The Charlatan Duology
#6313.59 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Complete 2022–2025 Reading commitment Low Holly Black Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Overview
The Charlatan Duology is Holly Black's first fiction written for adult readers: a noir-inflected heist story about gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows, and the con artist drawn into their underworld.
Dark fantasy, Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Charlatan Duology Holly Black
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Book of Night | 2022 | 1 | core | 3.54 (90,665 ratings) |
 | Thief of Night | 2025 | 2 | core | 3.97 (11,633 ratings) |
A complete two-book adult heist/noir fantasy about gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows for power; Holly Black's first novel marketed explicitly for adult readers.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Charlatan Duology? The Charlatan Duology's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Charlatan Duology? Publication order, starting with Book of Night. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Charlatan Duology finished? Complete (2022–2025).
- How much reading does The Charlatan Duology take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books · ~581 pages).
- How is The Charlatan Duology ranked? #631 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 102,298 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #631?
Ranked #631 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 3.59 across 2 core books.
- Backed by 102k reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.54 to 3.97.
- Less than 0.01 behind #630, The Melancholy of Untold History (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 2 books · Complete · 102k ratings · Ranks #631 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- Book of Night (2022)
- Thief of Night (2025)
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 independently-verified awards on file for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what The Charlatan Duology and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Endsong New Weird / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.65
- The Dark Star Trilogy Mythic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.56
- Islands of Blood and Storm Dark fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.44
- Zothique Sword & sorcery / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.22
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.59 across 102,298 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Charlatan Duology admitted as a new universe accepted 2026-08-21
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Holly Black - Wikipedia Tier 2
- Holly Black official site: Book of Night Tier 1
- Rating-platform listing: Book of Night Tier 4
- Rating-platform listing: Thief of Night Tier 4
Last reviewed: 2026-08-21
Rule: Core Canon is the complete duology: Book of Night and Thief of Night.