# Tad Williams bibliography
The Tad Williams bibliography is the published body of work by [Tad Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/tad-williams) (the working name of the US author Robert Paul Williams, born 1957), an American writer of fantasy and science fiction whose career began with *Tailchaser's Song* in 1985 and now spans epic fantasy, near-future science fiction, urban fantasy, young-adult fantasy, short fiction, and comics.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/williams_tad) • [2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) His own site states that since 1985 he has written more than 20 novels and 3 story collections, translated into more than twenty languages.[3](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First novel | *Tailchaser's Song* (hardcover 1985, paperback 1986), a fantasy about cats[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) |
| Breakthrough series | *Memory, Sorrow and Thorn*: *The Dragonbone Chair* (1988), *Stone of Farewell* (1990), *To Green Angel Tower* (1993)[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) |
| Science fiction turn | *Otherland*, four novels published 1996–2001, set in virtual-reality worlds[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) • [1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/williams_tad) |
| Return to Osten Ard | *The Last King of Osten Ard* quartet (2017–2024) plus two prequels, *The Heart of What Was Lost* (2017) and *Brothers of the Wind* (2021)[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) |
| Newest series | *Flan's Crows*, beginning with *The Splintered Sun* (October 6, 2026), set roughly 300 years before *The Dragonbone Chair*[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) • [4](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/742672/the-splintered-sun-by-tad-williams/) |
| Collaborations | *The Ordinary Farm Adventures* with his wife Deborah Beale; *Child of an Ancient City* (1992) with Nina Kiriki Hoffman[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) |
| Comics | DC Comics' *The Next* (2006), *Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis* #50–57 (2007), and the one-shot *Ibis the Invincible: The Helmet of Fate* (2007)[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) |
## Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Williams's most influential early work is the *Memory, Sorrow and Thorn* trilogy, which the *Encyclopedia of Science Fiction* calls his most influential work: *The Dragonbone Chair* (1988), *Stone of Farewell* (1990), and *To Green Angel Tower* (1993).[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/williams_tad) The third book was so long that it was split into two paperback volumes in 1994, published as *To Green Angel Tower, Part 1* and *Part 2* in the US edition and as *Siege* and *Storm* in the UK edition.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) The trilogy has remained in print across many formats, including trade paperbacks in 2005 and 2016 and unabridged digital audiobooks in 2015 and 2016.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
The trilogy's reach extended beyond its own sales. [George R. R. Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-r-r-martin), the author of *A Song of Ice and Fire*, has said that reading *The Dragonbone Chair* was a catalyst for him to write his own series, calling it one of his favorite fantasy series.[5](https://time.com/4769331/game-of-thrones-books-george-rr-martin/) In 2026, nearly 40 years after first publication, DAW Books issued a deluxe hardcover edition of *The Dragonbone Chair* (September 29, 2026) with sprayed edges, four-color endpapers featuring the original [Michael Whelan](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-whelan) art, and a new introduction by the author.[6](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/07/whats-next/)
Two shorter works belong to the same setting: the novelette "The Burning Man," published in the anthology *Legends* edited by Robert Silverberg in 1998, and a graphic-novel version of "The Burning Man" published with Raymond Feist's "The Wood Boy" in 2005.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
## Otherland and Shadowmarch
After the trilogy, Williams turned to science fiction with the *Otherland* sequence, a near-future series set primarily in a complex set of virtual-reality worlds controlled by a cabal called the Grail Brotherhood.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/williams_tad) The official bibliography lists four novels: *City of Golden Shadow* (1996), *River of Blue Fire* (1998), *Mountain of Black Glass* (1999), and *Sea of Silver Light* (2001), plus two connected novelettes, "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World" (*Legends II*, 2004) and "The Boy Detective of OZ" (*Oz Reimagined*, 2013).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) A limited-edition hardcover of *City of Golden Shadow*, with art by Donato Giancola and a new introduction by [Christopher Paolini](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-paolini), was scheduled from GrimOak Press in fall 2026.[6](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/07/whats-next/)
**Shadowmarch.** Williams's next major fantasy series, *Shadowmarch*, ran four volumes: *Shadowmarch* (2004), *Shadowplay* (2007), *Shadowrise* (2010), and *Shadowheart* (2010).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
## The Last King of Osten Ard
In 2017 Williams returned to Osten Ard, the world of *Memory, Sorrow and Thorn*, with *The Witchwood Crown*, first novel of *The Last King of Osten Ard*, set more than thirty years after the events of the earlier trilogy.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) The quartet continued with *Empire of Grass* (2019), *Into the Narrowdark* (2022), and *The Navigator's Children* (2024), the fourth and final novel, whose paperback appeared on August 5, 2025.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) • [7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/708475/the-navigators-children-by-tad-williams/paperback/) Two prequels sit alongside it: *The Heart of What Was Lost* (2017), a short novel set immediately after the original trilogy, and *Brothers of the Wind* (2021).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
## Flan's Crows and current work
The current series is *Flan's Crows*, which begins with *The Splintered Sun*, published October 6, 2026, in the US and UK by DAW.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) • [8](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/) The novel is set in Osten Ard roughly 300 years before *The Dragonbone Chair* and follows Flann, a bandit who joins a band of misfit rebels helping the failing King of Hernystir's legitimate heir amid war and dark sorcery.[4](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/742672/the-splintered-sun-by-tad-williams/) • [9](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/03/the-splintered-sun/) The hardcover runs 528 pages at $30.00 US.[4](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/742672/the-splintered-sun-by-tad-williams/) Williams announced in July 2026 that two more books will continue the story: *The Crooked Tower*, already in progress, and *The Holly Ring*.[6](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/07/whats-next/) A special edition with new art is planned by the UK specialty publisher The Broken Binding.[8](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/)
The third and final *Ordinary Farm* book, *The Heirs of Ordinary Farm* (work title), remains forthcoming.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) • [6](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/07/whats-next/)
## Other series and standalones
**Bobby Dollar.** The *Bobby Dollar* books are noir fantasy thrillers about an afterlife investigator: *The Dirty Streets of Heaven* (2012), *Happy Hour in Hell* (2013), *Sleeping Late on Judgement Day* (2014), and the e-book novella "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlepig" (2014).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
**Ordinary Farm.** The young-adult *Ordinary Farm Adventures*, written with Deborah Beale, comprise *The Dragons of Ordinary Farm* (2009) and *The Secrets of Ordinary Farm* (2011).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
**Standalone novels.** Besides *Tailchaser's Song*, the standalones are *Child of an Ancient City* (1992, with Nina Kiriki Hoffman), *Caliban's Hour* (1994), and *The War of the Flowers* (2003), a contemporary fantasy set in [Northern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-california) and Faerie.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/) • [3](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/)
## Short fiction, collections, and comics
Williams's collections include *Rite: Short Work* (Subterranean Press hardcover 2006, published January 2007; trade paperback 2008 without the nonfiction pieces), *A Stark and Wormy Knight* (2012), the signed limited chapbook *Diary of a Dragon* (2013, limited to 750 numbered copies), and *The Very Best of Tad Williams* (2014).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
His comics work includes *Mirrorworld* (two issues, canceled when the publisher went out of business), the six-issue [DC Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/dc-comics) miniseries *The Next* (July to December 2006), a run on *Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis* in which he replaced writer Kurt Busiek with issue #50 in March 2007 and continued through issue #57, and the one-shot *Ibis the Invincible: The Helmet of Fate* (2007).[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
## Place in the field
Williams's publisher describes his output of epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, and comics as having strongly influenced a generation of writers, and his books have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.[10](https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/author/?authorid=2282348) Blurb quotations gathered by his publisher credit him as an inspiration for [Patrick Rothfuss](https://www.edgepedia.org/patrick-rothfuss), George R. R. Martin, and Christopher Paolini, with Paolini calling *Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn* one of the great fantasy epics.[9](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/03/the-splintered-sun/) The Osten Ard saga as a whole now spans nine novels across nearly four decades, from *The Dragonbone Chair* in 1988 to *The Navigator's Children* in 2024, and continues to grow with *Flan's Crows*.[2](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
## References
1. [Williams, Tad, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/williams_tad)
2. [Bibliography, Tad Williams official site (last updated July 22, 2026)](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/bibliography/)
3. [Books, Tad Williams official site](https://www.tadwilliams.com/books/)
4. [The Splintered Sun by Tad Williams, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/742672/the-splintered-sun-by-tad-williams/)
5. [5 Books That Influenced How George R. R. Martin Wrote Game of Thrones, TIME](https://time.com/4769331/game-of-thrones-books-george-rr-martin/)
6. [What's Next?, Tad Williams official site, July 22, 2026](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/07/whats-next/)
7. [The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams (paperback), Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/708475/the-navigators-children-by-tad-williams/paperback/)
8. [Tad Williams, yearly archives 2026, official site](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/)
9. [Return to Osten Ard, Tad Williams official site, March 26, 2026](https://www.tadwilliams.com/2026/03/the-splintered-sun/)
10. [Tad Williams, Penguin Random House Higher Education author page](https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/author/?authorid=2282348)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Genre fiction categories › Science fiction, fantasy, and horror › Fantasy novels and series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license