The Books of the Raksura
#2064.09 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 5 books Status Complete 2011–2017 Reading commitment Medium Martha Wells Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
A secondary-world fantasy series following Moon, a shape-shifting Raksura who has spent his life hiding his true nature among solitary groundling peoples, until he finds a colony of his own kind. The five-novel main sequence (2011-2017) builds out an ecology-driven world of flying islands, court politics among the winged, shape-changing Raksura, and the older Fell that prey on them.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (5 works) counts toward ranking
The Books of the Raksura Martha Wells
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Cloud Roads | 2011 | 1 | core | 3.98 (16,692 ratings) |
 | The Serpent Sea | 2012 | 2 | core | 4.09 (8,895 ratings) |
 | The Siren Depths | 2012 | 3 | core | 4.25 (7,339 ratings) |
 | The Edge of Worlds | 2016 | 4 | core | 4.09 (4,859 ratings) |
 | The Harbors of the Sun | 2017 | 5 | core | 4.24 (4,434 ratings) |
The five-novel main sequence of the Raksura series.
Library / Expanded (1 work)
- The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (2014) companion; A standalone novella set generations before the main sequence.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Books of the Raksura? The Books of the Raksura's Core Canon is 5 books, plus 1 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for The Books of the Raksura? Publication order, starting with The Cloud Roads. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Books of the Raksura finished? Complete (2011–2017).
- How much reading does The Books of the Raksura take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 5 Core Canon books).
- How is The Books of the Raksura ranked? #206 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 42,219 reader ratings across 5 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #206?
Ranked #206 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.09 across 5 core books.
- A smaller readership (42,219 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #205, The Queen's Thief (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 5 books · Complete · 42k ratings · Ranks #206 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 (5 Core Canon books)
- The Cloud Roads (2011)
- The Serpent Sea (2012)
- The Siren Depths (2012)
- The Edge of Worlds (2016)
- The Harbors of the Sun (2017)
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 awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.09 across 42,219 ratings on 5 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 the Raksura accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core = the five-novel main sequence. A standalone novella set generations before the main sequence is catalogued separately, not counted as part of it.