Exodus: Empires at War Books in Order
Part ofDoug Dandridge Books in OrderSee the Exodus: Empires at War books by Doug Dandridge in order, with quick summaries, companion series notes, and help choosing where to start.
Last updated: July 10, 2026
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Exodus: Empires at War books in publication order
16 books
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1
by Doug Dandridge
2012
Two thousand years after humanity fled extermination and founded a new empire far away, the ancient enemy finds them again. Fleet tactics, politics, and sheer scale drive this opening salvo of a long war.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2
by Doug Dandridge
2012
The Ca'cadasan assault closes in, and Prince Sean Lee Ogden Romanov is pushed toward a role he never expected. He must learn command and survive Imperial politics in the middle of an extermination war.
Ranger
by Doug Dandridge
2013
On the deadly world of Azure, twelve-year-old Rebecca Goldman loses everything when the Ca'cadasans attack. Her best hope is Cornelius Walborski, a newly made Ranger hunting the same enemy through lethal wilderness.
The Long Fall
by Doug Dandridge
2013
Sean takes the throne as the old enemy drives deeper into human territory. Between looming tech breakthroughs, political plots, and the strategic importance of the Donut, humanity has to decide whether it can hold or flee again.
The Rising Storm
by Doug Dandridge
2013
The Ca'cadasans reach human space in force, and Sean Ogden Lee Romanov becomes the reluctant figure at the center of the Empire's response. Politics, new weapons, and sheer scale make the war feel much bigger and more dangerous.
Counter Strike
by Doug Dandridge
2014
The ambush hurt the Ca'cadasans, but it did not finish them. With the Donut threatened and Imperial troops cut off in Fenri space, Sean launches a risky offensive that could finally swing the war.
The Day of Battle
by Doug Dandridge
2014
With Parliament circling and worlds falling, Sean needs a real victory before the Empire comes apart at the top. His answer is a high-risk plan to hit the Ca'cadasan battle fleet head-on.
Second Front
by Doug Dandridge
2015
A long-range mission sends Commodore Natasha Sung across thirty thousand light years to find another power fighting the Ca'cadasans. The potential alliance could save the Empire, if its dark secret does not poison everything first.
Soldiers
by Doug Dandridge
2015
After pushing the Ca'cadasans out of core human space, the alliance turns to New Moscow, where billions face industrialized slaughter. This is a ground-level war book about the troops ordered to stop a genocide.
Search and Destroy
by Doug Dandridge
2016
The Ca'cadasans regroup after their first real defeat and prepare new strikes, while Fenri raiders unleash terror inside Imperial space. Sean has to counter invasions, traps, and hunt-and-kill missions all at once.
Rebellion
by Doug Dandridge
2018
The alliance is rolling the Ca'cadasans back, but the enemy answers with a terror weapon built to kill entire star systems. Sean's deeper offensive has to rescue billions and survive ambushes before the balance of the war turns again.
Retaliation
by Doug Dandridge
2018
The war finally pushes into Ca'cadasan space as giant fleets and ground armies move to free worlds and enslaved peoples. Sean aims straight at the enemy's center, but desperate empires are most dangerous when defeat starts to look real.
Time Strike
by Doug Dandridge
2018
Still reeling from a devastating enemy blow, Sean faces a new Ca'cadasan offensive and a terrible temptation: the chance to change time itself. Old warnings about the ruin caused by time travel may be the only thing standing between victory and catastrophe.
All Quiet on the Second Front?
by Doug Dandridge
2019
Admiral Beata Bednarczyk is sent to the uneasy Klavarta front, where prejudice, bad politics, and a clever Ca'cadasan commander threaten to turn a shaky alliance into disaster. The war may be far from Sean, but it is no less dangerous.
The Shield
by Doug Dandridge
2019
Beata Bednarczyk leads a bruised allied fleet while mistrust and bad leadership on her own side keep getting in the way. A desperate plan to shield an endangered world could save the front, or gamble away the Empire's greatest asset.
The Rebirth
by Doug Dandridge
2020
A sharper Ca'cadasan emperor abandons blunt conquest for attrition, raids, and alliance-breaking strategy. Sean has to keep pressure on the enemy while holding a weary coalition together long enough to finish the war.
Exodus: Empires at War books in chronological order

Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1
by Doug Dandridge
2012Exodus: Empires at War, Book 1
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2
by Doug Dandridge
2012Exodus: Empires at War, Book 2
The Rising Storm
by Doug Dandridge
2013Exodus: Empires at War, Book 3
The Long Fall
by Doug Dandridge
2013Exodus: Empires at War, Book 4
Ranger
by Doug Dandridge
2013Exodus: Empires at War, Book 5
The Day of Battle
by Doug Dandridge
2014Exodus: Empires at War, Book 6
Counter Strike
by Doug Dandridge
2014Exodus: Empires at War, Book 7
Soldiers
by Doug Dandridge
2015Exodus: Empires at War, Book 8
Second Front
by Doug Dandridge
2015Exodus: Empires at War, Book 9
Search and Destroy
by Doug Dandridge
2016Exodus: Empires at War, Book 10
Time Strike
by Doug Dandridge
2018Exodus: Empires at War, Book 11
Retaliation
by Doug Dandridge
2018Exodus: Empires at War, Book 12
Rebellion
by Doug Dandridge
2018Exodus: Empires at War, Book 13
All Quiet on the Second Front?
by Doug Dandridge
2019Exodus: Empires at War, Book 14
The Shield
by Doug Dandridge
2019Exodus: Empires at War, Book 15
The Rebirth
by Doug Dandridge
2020Exodus: Empires at War, Book 16
Series background & context
Exodus: Empires at War is Doug Dandridge's biggest and best-known series, and it goes straight for the pleasures of large-scale military space opera. The basic setup is simple and strong. Humanity was almost wiped out by the Ca'cadasans, fled across the galaxy, and spent a thousand years building a new civilization, the New Terran Empire. Then the old enemy finds them again.
That is where the series starts, and it stays under pressure from there.
At the center is Sean Ogden Lee Romanov, a young prince who gets pushed into command long before he is ready. A lot of the tension comes from watching him grow into that role while an extermination war is already underway. He has to manage admirals, politicians, rival factions, allies, and enemies who are all making decisions at the same time. The books like their fleet battles, but they also care about command, timing, and what happens when a government starts arguing while the sky is on fire.
The setting is big, but it is not vague. Dandridge likes the machinery of his universe. Ships move through normal space and hyperspace in ways that shape tactics. Wormhole technology matters. The vast black hole installation called the Donut becomes one of the major strategic prizes in the war. Industrial capacity matters. Distance matters. If you enjoy military science fiction where logistics and technology are part of the drama instead of background wallpaper, this series leans hard in that direction.
Scale is part of the appeal.
The books do not stay only on the bridge of the flagship. As the series grows, it widens to include civilians trapped on invasion worlds, augmented soldiers, frontier officers, allied species, and campaigns on more than one front. Some novels focus on giant fleet actions. Others spend more time on survival, rescue, political maneuvering, or the cost of holding an alliance together. That wider view helps the war feel like a real, ongoing thing instead of one endless battle scene.
The tone is earnest, action-forward, and unapologetically old-school space opera. There are huge stakes, ugly enemies, dangerous technology, and a real interest in how empires behave under strain. The Ca'cadasans are not a token threat. They are larger, older, and in many ways better prepared than the humans they want dead. That imbalance is what gives the series its energy. Humanity is always trying to catch up, improvise, and survive one more round.
So if you are browsing this page, expect a long war story with room for strategy, politics, and side campaigns as well as heroics. Exodus: Empires at War is best for readers who want a big continuous saga, who do not mind starting with a broad cast and a large map, and who like the feeling of a conflict growing outward book by book until it starts to swallow whole regions of a galaxy.
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