Nola O'Grady
#7763.60 adjusted 3.71 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Complete 2011–2012 Reading commitment Medium Katharine Kerr Last reviewed 2026-10-07
Overview
Katharine Kerr's urban fantasy quartet (DAW, 2011-2012) follows Nola O'Grady, psychic agent of the Agency, an organisation so secret even the CIA does not know it exists, back to San Francisco and to her large, gifted and unmanageable family of psychics and shapeshifters. Partnered with Ari Nathan, a blunt Israeli operative who does not believe in psychic talents, she hunts werewolf killers and Chaos cults and falls through the deviant alternate world-levels her family has a knack for finding, all in the service of Harmony and the balance between Chaos and Order. The author called it a female James Bond with magic instead of violence; the publisher stopped the series after four books. A separate world from Kerr's Deverry.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
Nola O'Grady Katharine Kerr
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | License to Ensorcell | 2011 | 1 | core | 3.44 (1,094 ratings) |
 | Water to Burn | 2011 | 2 | core | 3.73 (476 ratings) |
 | Apocalypse to Go | 2012 | 3 | core | 3.78 (389 ratings) |
 | Love on the Run | 2012 | 4 | core | 3.75 (254 ratings) |
Katharine Kerr's urban fantasy of psychic agent Nola O'Grady of the Agency, an organisation so secret even the CIA does not know it exists, and her Israeli partner Ari Nathan, keeping the balance between Chaos and Order in a San Francisco full of werewolves, alternate dimensions and Nola's own unmanageable family. Four novels (DAW, 2011-2012); the publisher declined further volumes.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Nola O'Grady? Nola O'Grady's Core Canon is 4 books.
- What is the reading order for Nola O'Grady? Publication order, starting with License to Ensorcell. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Nola O'Grady finished? Complete (2011–2012).
- How much reading does Nola O'Grady take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books · ~1,232 pages).
- How is Nola O'Grady ranked? #776 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,213 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #776?
Ranked #776 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.60 across 4 core books.
- A smaller readership (2,213 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.11 behind #775, Kingmaker, Kingbreaker.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 4 books · Complete · 2k ratings · Ranks #776 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- License to Ensorcell (2011)
- Water to Burn (2011)
- Apocalypse to Go (2012)
- Love on the Run (2012)
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 award could be confirmed for the series.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.60 across 2,213 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon extension: Nola O'Grady (Katharine Kerr) accepted 2026-10-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-10-07
Rule: Core Canon = License to Ensorcell (2011), Water to Burn (2011), Apocalypse to Go (2012) and Love on the Run (2012), complete at four by the publisher's decision.