The Adventures of Mary Darling
#4653.97 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2025 Reading commitment Low Pat Murphy Last reviewed 2026-08-19
Overview
The Adventures of Mary Darling is Pat Murphy's standalone 2025 fantasy novel, published by Tachyon Publications, reimagining Mary Darling, mother of the Darling children from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, as her own protagonist rather than a background figure in her children's adventure. The novel was chosen as Library Journal's SFF Pick of the Month on release and received a review from Locus critic Gary K. Wolfe, part of a wave of positive genre-press attention for its reworking of a century-old children's classic from an adult woman's point of view. No sequel has been announced, and the book stands as a single self-contained entry in this canon drawing on the wider Peter Pan tradition without belonging to any of its other adaptations or continuations.
Fairy-tale retelling · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Adventures of Mary Darling (2025) core · 3.97 (518 ratings); Published by Tachyon Publications, 2025.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Adventures of Mary Darling? The Adventures of Mary Darling's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Adventures of Mary Darling finished? Complete (2025).
- How much reading does The Adventures of Mary Darling take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~320 pages).
- How is The Adventures of Mary Darling ranked? #465 in this site's official ranking, based on 518 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #465?
Ranked #465 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.97 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (518 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #464, Hrolf Kraki's Saga (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 518 ratings · Ranks #465 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment fairy-tale retelling fantasy 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 3.97 across 518 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 The Adventures of Mary Darling (Pat Murphy) accepted 2026-08-19
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Publisher listing: The Adventures of Mary Darling Tier 1
- Locus review: The Adventures of Mary Darling Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-20
Rule: Registered as a single-work universe: one standalone novel, no announced sequel.