The Half-Made World
#10163.76 adjusted 3.79 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Unfinished 2010–2012 Reading commitment Low Felix Gilman Last reviewed 2026-11-03
Overview
The Half-Made World is a pair of Western-flavoured fantasy novels by the British writer Felix Gilman, published by Tor in 2010 and 2012. The story is set at the western edge of a world still being made, where two supernatural powers wage an endless war: the Line, which worships machines and industry, and the Gun, whose agents are driven by demons of violence. Colonists press west past the magic-using Hillfolk. The first novel follows the psychologist Liv Alverhuysen, the Gun agent John Creedmoor and a damaged General. The second is told by the inventor Harry Ransom, whose path briefly crosses theirs. No further volume has been announced.
New Weird · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Half-Made World Felix Gilman
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Half-Made World | 2010 | 1 | core | 3.76 (4,084 ratings) |
 | The Rise of Ransom City; Set after the first novel and centred on a different protagonist. | 2012 | 2 | core | 3.78 (1,027 ratings) |
Two novels set at the unfinished western edge of a world divided between the machine-worshipping Line and the violent Gun.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Half-Made World? The Half-Made World's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Half-Made World? Publication order, starting with The Half-Made World. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Half-Made World finished? Unfinished (2010–2012).
- How much reading does The Half-Made World take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is The Half-Made World ranked? #1016 in this site's official ranking, based on 5,111 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #1016?
Ranked #1016 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.76 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (5,111 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 2 rated core books rate within 0.02 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #1015, Toads and Diamonds (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 2 books · Unfinished · 5k ratings · Ranks #1016 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment New Weird universe.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Half-Made World (2010)
- The Rise of Ransom City (2012)
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)
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2011: nominated: The Half-Made World
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Suggestions computed from what The Half-Made World and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti Dark fantasy / New Weird · Complete · Low commitment · 3.81
- The Endsong New Weird / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.65
- Palimpsest Urban fantasy / New Weird · Complete · Low commitment · 3.65
- Bel Dame Apocrypha Dark fantasy / New Weird · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.82
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.76 across 5,111 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: Canon Extension: 19 universes from the candidate register; 7 candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-03
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: The Half-Made World Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Felix Gilman Tier 2
- Kirkus Reviews: The Rise of Ransom City Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-03
Rule: Core Canon = The Half-Made World (2010) and The Rise of Ransom City (2012). The 2011 shorter work Lightbringers and Rainmakers is excluded.