Jirel of Joiry
#5873.72 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1969 Reading commitment Low by C.L. Moore Last reviewed 2026-08-26
Overview
A five-story sword-and-sorcery sequence (1934-1939) starring Jirel, a fierce medieval warrior-ruler, one of genre fiction's first female protagonists of this kind. Originally published in Weird Tales, the stories were first gathered as a standalone collection in 1969.
Sword & sorcery · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Jirel of Joiry C.L. Moore
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Jirel of Joiry; Collects all five original Jirel of Joiry novelettes ("Black God's Kiss", "Black God's Shadow", "Jirel Meets Magic", "The Dark Land", "Hellsgarde"; Weird Tales, 1934-1939) as first gathered in this 1969 standalone collection. Reduced from 5 separate book records to this 1 on 2026-08-31: the rating platform this project uses has no individual work page for any single novelette -- every listing found under a novelette's own title resolves to this same collection and reports the same aggregate rating figures regardless of which story's name is on the listing. | 1969 | 1 | core | 3.72 (1,673 ratings) |
The five original sword-and-sorcery Jirel stories, originally published in Weird Tales between 1934 and 1939, tracked here as the single 1969 collection that first gathered them ("Jirel of Joiry") rather than as five separate book records: the rating platform this project uses has no individual work page for any one novelette on its own.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Jirel of Joiry? Jirel of Joiry's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Jirel of Joiry finished? Complete (1969).
- How much reading does Jirel of Joiry take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~212 pages).
- How is Jirel of Joiry ranked? #587 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 1,673 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #587?
Ranked #587 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 3.72 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (1,673 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #586, Wizard of the Pigeons (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #587 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment sword-and-sorcery universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.72 across 1,673 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Jirel of Joiry (C.L. Moore) accepted 2026-08-26
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-31
Rule: Core Canon is the five solo-authored stories. A sixth story, co-written with another pulp-era writer as a crossover with one of that author's own characters, is treated as out of scope, per this project's standing rule against collaborative crossovers diluting a single-author Core Canon.