The Watergivers
#6543.84 adjusted 3.85 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2009–2011 Reading commitment Medium Glenda Larke Last reviewed 2026-10-09
Overview
Glenda Larke's desert fantasy trilogy (2009-2011), also called the Stormlord trilogy, is set in the Quartern, a land of dry cities kept alive by stormlords who draw clouds from the distant seas and bring their rain home, and in which water is life, currency and power. The last stormlord is dying with no heir; Shale, an outcast boy from the stony Gibber with an extraordinary talent for water, becomes the prize of every faction, while Terelle, a fugitive slave apprenticed to an old man who paints on water, discovers that his art is a magic of her own people, the mysterious Watergivers. War with the nomadic Reduners, a rainlord kept captive, and a brother on the enemy's side carry the story to its end. Each book an Aurealis finalist, the trilogy won the 2015 Sara Douglass Book Series Award; a separate world from Larke's Isles of Glory.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Watergivers Glenda Larke
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Last Stormlord | 2009 | 1 | core | 3.77 (7,118 ratings) |
 | Stormlord Rising | 2010 | 2 | core | 3.92 (3,274 ratings) |
 | Stormlord's Exile | 2011 | 3 | core | 3.91 (2,886 ratings) |
Glenda Larke's desert fantasy of the Quartern, a land kept alive by stormlords who bring rain from the distant seas, and of Shale, an outcast with the power to become the next stormlord, and Terelle, a fugitive slave apprenticed to a painter whose art is a magic of water. Also called the Stormlord trilogy.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Watergivers? The Watergivers's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Watergivers? Publication order, starting with The Last Stormlord. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Watergivers finished? Complete (2009–2011).
- How much reading does The Watergivers take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is The Watergivers ranked? #654 in this site's official ranking, based on 13,278 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #654?
Ranked #654 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.84 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (13,278 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 3 rated core books rate within 0.15 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #653, Alif the Unseen (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 3 books · Complete · 13k ratings · Ranks #654 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Last Stormlord (2009)
- Stormlord Rising (2010)
- Stormlord's Exile (2011)
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)
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2009: nominated: The Last Stormlord; Finalist.
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2010: nominated: Stormlord Rising; Finalist.
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2011: nominated: Stormlord's Exile; Finalist.
- Aurealis Award (Sara Douglass Book Series Award), 2015: won: Stormlord's Exile; Awarded to the Watergivers trilogy as a series; registered against its concluding volume.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.84 across 13,278 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: Canon extension: The Watergivers (Glenda Larke) accepted 2026-10-09
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Glenda Larke Tier 2
- Hachette Book Group (publisher) Tier 1
Last reviewed: 2026-10-09
Rule: Core Canon = The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010) and Stormlord's Exile (2011), complete trilogy.