The Engelsfors Trilogy
#2444.09 adjusted 4.08 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2012–2015 Reading commitment Medium Sara Bergmark Elfgren & Mats Strandberg Last reviewed 2026-08-27
Overview
The Engelsfors Trilogy follows six teenage girls in the fictional small Swedish town of Engelsfors who discover they are the last of the Chosen Ones, guardians whose combined powers are needed to stop an approaching demonic apocalypse. Originally published in Swedish as Cirkeln (2011), Eld (2012), and Nyckeln (2013), the trilogy reached English-language readers in translations by Rachel Willson-Broyles published as The Circle (2012), Fire (2013), and The Key (2015). Written by Sara Bergmark Elfgren and Mats Strandberg, the series blends witchcraft fantasy with horror, psychological realism, and unreliable narration, and has been sold for publication in more than twenty languages. The Circle won Sweden's Bokbloggarnas litteraturpris, a prize voted on by book bloggers, and Bokjuryn, in which tens of thousands of Swedish children and young adults vote for their favorite books, and was a finalist for the August Prize's youth category in 2011. A Swedish film adaptation of the first novel, Cirkeln, was released in 2015.
Urban fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Engelsfors Trilogy Sara Bergmark Elfgren, Mats Strandberg
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Circle | 2012 | 1 | core | 3.87 (1,234 ratings) |
 | Fire | 2013 | 2 | core | 4.10 (11,072 ratings) |
 | The Key | 2015 | 3 | core | 4.10 (8,799 ratings) |
Original Swedish: Cirkeln (2011), Eld (2012), Nyckeln (2013); English translations by Rachel Willson-Broyles. Follows six teenage girls in a fictional Swedish town who discover they are the last of the Chosen Ones, guardians against an approaching demonic apocalypse.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Engelsfors Trilogy? The Engelsfors Trilogy's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Engelsfors Trilogy? Publication order, starting with The Circle. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Engelsfors Trilogy finished? Complete (2012–2015).
- How much reading does The Engelsfors Trilogy take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~608 pages).
- How is The Engelsfors Trilogy ranked? #244 in this site's official ranking, based on 21,105 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #244?
Ranked #244 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.09 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (21,105 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #243, Letters of Enchantment (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 3 books · Complete · 21k ratings · Ranks #244 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)
- The Circle (2012)
- Fire (2013)
- The Key (2015)
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)
- Bokjuryn (Swedish youth reader jury award) (Best Book), 2011: won: The Circle; Voted by over 30,000 Swedish young readers for The Circle (Cirkeln).
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.09 across 21,105 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: Admit The Engelsfors Trilogy (Elfgren & Strandberg) accepted 2026-08-27
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
Rule: Core Canon is the complete trilogy, all three novels.