Order of Ada Palmer Books

Ada Palmer is an American author of science fiction and fantasy novels, best known for her Terra Ignota series. Her books are praised for their detailed world-building, interesting ideas, and thoughtful look at politics, history, and human nature. Palmer is also a historian and professor, and her background in history influences how she tells her stories.

Ada Palmer made her debut as a novelist in 2016 with Too Like the Lightning. Below is a list of Ada Palmer’s books in order of when they were first released:

Publication Order of Terra Ignota Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Shoreline of Infinity Science Fiction Magazine Books

(with Kim Stanley Robinson, Iain M. Banks, Andrew Lang, Anton Rose, Jane Yolen, Charles Stross, Ken MacLeod, Ian Watson, Eric Brown, Adam Roberts, Tony Ballantyne, John Buchan, Craig Thompson, Holly Schofield, Shannon Connor Winward, Nalo Hopkinson, Chris Beckett, Karen Heuler, George MacDonald, Jo Walton, Tricia Sullivan, Ian Whates, Edd Vick, Sofia Samatar, Gareth L. Powell, Duncan Lunan, Tim Major, Premee Mohamed, Andy McKell, David McGillveray, Elana Gomel, T.L. Huchu, Allen Ashley, Marge Simon, F.J. Bergmann, Chris Barnham, Gary Gibson, Chris Kelso, May Kendall, Megan Neumann, Neil Williamson, Vaughan Stanger, Steve Green, David L. Clements, Callum McSorley, Bo Balder, David Lindsay, Ruth E.J. Booth, Cat Hellisen, Tim Major, Shelly Bryant, Eugen Bacon, ThomasClark, Ahmed A. Khan, Tiffany Meuret, Ian Hunter, Robert Neilson, Sherry Shahan, Paul Holmes, Andrew Reichard, Die Booth, Heather Valentine, Raman Mundair, Noel Chidwick, Christopher Collingwood, Christopher R. Muscato, Preston Grassmann, Pippa Goldschmidt, Davide Mana, Benjamin C. Kinney, Rachel Armstrong, Paul McQuade, E. M. Faulds, David L Clements, Simon Nagel, Alex Storer, Mariah Montoya, Hiron Ennes, Guy Stewart, Eris Young, Andrew J. Wilson, Caroline Grebbell, Michael Stroh, Clive Tern, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Benjamin Dodds, Sára Júlia, J. Leslie Mitchell, Monica Burns, Rachel Plummer, Dan Grace, Teika Marija Smits, Davyne DeSye, L.R. Lam, J.K. Fulton, Dave Weaver, Lyndsey Croal, Helen French, Douglas Gwilym, Ken Poyner, Iain Maloney, Andrew Blair, Moussa Ould Ebnou, Robert Bagnall, Laura Duerr, Andrew Kozma, Lucy Zhang, Des Raspin, Katie Gray, Mark Toner, Shelley Bryant, Grahame Barrasford Young, Miriam Johnson, Thomas Broderick, Tracey S. Rosenberg, Dee Raspin, Sara Ljeskovac, Kenzie Lappin, Petra Kuppers, Brian M. Milton, Andrew Knighton, Ken McLeod, Brent Baldwin, Jeda Pearl, Terry Jackman, Daniel Soule, Steve Pickering, Michael Fontana, Tyler J Petty, Ryan L. Daly, Bethany Ruth Anderson, Steve Simpson, Kathy Steinemann, Ann Craig, Elsa Bouet, Dave Ring, Rob Butler, Ephiny Gale, Adam Connors, Jack Schouten, DA D’Amico, Lidia Molina Whyte, E.M. Faulds, J.G. Sarmiento, Louis Evans, Esme Carpenter, Bram E. Gieben, Simon Mordem, Ruth Aylett, Stuart Beel, Net Newman, Daniel Rosen, Gary Dalkin, Simon Fung, Marija Smits, Kate Macdonald, Hûw Steer, Lindz McLeod, Emma Levin, Tania Chen, Russell Jones, Rhiannon Grist, M.H. Ayinde, Laura Young, Matthew Castle, M. Luke McDonell, Ely Percy, Anya Ow, Vicki Jarrett, Gessica Sakamoto Martini, Knighton Knighton, Sara Kate Ellis, Greta Colombani, SK Farrell, Serna Johe, K.E. Macphee, Chris Baily, Calum L Macleoid, S.A.M. Rundell, Peyman Saremian, Jeremey Nelson, Gregory A. Austin, Jo Ross-Barrett, RV Neville, Teika Marina Smits, Raymond W Gallacher, Adam Marx, Bethany Davis, Laura Scotland, Woody Dismukes, Edmind Fines, David Lawrie, Jesse Rowell, T.H. Dray, Beth Nuttall, Anna Ziemons-McLean, Anna Cheung, Dylan Kwok, LeeAnn Perry, M.A.R. Rinaldi, S.J. Groenewegen, Jamie M Boyd, M Shedric Simpson, Darryl A Smith, Caitriana NicNeacail, Ruth EJ Booth, John J Kennedy, Scott Payne, T. Lucas Earle, Franki Halliwell, Timothy Quinn, Joyce Bingham)

Publication Order of Anthologies

If You Like Ada Palmer Books, You’ll Love…

• Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Gene Wolfe
• Christopher Ruocchio

Abigail Hing Wen Synopses: Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer is the first book in the Terra Ignota series. Mycroft Canner is a convict, sentenced in the 25th century to wander the world, offering his services wherever he can. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer – a spiritual counselor in a society that has outlawed public religion but cannot erase the human need for inner guidance.

The world they inhabit is as alien to us as ours would be to a person from the 1500s. It is a hard-won utopia of technological abundance, ruled by intricate systems of social labeling and governed by globe-spanning clans whose competition is meticulously managed. Gender distinctions that seem ordinary to us are taboo, and every word and public expression is carefully monitored. To outsiders, it is a bizarre mix of heaven and hell; to its citizens, it is simply life.

Into this meticulously balanced world comes Bridger, a boy who defies all rules – a wild card with the power to make his wishes reality, even to the point of bringing inanimate objects to life. Mycroft and Carlyle must navigate this strange society and protect the fragile order…before Bridger’s gifts reshape the world in ways no one can predict.

Seven Surrenders is book 2 in Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series. In a future of near-instant global travel and abundant provision for all, a long era of peace teeters on the brink of collapse.

Unknown to most, the leaders of the great Hives – nations without fixed borders – have long maintained stability through carefully orchestrated acts of violence. Secret murders, calculated to keep no faction dominant, have preserved the delicate balance. But now, that balance is beginning to falter.

Mycroft Canner, a convict sentenced to wander the globe in service to all, knows more about the conspiracy than he can ever reveal. Carlyle Foster, counselor and sensayer, carries secrets of his own, burdens that weigh heavily. And both hold knowledge of the greatest secret of all: Bridger, a child with the power to bring inanimate objects to life – and the potential to reshape the world forever.

The Will to Battle is the third book in Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota series. The long years of near-utopia have ended.

Peace and order are now memories. Corruption, deception, and rebellion pulse through the once-unshakable leadership of the Hives – nations without fixed borders.

For decades, even centuries, the leaders of the great Hives maintained the world’s stability with a stream of secret, mathematically calculated murders, ensuring that no faction could dominate and that the balance would hold. But the truth is leaking, and the fragile illusion of order is slipping.

Just days ago, humanity stood at the pinnacle of civilization. Now, everyone – Hives and hiveless, Utopians and sensayers, emperors and the oppressed, warriors and saints – scrambles to prepare for the war they had long believed impossible.