The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Research dossier

The Books of Pellinor

#2224.10 in the official ranking · full ranking

Books 4 books Status Complete 2002–2008 Reading commitment Medium Alison Croggon Last reviewed 2026-10-15

Overview

The Books of Pellinor is a completed quartet of young-adult high fantasy novels by Australian author Alison Croggon, first published in Australia between 2002 and 2008. The story follows Maerad, a young woman discovering she carries a rare and powerful magical Gift, as she is drawn into a struggle against an ancient Dark power threatening the world of Edil-Amarandh, her path interwoven with that of her brother Hem as the two seek to recover a mystical artefact called the Treesong. A stand-alone prequel, The Bone Queen, followed in 2016, set generations before the main quartet. The series has been published internationally, including by Walker Books in the United Kingdom, Candlewick Press in the United States, and Bastei-Lubbe in Germany, giving it a wide reach across English- and German-language markets. Croggon, also a poet, is known for embedding original verse and songs, credited to figures within the world itself, throughout the prose narrative.

Epic fantasy · For YA

Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking

The Books of Pellinor Alison Croggon

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of The GiftThe Gift20021core4.04 (27,946 ratings)
Cover of The RiddleThe Riddle20042core4.12 (22,359 ratings)
Cover of The CrowThe Crow20083core4.04 (14,312 ratings)
Cover of The SingingThe Singing20084core4.24 (14,166 ratings)

Original Australian first editions, published by Penguin Books Australia; US editions from Candlewick Press retitled the first volume 'The Naming' and released each book roughly a year after its original Australian edition.

Library / Expanded (1 work) context only

The Bone Queen Alison Croggon

WorkYearCanonRating
The Bone Queen2016expandedN/A

A single stand-alone prequel to the main quartet, set generations earlier.

Quick answers

Why is it ranked #222?

Ranked #222 in the official ranking.

How the ranking works →

Why explore this universe?

Highly rated · 4 books · Complete · 79k ratings · Ranks #222 overall

Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.

Reading order

Publication order (4 Core Canon books)

  1. The Gift (2002)
  2. The Riddle (2004)
  3. The Crow (2008)
  4. The Singing (2008)

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)

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Suggestions computed from what The Books of Pellinor and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.

Official resources

Research details

Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.10 across 78,783 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: Admit The Books of Pellinor (Alison Croggon) accepted 2026-09-04

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

Last reviewed: 2026-09-05

Rule: Core Canon is the four-book main quartet (The Gift, The Riddle, The Crow, The Singing), the continuous story of Maerad and Cadvan. The 2016 prequel The Bone Queen, published years later and following different characters in an earlier era, is classified Expanded Canon.

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