The Arcadia Project
#7813.89 adjusted 3.90 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2016–2018 Reading commitment Medium Mishell Baker Last reviewed 2026-11-01
Overview
The Arcadia Project is an urban fantasy trilogy by Mishell Baker, published by Saga Press between 2016 and 2018. Millie Roper, a former film student with borderline personality disorder who lost both legs in a suicide attempt, is recruited by a secret organization that manages travel between Hollywood and a parallel realm of the Fey. Over three novels she works cases for the Project's Los Angeles house alongside Caryl Vallo and other agents, uncovering plots that threaten war between the human world and the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Borderline, Phantom Pains and Impostor Syndrome follow Millie in order. The trilogy is complete.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Arcadia Project Mishell Baker
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Borderline | 2016 | 1 | core | 3.85 (4,971 ratings) |
 | Phantom Pains | 2017 | 2 | core | 3.96 (1,779 ratings) |
 | Impostor Syndrome | 2018 | 3 | core | 3.96 (1,007 ratings) |
Millie Roper, a disabled former film student, works for a secret organization that polices contact between Hollywood and the Fey.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Arcadia Project? The Arcadia Project's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Arcadia Project? Publication order, starting with Borderline. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Arcadia Project finished? Complete (2016–2018).
- How much reading does The Arcadia Project take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is The Arcadia Project ranked? #781 in this site's official ranking, based on 7,757 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #781?
Ranked #781 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.89 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (7,757 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 3 rated core books rate within 0.11 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #780, Fly By Night (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 3 books · Complete · 8k ratings · Ranks #781 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 (3 Core Canon books)
- Borderline (2016)
- Phantom Pains (2017)
- Impostor Syndrome (2018)
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)
- Nebula Award (Best Novel), 2016: nominated: Borderline
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 2017: nominated: Borderline
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what The Arcadia Project and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Ninth House (Alex Stern) Dark fantasy / Urban fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.03
- Dark Heavens Urban fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.02
- Chapel Hollow Urban fantasy · Unfinished · Medium commitment · 4.01
- Parasol Protectorate Fantasy of manners / Urban fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.98
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.89 across 7,757 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: Canon Extension: 22 universes, among them The Ordered and Reflections of Eterna; four candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-01
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Mishell Baker Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Borderline (novel) Tier 2
- Simon & Schuster author page Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-01
Rule: Core Canon = the three Arcadia Project novels, Borderline (2016), Phantom Pains (2017) and Impostor Syndrome (2018).