Acacia
#7813.68 adjusted 3.70 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2007–2011 Reading commitment Medium David Anthony Durham Last reviewed 2026-10-13
Overview
Acacia is a completed epic-fantasy trilogy by David Anthony Durham following the royal Akaran family, rulers of a sprawling empire built on a hidden slave-and-narcotic trade, through a conspiracy that topples them, the exiled heirs' years in hiding, and the rebellion and reckoning that follow. Acacia: The War with the Mein (2007) opens the trilogy, as an assassin from the long-exiled Mein people strikes at the royal family's aging patriarch, forcing his children to flee to distant corners of the empire and navigate hidden allegiances, illicit trade, and ancient magic; The Other Lands (2009) follows the surviving Akaran siblings years later as new threats emerge from beyond the empire's borders; The Sacred Band (2011) concludes the sequence. The trilogy is notable for foregrounding the moral compromises, including drugs and human trafficking, on which the empire's apparent peace and prosperity depend.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
Acacia David Anthony Durham
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Acacia: The War with the Mein | 2007 | 1 | core | 3.58 (8,960 ratings) |
 | The Other Lands | 2009 | 2 | core | 3.81 (3,941 ratings) |
 | The Sacred Band | 2011 | 3 | core | 3.85 (2,696 ratings) |
Core Canon = all 3 novels of the completed Acacia Trilogy.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Acacia? Acacia's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Acacia? Publication order, starting with Acacia: The War with the Mein. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Acacia finished? Complete (2007–2011).
- How much reading does Acacia take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is Acacia ranked? #781 in this site's official ranking, based on 15,597 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #781?
Ranked #781 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.68 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (15,597 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #780, Godspeaker (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 3 books · Complete · 16k ratings · Ranks #781 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- Acacia: The War with the Mein (2007)
- The Other Lands (2009)
- The Sacred Band (2011)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what Acacia and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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- The Bitterbynde Trilogy Epic fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.79
- Krönikan om den femte konfluxen Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.78
Official resources
- Wikipedia: Acacia: The War with the Mein
- Wikipedia: The Other Lands
- Wikipedia: The Sacred Band (novel)
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.68 across 15,597 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Acacia (David Anthony Durham) accepted 2026-09-04
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Acacia: The War with the Mein Tier 3
- Wikipedia: The Other Lands Tier 3
- Wikipedia: The Sacred Band (novel) Tier 3
Last reviewed: 2026-09-07
Rule: Core Canon = all three novels of the completed Acacia Trilogy (Acacia: The War with the Mein, The Other Lands, The Sacred Band); no Expanded material verified.