SD Smith Books in Order

If you want the main Green Ember story: The Green Ember → Ember Falls → Ember Rising → Ember's End
If you want the action-heavy archer books: The Last Archer → The First Fowler → The Archer's Cup
If you want the deeper history of Natalia: The Black Star of Kingston → The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner → Prince Lander and the Dragon War
If you want a new world outside rabbit country: Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key

S.D. Smith is a native West Virginian who has also said he grew up in both Appalachia and Africa, spending much of his teenage years in South Africa. That mix of places matters in his work. You can feel it in his love of hills, home, and local color, and in the way his stories care about belonging, exile, and the long road back.

Before he became known for rabbits with swords, Smith was a dad telling stories to his kids. The beginning of The Green Ember is wonderfully simple. He was on a porch in West Virginia with his young daughter, making up a story on the spot, noticed rabbits in the yard, and started spinning a tale about a rabbit family caught in a dangerous adventure. He kept telling that story for years, at bedtime, on walks, and in other small family moments, until it became a book.

That homegrown start still feels like the key to his writing.

The Green Ember went on to become the first book in a much larger saga, and the series has sold more than a million copies. Its mix of danger, loyalty, humor, and hope found a big audience, and the audiobook spent time as the number one bestseller on Audible worldwide. Readers who come to the series usually stay for the same reason: the books move fast, but they also care about family, sacrifice, and keeping faith when the world feels broken.

He did not stop there. Smith expanded the world with books like Ember Falls, Ember Rising, and Ember's End, along with side stories such as The Last Archer and The Black Star of Kingston. Outside rabbit country, he has written the comic collection Mooses with Bazookas and the quieter adventure The Found Boys. The range is part of the appeal. He can write a war story, a quest, or something plain goofy, but the through line is usually the same: ordinary people are asked to be brave.

Another turn in his career came when he started co-writing with his son, J. C. Smith. Their Jack Zulu books began with a story world Josiah created as a teenager, and Sam joined him in turning it into a novel series. That project also pulls in Smith's own background. He has said he grew up in both Appalachia and Africa, and he spent much of his teen years in South Africa, where he was part of a Zulu church and community. Those roots helped shape Jack's half-Appalachian, half-African world.

He also built a place for stories beyond his own books.

Smith is a founder and owner of Story Warren, a publishing and creative house based in rural West Virginia. He often speaks about storytelling, imagination, and the way stories can shape kids and adults alike. Off the page, he has stayed close to home, living in Grandview, West Virginia, with his wife and four children. He has also stayed active in his local community, including coaching kids soccer.

If his books have a signature, it is probably this: they take children seriously. The jokes land, the danger is real, and hope has to be fought for. That makes his stories easy to hand to kids, and just as easy for grown-ups to keep reading after the lights should have been out.