The Warm Hands of Ghosts
#4803.96 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2024 Reading commitment Low Katherine Arden Last reviewed 2026-09-04
Overview
A Canadian nursing sister searches the WWI Western Front for her brother, presumed dead but reported found, and finds herself drawn into something older and stranger than the war. In Katherine Arden's 2024 standalone historical fantasy, Laura Iven returns to Belgium seeking her brother Freddie, who has in fact survived a trench explosion and formed an unlikely alliance with a German soldier, the pair escaping together to a mysterious sanctuary offering refuge from the horrors of the front; Laura's own search brings her into contact with supernatural occurrences and buried trauma of her own. The novel became a Sunday Times and USA Today bestseller, was longlisted for the Glass Bell Award, and was a Mythopoeic Award finalist, alongside appearing on several outlets' best-of-year lists.
Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Warm Hands of Ghosts (2024) core · 3.96 (34,404 ratings)
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Warm Hands of Ghosts? The Warm Hands of Ghosts's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Warm Hands of Ghosts finished? Complete (2024).
- How much reading does The Warm Hands of Ghosts take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~325 pages).
- How is The Warm Hands of Ghosts ranked? #480 in this site's official ranking, based on 34,404 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #480?
Ranked #480 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.96 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (34,404 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #479, Cuckoo Song (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 34k ratings · Ranks #480 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.96 across 34,404 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Warm Hands of Ghosts (Katherine Arden) accepted 2026-09-03
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Mythopoeic Society -- 2025 Mythopoeic Awards, Adult Literature finalists Tier 1
- Rating-platform listing: The Warm Hands of Ghosts Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-09-04
Rule: Core Canon: the single 2024 novel.