How to Read the Rachel Aaron Books in Order

[lmt-post-modified-info] Rachel Aaron is an author of popular fantasy, LitRPG, and sci-fi novels. Reading the Rachel Aaron books involves not only picking up her Legend of Eli Monpress, but also her second, newer, series titled Heartstrickers. In addition, as Rachel Bach, she writes the Fortune’s Paw science fiction romance series.

Rachel has written books for less than a decade now, but she has managed to become a top fantasy author whose books are eagerly read by fans of the genre and her loyal followers as well.

Here are the Rachel Aaron books in order for her new series, several written under her own name and the one written under her pseudonym.

New Rachel Aaron Book

The Once King, (F.F.O. #3), 2019

Heartstrikers Series

Nice Dragons Finish Last, 2014
Mother of the Year (short story), 2016
One Good Dragon Deserves Another, 2015
No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, 2016
A Dragon of a Different Color, 2017
Last Dragon Standing, 2018

DFZ Series

Set in the Heartstrikers universe, 20 years later

Minimum Wage Magic, 2018
Part-Time Gods, 2019

Attack on Titan Series

Garrison Girl, 2018

F.F.O. Series

co-authored with Travis Bach

Eli Monpress Series

Spirit’s Oath, 2012 (prequel novella)
The Spirit Thief, 2010
The Spirit Rebellion, 2010
The Spirit Eater, 2010
The Spirit War, 2012
Spirit’s End, 2012

Writing as Rachel Bach (science fiction novels)

Paradox Series

Other Books by Rachel Aaron

2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love, 2012

Rachel Aaron Biography

Rachel Aaron was born and raised in Georgia, Atlanta in a family that encouraged reading from a very young age. She always had ample access to all sorts of books, and over the years Rachel Aaron developed a passion for writing stories as well.

Initially, she wanted to write manga books, but soon she realized that her drawing skills were lacking, so finally, books won out in the end.

Rachel Aaron attended the University of Georgia from where she got her degree in English. After graduating, she got herself a regular job, but her thoughts were always turning back to writing. While idling at her day job, in 2004 she took the plunge and started to write in earnest.

Unfortunately, her first book didn’t sell. She tried to send it to all traditional publishing houses, however, she got rejected over and over again.

Next, Rachel Aaron wrote The Spirit Thief, which would become the first in her Eli Monpress series, and finally, she sold that book in 2008 to Orbit Books. When Rachel wrote it, she wanted it to be a standalone novel. However, her agent convinced her to write additional books to make it into a series, and thankfully Rachel Aaron listened (much to the delight of her fans).

In 2013, Rachel Aaron realized that her author friends in the self-publishing business were earning more than she was, so she decided to start self-publishing her own books as well, which she began with her second series, Heartstrikers.

Another reason why she preferred to go write indie books was the fact that now she could create her own book covers, something that she always struggled with when published by a traditional publishing house since they would never agree with her ideas at all.

Over the last few years, the Rachel Aaron books won several awards, including the Best Fantasy Audie Award for Nice Dragons Finish Last, and the “Romantic Times” Editor’s Pick Award for No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished. In fact, the author often mentioned that her indie series, Heartstrikers, is doing much better than the first series published by Orbit.

Of course, it does help that she was a traditionally published author before she became an indie one, as readers already knew her quite well by then.

The books in the Eli M. series features a charming, talented and funny thief and wizard. Eli wants to become the best-known thief in the world and he is working hard on raising the bounty on his head. In the world they live in, everything has a spirit, and Eli can talk to them.

Over the course of the series, Eli becomes something the shouldn’t become when a thief: he became a hero. He saved the Council Kingdoms so now thieving isn’t as easy as it should be.

The Heartstrikers series is all about dragons. Julius is the smallest in the Heartstrikers clan and he is trying to be as quiet and unassuming as possible. His mother, Bethesda, is a real bitch and tyrant, and one who doesn’t have his wellbeing at her heart.

The Rachel Aaron novels are fantasy stories that actually cross genres. The Rachel Bach books for her Paradox series are space operas with aliens and Devi Morris as main character, a mercenary working on Captain Caldswell’s doomed ship.

Both Heartstrikers and Eli M. are fast-paced urban fantasy series with high-fantasy elements mixed in (like dragons), while Paradox is science fiction with a lot of romance.

Currently, Rachel Aaron, aka Rachel Bach, lives in Athens, GA with her husband, her son and her dog, and she is working on her next Heartstrikers book, along with two new series started in 2018: Attack on Titan, and FFO, the second being a LitRPG series.

Praise for Rachel Aaron

This book kicked ass . . . I just loved it! (Felicia Day)
Aaron is a truly gifted storyteller who not only does incredible worldbuilding, but also serves up compelling and complicated characters that leap off the page. Hang on tight for there are some major twists and turns that are both gut-punching and thrilling. (RT Magazine)
Fast and fun, Spirit Thief introduces a fascinating new world and a complex magical system based on cooperation with the spirits who reside in all living objects (Booklist)
This book was a nice surprise and a complete winner for me. Rachel Aaron has written a fun story which can be best described as “Terry Brooks Meets Scott Lynch” in a lighter vein. (Fantasy Book Critic)
Witty, smart, snappy, sassy, fast, furious and let’s not forget fun . . . Rachel Aaron isn’t so much knocking at the door as kicking it down. (Tom Holt)
A deliriously smart and funny beginning to a new urban fantasy series about dragons in the ruins of Detroit…inventive, uproariously clever, and completely un-put-down-able! (SF-Signal)

References

Books Reading Order » Fantasy Authors » How to Read the Rachel Aaron Books in Order