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Chris Colfer Books in Order

Browse Chris Colfer books in order, from The Land of Stories to Roswell Johnson, with summaries, series backgrounds, and straightforward where to start tips.

Last updated: December 23, 2025

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20 books

Roswell Johnson Saves the Galaxy!

by Chris Colfer

2025

After saving the world, Roswell is stuck back home and bored until stars, ships, and people start vanishing across the Milky Way. When his grandparents disappear too, he and his alien friends reunite for a high-speed mission to uncover a new threat to the entire galaxy.

Roswell Johnson Saves the World!

by Chris Colfer

2024

Eleven-year-old Roswell Johnson, a conspiracy-obsessed science nerd, is accidentally abducted by aliens while trying to prove UFOs are real. Captured by ruthless Reptoids, he teams up with a motley crew of prisoners to cross the galaxy and stop a plot to destroy Earth.

Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive

by Chris Colfer

2021

This graphic novel follows Goldilocks after the three bears story, now a skilled outlaw living in the Dwarf Forests with her horse Porridge. When Prince Chance Charming threatens her home, she rallies fellow misfits to defend the forest and decide what kind of hero she wants to be.

A Tale of Sorcery...

by Chris Colfer

2021

Brystal has one year to hunt down an Immortal in exchange for her life, even as a mysterious power erupts from deep within the earth. To protect her friends and kingdoms, she must unite fairies, witches, and former enemies in a final fight for the future of magic.

A Tale of Witchcraft...

by Chris Colfer

2020

Now serving as Fairy Godmother, Brystal is trying to build a more tolerant world when a secret society called the Righteous Brotherhood rises against magic. As dark forces tempt her, she must face both a new witchcraft academy and the doubts inside her own mind.

A Tale of Magic...

by Chris Colfer

2019

In a kingdom where magic is outlawed and girls are forbidden to read, Brystal Evergreen discovers she is a fairy. Rescued from prison by Madame Weatherberry, she joins an academy of magic and soon finds herself at the center of a battle over fear and acceptance.

The Ultimate Book Hugger's Guide

by Chris Colfer

2018

Part travel guide and part encyclopedia, this companion volume maps the people, places, creatures, and artifacts of the Land of Stories. Packed with trivia, behind-the-scenes notes, bonus scenes, and writing tips, it is designed for readers who never want to leave the series.

Worlds Collide

by Chris Colfer

2017

In the series finale, a portal opens at the New York Public Library and fairy tale villains spill into modern Manhattan. With Alex under a dark curse, Conner and their friends fight to protect both worlds and write a different ending for their story.

Trollbella Throws a Party

by Chris Colfer

2017

Queen Trollbella plans the most extravagant birthday party imaginable, complete with rides, music, and a towering cake. When a young goblin sneaks in, she discovers that sharing the fun and giving back to her people matters more than throwing a party just for herself.

Stranger Than Fanfiction

by Chris Colfer

2017

Four best friends plan one last road trip before college and jokingly invite their favorite TV star, Cash Carter, to join them. When he actually shows up, the journey turns into a messy, emotional ride where everyone confronts secrets about fame, identity, and friendship.

An Author's Odyssey

by Chris Colfer

2016

The Masked Man has captured the royal families and commands literature's worst villains. Desperate, Alex and Conner dive into Conner's own short stories, recruiting pirates, superheroes, mummies, and more from his imagination for one last stand to save both worlds.

A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales

by Chris Colfer

2016

This illustrated collection gathers more than thirty five classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes retold by Chris Colfer. It is presented as the very book Alex and Conner once fell into, making it a perfect bridge between familiar tales and the Land of Stories novels.

The Mother Goose Diaries

by Chris Colfer

2015

Told through centuries of diary entries, Mother Goose recounts her wild adventures with queens, artists, and revolutionaries. Her candid notes show how a rhyming, hard-partying traveler somehow became a trusted guardian in the Land of Stories.

The Curvy Tree

by Chris Colfer

2015

A lonely girl who feels she does not fit in runs away to the forest and meets a crooked, looping tree. Through its story, she learns that being different can be a gift and that real friends are waiting beyond the horizon.

Queen Red Riding Hood's Guide to Royalty

by Chris Colfer

2015

Written in Queen Red Riding Hood's hilariously overconfident voice, this guide lays out her rules for ruling, fashion, parties, and scandal management. Between outrageous advice, readers glimpse her rise to the throne and her not-so-perfect royal love story.

Beyond the Kingdoms

by Chris Colfer

2015

The Masked Man has escaped with a potion that turns beloved books into portals. Banished from the Fairy Council, Alex teams up with Conner and their friends to chase him through Oz, Neverland, Wonderland, and other classics before he recruits an army of villains.

A Grimm Warning

by Chris Colfer

2014

As Alex trains to become Fairy Godmother, Conner travels to Germany and uncovers a lost Brothers Grimm story that warns of an invading army. Separated by worlds, the twins must reunite to protect the Land of Stories from a very real war.

The Enchantress Returns

by Chris Colfer

2013

Back in the real world, the twins think their adventures are over, until the Enchantress who cursed Sleeping Beauty kidnaps their mother. Alex and Conner defy their grandmother and journey back into the fairy tale kingdoms to build the Wand of Wonderment and save her.

The Wishing Spell

by Chris Colfer

2012

Twins Alex and Conner Bailey fall through a magical book into the Land of Stories, where fairy tales are real. To get home they must race the Evil Queen to assemble the enchanted ingredients for the one-time-only Wishing Spell.

Struck By Lightning

by Chris Colfer

2012

High school outsider Carson Phillips is determined to escape his small town and become a legendary journalist. To strengthen his college application, he blackmails popular classmates into contributing to a literary magazine, uncovering secrets that are as bitter as they are funny.

Where should I start?

If you want classic fairy tale adventure: The Wishing SpellThe Enchantress ReturnsA Grimm Warning
If you prefer a prequel about magic and equality: A Tale of Magic...A Tale of Witchcraft...A Tale of Sorcery...
For younger readers and read alouds: The Curvy TreeTrollbella Throws a PartyA Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales
If you're an older teen: Struck By LightningStranger Than Fanfiction
If you like funny space adventures: Roswell Johnson Saves the World!Roswell Johnson Saves the Galaxy!

Author bio

Chris Colfer grew up loving stories so much that he built two careers out of them, first as an actor and then as a novelist. Many people met him as Kurt Hummel on the musical series Glee, and younger readers know him for creating The Land of Stories and A Tale of Magic....

He was born in Clovis, California, where his Irish American family encouraged his imagination even when real life was difficult. A serious lymph node surgery left him recovering in a hospital bed for months, and his younger sister's epilepsy brought long nights of worry, so he escaped into invented worlds and began writing his own fairy tales.

From elementary school on, he was the kid who always had a notebook. His grandmother became his first editor, reading the early pages of a fairy tale adventure that would one day grow into The Land of Stories and teasing him that he should finish grade school before worrying about being a failed writer. During middle school he was bullied so badly that he was homeschooled for a time, and those years fed directly into the empathy he later gave his characters.

At Clovis East High School he threw himself into every outlet he could find, from speech and debate to the drama club and the school literary magazine. He wrote, directed, and starred in a gender flipped spoof called Shirley Todd, and even taught a class presentation on the importance of fairy tales, an experience he would later echo in the opening chapter of The Wishing Spell.

Colfer's professional acting life started in community theater, where he played roles in shows like West Side Story and The Sound of Music. A few years later he auditioned for a different part on Glee, but his performance impressed the creators enough that they built the role of Kurt Hummel specifically for him. His work on the show earned a Golden Globe and multiple award nominations, and gave him a global audience just as he was starting to publish his own fiction.

Even while filming, he kept writing. He penned the screenplay for the darkly funny film Struck by Lightning, about a sharp tongued teen journalist, and then turned it into the novel Struck By Lightning. That project confirmed that he wanted to spend as much time at the keyboard as he did in front of a camera.

In 2011 he signed a book deal that became The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, published in 2012. The middle grade series follows twins Alex and Conner Bailey as they fall into a book of fairy tales and discover that every happily ever after has a messy middle. Across six novels and several companion volumes, Colfer blends slapstick humor with grief, courage, and second chances, giving familiar figures like Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, and the Evil Queen new depth.

Alongside the main series he has written picture books like The Curvy Tree and Trollbella Throws a Party, plus companion titles such as A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales, The Mother Goose Diaries, Queen Red Riding Hood's Guide to Royalty, and The Ultimate Book Hugger's Guide. Together they turn his fairy tale universe into a place readers can wander through long after the first adventure ends.

Colfer returned to the same world with A Tale of Magic... and its sequels, following young Brystal Evergreen as she fights for the rights of magic users and for girls who are told they are worth less than boys. These prequel novels lean more into questions of prejudice, censorship, and equality, while still delivering talking animals, big spells, and cliffhangers. For older teens he has also written Stranger Than Fanfiction, a road trip story about four friends and the TV star they idolize, which tackles fandom, sexuality, and the gap between public image and private truth.

In 2024 he launched another direction with Roswell Johnson Saves the World!, the first in a science fiction series about a conspiracy obsessed boy who really is abducted by aliens and has to save Earth with a crew of misfit beings. It carries over his usual mix of humor, found family, and quiet lessons about prejudice, just set among spaceships instead of castles. Colfer continues to live and write in the United States, sharing works in progress with an active fan base and returning to bookstores and stages when a new project calls. Through all of it, he keeps circling the same idea that drove him as a kid in Clovis: stories can give people who feel different a place where they finally belong.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 20 Chris Colfer Books in Order (Complete List 2026)