Osten Ard
#2134.10 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 9 books Status Ongoing 1988–present Reading commitment High Tad Williams Last reviewed 2026-10-15
Overview
Osten Ard is Tad Williams's epic-fantasy world, launched with Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (1988-1993): a foundational modern epic that George R.R. Martin has credited as an inspiration for A Song of Ice and Fire ("My god, they can do this with fantasy"; the Josua/Elias brothers are even echoed in AGOT's House Willum). The original trilogy, The Dragonbone Chair, Stone of Farewell, and To Green Angel Tower, follows a scullion drawn into a war against an undead, immortal enemy prince and his supernatural allies, spanning a fractured human kingdom and the ancient, non-human Sithi. Williams returned after roughly 24 years with the Last King of Osten Ard sequence, opening with the prequel novella The Heart of What Was Lost and continuing through The Witchwood Crown, Empire of Grass, the standalone Brothers of the Wind, Into the Narrowdark, and The Navigator's Children, completed in 2024; a further novel, The Splintered Sun, is announced. The saga is frequently cited among the direct forerunners of modern grimdark and doorstopper epic fantasy.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (9 works) counts toward ranking
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Tad Williams
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Dragonbone Chair | 1988 | core | 3.97 (79,482 ratings) |
 | Stone of Farewell | 1990 | core | 4.10 (54,188 ratings) |
 | To Green Angel Tower; One work (~520k words, among the longest novels ever published); the 1994 paperback split it in two (US Parts 1/2; UK Siege/Storm). | 1993 | core | 4.22 (58,082 ratings) |
The Last King of Osten Ard Tad Williams
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Witchwood Crown | 2017 | core | 4.18 (6,315 ratings) |
 | Empire of Grass | 2019 | core | 4.39 (4,210 ratings) |
 | Into the Narrowdark; First half of the planned concluding volume; the split (2021) expanded the sequence from trilogy to four books. | 2022 | core | 4.51 (3,122 ratings) |
 | The Navigator's Children; 'The fourth and final Last King of Osten Ard novel', the sequence is complete. | 2024 | core | 4.56 (2,537 ratings) |
Planned as trilogy; concluding volume split (2021) into two, complete at four books (2024).
The Heart of What Was Lost (2017) core · 4.03 (5,187 ratings); Bridge short novel ('A Novel of Osten Ard'), one year after To Green Angel Tower; registered Core.
Brothers of the Wind (2021) core · 4.14 (2,112 ratings); Prequel short novel (Hakatri/Ineluki), a thousand years before The Dragonbone Chair; originally announced as 'The Shadow of Things to Come'. Registered Core.
Library (1 work)
The Burning Man (1998) ; Novelette (Legends anthology).
The Burning Man (novelette, Legends 1998): expanded. The announced Splintered Sun enters upon publication.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Osten Ard? Osten Ard's Core Canon is 9 books, plus 1 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Osten Ard? Publication order, starting with The Dragonbone Chair. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Osten Ard finished? Ongoing (1988–present).
- How much reading does Osten Ard take? High reading commitment (estimated from 9 Core Canon books · ~6,713 pages).
- How is Osten Ard ranked? #213 in this site's official ranking, based on 215,235 reader ratings across 9 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #213?
Ranked #213 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.10 across 9 core books.
- Backed by 215k reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.97 to 4.56.
- Less than 0.01 behind #212, The Derkholm Series (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 9 books · Ongoing · 215k ratings · Ranks #213 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running epic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (9 Core Canon books)
- The Dragonbone Chair (1988)
- Stone of Farewell (1990)
- To Green Angel Tower (1993)
- The Heart of What Was Lost (2017)
- The Witchwood Crown (2017)
- Empire of Grass (2019)
- Brothers of the Wind (2021)
- Into the Narrowdark (2022)
- The Navigator's Children (2024)
Honours (verified)
- Locus Fantasy 1994: finalist, 3rd place: To Green Angel Tower. (A claimed Stone of Farewell nomination did NOT survive verification.)
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 1994: finalist: To Green Angel Tower; Placed 3rd (winner: The Innkeeper's Song).
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn / Osten Ard and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- World of the Five Gods Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.22
- Forgotten Realms Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.20
- Riftwar Cycle Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.16
- Belgariad Universe Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.14
Official resources
- tadwilliams.com: official bibliography
- Treacherous Paths: dedicated fan reference
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.10 across 215,235 ratings on 9 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Osten Ard Core Canon accepted 2026-08-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Tad Williams, official website Tier 1
- Wikipedia (English) Tier 2
- Treacherous Paths (ostenard.com) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: The bridge short novels are core: standalone-published, publisher-designated novels that are load-bearing for continuity. The Last King grew from trilogy to four books (2021 split); complete as of Nov 2024.