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Series · young adult science fiction romance

Origin

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Origin series by Jennifer L. Armentrout has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Darkest Star (2018). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Brightest Night.

Books
3 known books (3 novels)
Published
3
First published
2018
Status
ongoing
Last checked

Start here: The Darkest Star (2018) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of The Darkest Star

The Darkest Star (2018)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Darkest Star

    Novel

    The Darkest Star (2018) opens Origin at 368 pages, the shortest of the three, introducing human teenager Evie Dasher as a club raid reveals that Luc is an Origin -- the engineered offspring of a Luxen and a mutated human -- rather than the Luxen she assumed.

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  2. The Burning Shadow

    Novel

    At 440 pages, The Burning Shadow (2019) escalates the trilogy a year after The Darkest Star, deepening Evie's involvement in the resistance against the government.

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  3. The Brightest Night

    Novel

    The longest of the trilogy at 512 pages, The Brightest Night (October 2020) closes out the published series so far, with a fourth book, The Fevered Winter, announced but still unreleased as of this pass.

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About the Origin series

Origin is Jennifer L. Armentrout's return to the world of her Lux series, set four years after Opposition and centered on a new heroine: Evie Dasher, a human teenager whose life gets upended when a raid on an underground club reveals that Luc -- the strange, magnetic guy she barely knows -- isn't a Luxen at all, but something the government considers even more dangerous. The Darkest Star opens the series establishing Luc as an Origin, the engineered offspring of a Luxen and a mutated human, and pulls Evie into a resistance against the same government forces that shaped the original Lux trilogy's conflict.

While it's a direct sequel series to Lux -- Luc himself is a supporting character readers first meet in Opal -- Origin is built to work for readers who haven't read Lux, following a new protagonist's introduction to Armentrout's alien-occupation world rather than continuing Daemon and Katy's story directly. The trilogy escalates from personal danger into a wider conspiracy involving government experimentation and a looming global threat.

Three novels were published between 2018 and 2020; a fourth, The Fevered Winter, was announced but has faced repeated delays and remains unreleased as of mid-2026.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in the Origin series?

Three published novels: The Darkest Star (2018), The Burning Shadow (2019), and The Brightest Night (2020). A fourth, The Fevered Winter, has been announced but repeatedly delayed with no confirmed release date.

What order should I read Origin in?

Publication order: The Darkest Star, The Burning Shadow, The Brightest Night.

Do I need to read the Lux series before Origin?

No -- Origin follows a new protagonist, Evie Dasher, and was written to work for readers new to this world, though it's set in the same universe four years after Lux's Opposition and features Luc, a character introduced in Lux's Opal.

Is Origin finished?

No. The Brightest Night (2020) is the most recent published entry; a fourth book, The Fevered Winter, has been in development for years but has no confirmed release date.

Why has The Fevered Winter been delayed so long?

The author has spoken publicly about the book's difficult writing process, including a plot involving a pandemic that became harder to write during and after COVID-19, and a personal family loss that slowed the work further.

Reading order last verified .