinionated website that reviews small presses and publishing contracts for other writers. Alongside Xanth, his other major works include the Incarnations of Immortality series, which personifies concepts like Death, Time, and War as literal offices held by human characters, and the Apprentice Adept series, which alternates between a magic world and a science-fiction one. Anthony continues to write and remains one of fantasy's most commercially durable authors, with Xanth alone selling in the tens of millions of copies.

Series: 13
Books: 137
First published: 1967
Best known for: Battle Circle

Series by Piers Anthony

3books

Battle Circle

Piers Anthony

science fiction

3books

Of Man and Manta

historical fiction

5books

ChroMagic

Piers Anthony

fantasy

Standalone books

Read these in any order — each is a complete story.

Book —:
Chthon
Novel1967
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Chthon
View book
Book —:
Macroscope
Novel1969
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Macroscope
View book
Book —:
Prostho Plus
Novel1971
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Prostho Plus
View book
Book —:
Race Against Time
Novel1973
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Race Against Time
View book
Book —:
Rings of Ice
Novel1974
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Rings of Ice
View book
Book —:
Triple Detente
Novel1974
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Triple Detente
View book
Book —:
Phthor
Novel1975
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Phthor
View book
Book —:
But What of Earth?
Novel1976
Alternative text for cover: Cover of But What of Earth?
View book
Book —:
Hasan
Novel1977
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hasan
View book
Book —:
Mute
Novel1981
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Mute
View book
Book —:
Ghost
Novel1986
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Ghost
View book
Book —:
Shade of the Tree
Novel1986
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Shade of the Tree
View book
Book —:
Total Recall
Novel1989
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Total Recall
View book
Book —:
Balook
Novel1990
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Balook
View book
Book —:
Firefly
Novel1990
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Firefly
View book
Book —:
Hard Sell
Novel1990
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hard Sell
View book
Book —:
MerCycle
Novel1991
Alternative text for cover: Cover of MerCycle
View book
Book —:
Tatham Mound
Novel1991
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Tatham Mound
View book
Book —:
Killobyte
Novel1993
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Killobyte
View book
Book —:
Volk
Novel1996
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Volk
View book
Book —:
Realty Check
Novel1998
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Realty Check
View book
Book —:
Pandora Park
Novel2006
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Pandora Park
View book
Book —:
Alfred
Novel2007
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Alfred
View book
Book —:
Eroma
Novel2011
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Eroma
View book
Book —:
The Sopaths
Novel2011
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sopaths
View book
Book —:
Aliena
Novel2013
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Aliena
View book
Book —:
Aliena Too
Novel2014
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Aliena Too
View book
Book —:
WereWoman
Novel2014
Alternative text for cover: Cover of WereWoman
View book

Frequently asked questions

What should I read first by Piers Anthony?

Start with the Battle Circle series (first published 1968) and read it in publication order.

Are Piers Anthony's series connected?

Each series stands on its own — you can begin with any of them without missing references.