The Isles of the Gods
#5963.88 adjusted 3.89 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Complete 2023–2024 Reading commitment Low Amie Kaufman Last reviewed 2026-10-25
Overview
Amie Kaufman's Isles of the Gods duology, her first solo series, is a nautical young-adult fantasy set in a world of slumbering gods, scheming religious orders and capricious elemental spirits, on the brink of war between the kingdoms of Alinor and Mellacea. Selly, a sea captain's daughter with salt water in her veins, is forced to carry Prince Leander of Alinor across the Crescent Sea in secret, so that he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods, while the zealot Laskia hunts them; the story is told by five teenage narrators. Garth Nix said of the first book: I devoured it.
Epic fantasy, Romantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Isles of the Gods Amie Kaufman
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Isles of the Gods | 2023 | 1 | core | 3.88 (7,114 ratings) |
 | The Heart of the World; ISBN recorded is the Allen & Unwin first edition (August 2024); Knopf published it in the United States in September 2024. | 2024 | 2 | core | N/A |
Selly, Prince Leander and the war of the gods.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Isles of the Gods? The Isles of the Gods's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Isles of the Gods? Publication order, starting with The Isles of the Gods. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Isles of the Gods finished? Complete (2023–2024).
- How much reading does The Isles of the Gods take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is The Isles of the Gods ranked? #596 in this site's official ranking, based on 7,114 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #596?
Ranked #596 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.88 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (7,114 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #595, The Land of Laughs (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
One Core Canon book here doesn't have a recorded rating yet and isn't counted above: “The Heart of the World” (awaiting ordinary reader-rating data collection. It will be folded back into this universe's ranking once its rating is recorded.).
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 2 books · Complete · 7k ratings · Ranks #596 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Isles of the Gods (2023)
- The Heart of the World (2024)
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)
- Mythopoeic Award (Young Adult Literature), 2025: finalist: The Isles of the Gods; The duology was the finalist.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.88 across 7,114 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. 1 additional Core Canon book hasn't been rated yet, so it isn't counted here. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon extension: The Isles of the Gods (Amie Kaufman) accepted 2026-10-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Reader list on the rating platform (rating with title) Tier 2
- Penguin Random House (series page) Tier 2
- Mythopoeic Society (2025 finalists press release) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25
Rule: Core Canon = The Isles of the Gods (2023) and The Heart of the World (2024).