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Series · fantasy

Avatars

by Tui T. Sutherland

The Avatars series by Tui T. Sutherland has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with So This Is How It Ends (2006).

Books
3 books
First published
2006
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: So This Is How It Ends (2006) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of So This Is How It Ends, the first book in Avatars

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. So This Is How It Ends

    Novel

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  2. Shadow Falling

    Novel

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  3. Kingdom of Twilight

    Novel

    View book

About the Avatars series

Before Wings of Fire made her name, Tui T. Sutherland wrote this early-2000s trilogy about a group of teenagers who discover they've been chosen as living avatars for the ancient Norse gods -- inheriting divine powers, and divine responsibilities, in the middle of ordinary high-school life. The series mixes contemporary teen drama with mythology-adventure stakes as the young avatars are pulled into the gods' old conflicts and prophecies about Ragnarok, forcing them to grow into powers most of them never asked for.

It's an early example of Sutherland's recurring interest in mixing mythology with grounded teen-relationship dynamics, written well before Wings of Fire's dragon-tribe worldbuilding, and reads as a lighter, more contemporary-set fantasy for readers who enjoy godly-inheritance premises like Percy Jackson but want a different mythology and a smaller-scale, character-driven story.

How to read this series

Read the three books in publication order: So This Is How It Ends, Shadow Falling, Kingdom of Twilight. It's a complete, continuous trilogy following the same cast of teen avatars from beginning to end, so start with book one.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in the Avatars series?

Three: So This Is How It Ends (2006), Shadow Falling (2007) and Kingdom of Twilight (2008).

Is Avatars connected to Wings of Fire?

No. It's an earlier, unrelated trilogy by the same author, set in the real world with Norse-mythology-inspired powers rather than a dragon fantasy world.

Is Avatars finished?

Yes, the trilogy is complete at three books.

What mythology does Avatars draw on?

Norse mythology -- the teenage protagonists become avatars of Norse gods and get pulled into conflicts tied to Ragnarok.

Reading order last verified .