Thessaly
#5043.85 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2015–2016 Reading commitment Medium Jo Walton Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
The goddess Athene gathers scholars across history who prayed to live in a society built on Plato’s Republic, settling them on the island of Thera before its volcanic eruption to raise ten thousand purchased children toward that ideal. Apollo joins them as a human among the children he helps raise. The arrival of an aged Socrates five years in unsettles the entire experiment, and its consequences ripple across the trilogy’s final volume.
Mythic fantasy, Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Thessaly trilogy Jo Walton
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Just City | 2015 | 1 | core | 3.80 (8,669 ratings) |
 | The Philosopher Kings | 2015 | 2 | core | 3.93 (3,134 ratings) |
 | Necessity | 2016 | 3 | core | 3.94 (1,901 ratings) |
Quick answers
- How many books are in Thessaly? Thessaly's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for Thessaly? Publication order, starting with The Just City. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Thessaly finished? Complete (2015–2016).
- How much reading does Thessaly take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is Thessaly ranked? #504 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 13,704 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #504?
Ranked #504 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 3.85 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (13,704 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 3 rated core books rate within 0.14 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #503, Elidor (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 3 books · Complete · 14k ratings · Ranks #504 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Just City (2015)
- The Philosopher Kings (2015)
- Necessity (2016)
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)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what Thessaly and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Halfblood Chronicles Historical fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.98
- The Inheritance Trilogy Epic fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.98
- The Last Binding Historical fantasy / Romantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.96
- Vita Nostra Mythic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.96
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.85 across 13,704 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 Thessaly (Jo Walton) accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: The Just City Tier 3
- Thessaly series bibliography (specialised series-tracking site) Tier 3
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon covers the complete, published trilogy.