Alchemical Journeys
#4523.97 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Ongoing 2019–present Reading commitment Medium Seanan McGuire Last reviewed 2026-08-26
Overview
A contemporary alchemical-fantasy sequence in which pairs of artificially-created twins each embody an opposing cosmic force, beginning with the award-winning Middlegame (2019), in which the alchemist James Reed creates the twins Roger and Dodger to embody a fundamental cosmic doctrine, their reality-warping gifts of language and mathematics pulling them back together across resets of their own timeline. Seanan McGuire has continued the sequence with Seasonal Fears (2022) and Tidal Creatures (2024), with further volumes planned to complete a set built around the classical elements. Middlegame won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and an Alex Award in 2020, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Endeavour Award, with critics praising its ambitious structure while noting its antagonist as a comparative weak point.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
Alchemical Journeys Seanan McGuire
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Middlegame | 2019 | 1 | core | 4.00 (32,678 ratings) |
 | Seasonal Fears | 2022 | 2 | core | 3.80 (4,736 ratings) |
 | Tidal Creatures | 2024 | 3 | core | 3.98 (1,734 ratings) |
A contemporary alchemical-fantasy sequence about pairs of artificially-created twins who each embody a cosmic force; each novel follows a different pair. Ongoing; no further volume confirmed at time of admission. A separate, unrelated series from this author's other admitted universes.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Alchemical Journeys? Alchemical Journeys's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Alchemical Journeys? Publication order, starting with Middlegame. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Alchemical Journeys finished? Ongoing (2019–present).
- How much reading does Alchemical Journeys take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~1,438 pages).
- How is Alchemical Journeys ranked? #452 in this site's official ranking, based on 39,148 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #452?
Ranked #452 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.97 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (39,148 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #451, The Inheritance Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 3 books · Ongoing · 39k ratings · Ranks #452 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length urban fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- Middlegame (2019)
- Seasonal Fears (2022)
- Tidal Creatures (2024)
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 Alchemical Journeys 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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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.97 across 39,148 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: Alchemical Journeys admitted; Core Canon = all three published novels accepted 2026-08-26
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia Tier 2
- Wikipedia Tier 2
- Macmillan Publishers Tier 1
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon is the 3 published novels (2019-2024). Ongoing; no further volume confirmed at time of admission.