Christopher Rowley Books in Order
Explore Christopher Rowley books in order, with concise summaries, series background, and easy where-to-start advice for new readers.
Last updated: July 15, 2026
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Christopher Rowley books in publication order
23 books
The War for Eternity
by Christopher Rowley
1983
Centuries after Fenrille's settlement, humans and the native Fein profit from a drug that grants near immortality. When Earth sends a starfleet to claim it, soldier Lavin Fundin and the Fein must defend their world.
The Black Ship
by Christopher Rowley
1985
Fifty years after the war for Fenrille, an invading ship arrives to seize the planet's longevity wealth. As conflict spreads, Chosen Fundan is called into a distant struggle to rescue one of Fenrille's mysterious ancient powers.
Starhammer
by Christopher Rowley
1986
A miner's discovery awakens the legacy of an ancient war between the parasitic Vang and the beings who created the Starhammer. In human space, former slave Jon Iehard is drawn into a rebellion against the Laowon Imperium.
Golden Sunlands
by Christopher Rowley
1987
Aliens abduct the entire population of the frontier world Calabel and transport them to a strange artificial universe. Federal Ranger Cracka Buckshaw and a small group of survivors must find a way to protect their people and escape.
The Military Form
by Christopher Rowley
1988
A dormant Vang is discovered near the human world of Saskatch and quickly begins converting hosts into weapons. As the parasite spreads, the people fighting it face a terrifying question: can their planet be saved without destroying it?
The Founder
by Christopher Rowley
1989
Dane Fundan completes a colony ship meant to carry his clan beyond Earth's control. But his alliance with the ruthless Khalifi turns the voyage to Fenrille into a struggle against treachery, greed, and a hostile new world.
The Battlemaster
by Christopher Rowley
1990
On the divided planet Wexel, an ambitious count finds an ancient alien artifact buried on his land. Its awakening brings back the Vang, a deadly parasite whose plans could turn local corruption into a threat to all humanity.
Bazil Broketail
by Christopher Rowley
1992
Bazil and his orphan dragonboy, Relkin, seek a place in the Dragon Legions of Marneri. After Bazil's tail is injured and a young queen is kidnapped, the pair are swept into a dangerous pursuit of the Masters of Padmasa.
A Sword for a Dragon
by Christopher Rowley
1993
Bazil receives Ecator, an ancient elf-made dragonsword, before joining an expedition to the troubled land of Ourdh. When the army is trapped in a siege, Bazil and Relkin must face the sorcery behind the uprising.
To A Highland Nation
by Christopher Rowley
1993
A century after Fenrille's settlement, Fair Fundan confronts raiders, new colonists, and a fight over the chitin drug that grants long life. To protect the highlands, she must unite fiercely independent clans and their Fein allies.
Dragons of War
by Christopher Rowley
1994
The 109th Marneri Dragons race across the mountains after the Masters launch a devastating invasion of Kenor. Bazil and Relkin must help hold the line at Sprian's Ridge until the Argonathi army can arrive.
Battledragon
by Christopher Rowley
1995
Bazil and Relkin join a huge expedition into the dark continent of Eigo, where the Masters are building cannon that could end the dragons' military advantage. Their mission becomes a costly fight through enemy armies, volcanoes, and betrayal.
The Wizard and the Floating City
by Christopher Rowley
1996
Prince Evander flees his homeland and seeks help in Monjon, a city held aloft by ancient magic. A wizard's attack sends Evander and Princess Serena to another world, where they must survive before confronting their enemy.
A Dragon at Worlds' End
by Christopher Rowley
1997
Stranded in the wild continent of Eigo, Bazil and Relkin aid the forest-dwelling Ardu against slavers. When Relkin is carried to the hidden city of the Elf Lords, Bazil must lead a desperate rescue through magic and tyranny.
Dragons of Argonath
by Christopher Rowley
1998
Rebellion and plague weaken the Argonath just as Waakzaam the Great moves to seize Ryetelth. Bazil, Relkin, and the 109th Dragons are drawn into the crucial battles needed to stop an enemy far more dangerous than local revolt.
Dragon Ultimate
by Christopher Rowley
1999
Waakzaam the Great returns to threaten Ryetelth and the Sinni, golden beings who have resisted him across worlds. Bazil and Relkin must cross space and time to confront a vast golem built to finish Waakzaam's war.
Ancient Enemy
by Christopher Rowley
2000
Young watermot Thru Gillo leaves farm life to study with the scholar Assenzi. There he learns that humanity's destructive past may not be over, and that the legendary Man the Cruel could be a danger once again.
The Shasht War
by Christopher Rowley
2001
Thru Gillo has already faced the return of an ancient evil, but Arna's danger grows into open conflict. As the human powers of Shasht threaten his homeland, he must help defend a world divided by history and fear.
Doom's Break
by Christopher Rowley
2002
As war continues across Arna, Thru Gillo faces an ever-harder fight against the ancient sorcerer Karnemin. The fate of his people depends on alliances, courage, and whether old enemies can resist a threat bent on remaking their world.
Arkham Woods
by Christopher Rowley
2009
L.A. teenager Kirsti Rivers moves with her mother to a small New England town to clear out an inherited house. Hidden inside is an ancient evil, and Kirsti and her friends must stop it before it reaches the wider world.
Money Shot
by Christopher Rowley
2010
Rook and Plesur follow coordinates hidden in her brain to an isolated mountain complex. Hunted by robotic troops and powerful conspirators, they must expose Operation Taste Imperative before the secret behind Plesur destroys any chance of escape.
Pleasure Model
by Christopher Rowley
2010
Homicide detective Rook Venner finds Plesur, a gene-grown pleasure model, at the scene of a murdered general. When killers target the only witness, Rook takes her into hiding and uncovers a conspiracy that reaches far beyond one case.
The Bloodstained Man
by Christopher Rowley
2010
Rook Venner and Plesur remain on the run from forces determined to reclaim the secret in her mind. A meeting that may reveal the truth goes wrong, leaving Rook trapped in brutal gladiatorial fights while their enemies close in.
Where to start with Christopher Rowley
For dragon-led epic fantasy: Bazil Broketail → A Sword for a Dragon → Dragons of War → Battledragon
For a complete science fiction saga: The Founder → To A Highland Nation → The War for Eternity → The Black Ship
For alien-invasion space opera: Starhammer → The Military Form → The Battlemaster
For dark future noir: Pleasure Model → The Bloodstained Man → Money Shot
Christopher Rowley sub-series and character series
Battle Dragons (Christopher Rowley) books in order
Explore this series
Bazil Broketail
by Christopher Rowley
1992Battle Dragons, Book 1
A Sword for a Dragon
by Christopher Rowley
1993Battle Dragons, Book 2
Dragons of War
by Christopher Rowley
1994Battle Dragons, Book 3
Battledragon
by Christopher Rowley
1995Battle Dragons, Book 4
A Dragon at Worlds' End
by Christopher Rowley
1997Battle Dragons, Book 5
Dragons of Argonath
by Christopher Rowley
1998Battle Dragons, Book 6
Dragon Ultimate
by Christopher Rowley
1999Battle Dragons, Book 7
Battle Dragons (Christopher Rowley) books in chronological order

Bazil Broketail
by Christopher Rowley
1992Battle Dragons, Book 1
A Sword for a Dragon
by Christopher Rowley
1993Battle Dragons, Book 2
Dragons of War
by Christopher Rowley
1994Battle Dragons, Book 3
Battledragon
by Christopher Rowley
1995Battle Dragons, Book 4
A Dragon at Worlds' End
by Christopher Rowley
1997Battle Dragons, Book 5
Dragons of Argonath
by Christopher Rowley
1998Battle Dragons, Book 6
Dragon Ultimate
by Christopher Rowley
1999Battle Dragons, Book 7
Books of Arna books in order
Explore this seriesFenrille books in order
Explore this seriesNetherworld books in order
Explore this seriesThe Vang books in order
Explore this seriesStandalone Christopher Rowley books
Author bio
Christopher Rowley was born in 1948 in Lynn, Massachusetts, to an American mother and an English father. Much of his schooling took place in England, including at Brentwood School in Essex. That mix of American and English life stayed with him, and his fiction often has the restless feel of people crossing borders, worlds, or social lines.
He was a science fiction reader from an early age. He has written about growing up on the adventure stories and paperbacks of the 1950s and 1960s, then later finding Victorian tales of exploration and danger. You can see those interests in his books: strange planets, vast journeys, old powers, monsters, hard choices, and people trying to stay decent when the stakes get ugly.
Before publishing novels, Rowley worked as a London journalist in the 1970s. He moved to New York City in 1977 and continued writing freelance pieces, including work connected to popular culture and film. At the same time, he was trying to turn a growing pile of ideas into his first science fiction novel.
It took persistence.
That novel became The War for Eternity, published in 1983. Set on the dangerous colony world of Fenrille, it follows humans and the native Fein as a longevity drug turns their home into a target. The book won the Compton Crook Award for best first novel, and Rowley returned to Fenrille in The Black Ship, The Founder, and To A Highland Nation.
He likes worlds where resources can ruin everything.
Rowley also wrote the loosely linked Vang novels, beginning with Starhammer. Those books pit human societies against an ancient parasitic species built for war, mixing big-scale space opera with creature horror. Golden Sunlands takes another route into far-future science fiction, following people torn from their colony world and dropped into an artificial realm ruled by aliens.
For many readers, though, the place to start is the Battle Dragons sequence. Bazil Broketail introduces Bazil, a huge battledragon, and Relkin, the orphan boy paired with him in the Dragon Legions. Their friendship is the heart of a long fantasy campaign full of military marches, witches, rival powers, hungry monsters, and dragons who are very much people in their own right. The later books, including A Sword for a Dragon, Dragons of War, and Battledragon, expand the map without losing sight of that partnership.
His other work ranges widely. The Books of Arna trilogy imagines a distant world shaped by humanity's old environmental failures, while the Netherworld books follow detective Rook Venner through a grim future conspiracy. Arkham Woods, created with artist Jhomar Soriano, moves into illustrated supernatural horror.
Rowley has lived in New York's Hudson Valley. Across science fiction, fantasy, noir, and horror, he keeps returning to one useful question: what happens when ordinary people meet something much bigger, stranger, and more dangerous than they expected?
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