What Reading Order Works Best For All Star Wars Old Republic Books?

If you want a single, straight-forward tragedy then reading ‘Dead Man’s Walk’ first, followed by ‘Comanche Moon’ then ‘Lonesome Dove’ and finally ‘Streets of Laredo’ is the way to go. It’s a straight-line story that follows the main character from his worst days as a young man to his more mature years as a mythic-like figure and, in old age, to his wizened, somewhat bitter days. By reading the books in chronological order, Lonesome Dove becomes just another chapter in a long downhill slide. But by reading them in publication order, the epic masterpiece comes first, then the heart-wrenching sequel, and then the brutal prequels that turn everything you thought you knew about the characters before Lonesome Dove inside out. The emotional impact is very different.

Read Lonesome Dove first, then read Streets of Laredo. The prequels are later optional reading for more background information on the characters. But reading them in chronological order would ruin the big surprises in Lonesome Dove and dilute the impact of the rest of the book and the emotional payoff of the ending. It is a simple book and overcomplicating it ruins it.

Read the Scythe trilogy in the following order: Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll. After finishing the trilogy, read Gleanings. The anthology contains many backstory and “sidestories” that are far more enjoyable after you have finished reading the main characters and the ultimate fate of our world. Reading it in the middle of the trilogy would stifle much of the momentum that Mr. Shusterman has created for the three novels.

Incidentally, I read a few of them out of order and it really doesn’t matter. Each is a self-contained mystery, or crime story. If you are following the Dee’s career as Magistrate then it is best to start with The Chinese Gold Murders, his first posting. The subsequent books can be read in publication order. The Chinese Lake Murders, The Chinese Nail Murders, The Haunted Monastery, The Red Pavilion and so on. More complex plots but inevitable as the author develops. The only one that really shouldn’t be read last is Poets and Murder as it is quite different from the rest of the series and involves a lot of Chinese poetry. On the other hand, one must note that the very last book of Dee’s, Poets and Murder, is in a different style, and largely depends on Chinese poetry. It would be best for new readers to avoid this one altogether.

This is a series, and typically I recommend reading them in story order. However, the first two books, Plum Island and The Lion's Game, are somewhat standalone, and then there are the later books about anti-terror, which are quite different from the middle books. In fact, the first half of the series has a strong feeling of being an NYPD detective series, and the second half has the feeling of a federal agent series. In fact, you could almost read them as two separate series.

The structure of 'World War Z' by Max Brooks is one of its most fascinating aspects—it's not your typical linear narrative. Instead, it's presented as a series of interviews conducted by a journalist after the global zombie war, jumping between different time periods and locations. The book loosely follows a chronological order, starting with the initial outbreaks and societal collapse, then moving into the human resistance, and finally the aftermath and rebuilding. But within each section, the stories are fragmented, showing how different countries and individuals experienced the crisis in their own ways. Brooks cleverly divides the book into three main phases: 'Warnings,' where early signs of the outbreak are ignored or mishandled; 'Blame,' covering the chaos and failures during the height of the pandemic; and 'The Great Panic,' detailing humanity's near-collapse. The final section, 'Total War,' shifts to the counteroffensive and eventual victory, though the cost is staggering. What makes it so gripping is how these personal accounts—from a Chinese doctor to a Russian soldier to an American submariner—paint a mosaic of survival, each piece revealing another layer of the global catastrophe. If you're looking for a strict timeline, it's a bit tricky because the interviews overlap and sometimes contradict each other, just like real oral histories. But that's part of the genius—it feels eerily authentic, like piecing together a disaster from scattered eyewitness reports. I love how Brooks uses this format to explore not just zombies but human nature under pressure. The book's 'chronology' is less about dates and more about the emotional arc of survival, from denial to despair to determination. It's a masterpiece of speculative fiction because it makes the unimaginable feel terrifyingly possible.

For Imager I would recommend reading in publication order: Imager, Imager’s Challenge, Imager’s Intrigue, followed by the Imager Portfolio trilogy Scholar, Princeps, and Imager’s Battalion. Finally read the sub-series “Madness in Solidar”. Reading the books in this order helps to maintain the many reveals and builds out the world of Imager nicely.

I think I’ve been reading these in a really messed up order because some of the story just isn’t lining up for me lol. Might have to restart and follow the order people are suggesting here.

It is much like watching Star Wars. Although many now watch the movie in chronological order, the original release order (Empire, Return of the Jedi, A New Hope, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith) is much better for the viewer’s experience. The big reveal in Empire means very little if one has watched the prequels first. Likewise, Lonesome Dove has a number of big revelations, as well as the weighty history of Gus and Call, the fate of Maggie, and the origin of the Hat Creek brand. All of these are much better experienced in the order that McMurtry published them, as opposed to the more informative chronological order.

While reading long series can be very tedious and we would like to provide our readers with ‘skip’ lists for the filler volumes, Spice and Wolf does not have any of those. Every book, even those that are almost like standalone stories for their economic adventures, always enhances the relationship between the characters and introduces a theme that will become very important later on. Every little conversation, every mistake, every small success builds the road the characters are walking together on. If you skip one brick, the road later on gets all bumpy and strange. So you have to read all the bricks in the order they were laid.