"What's the first book?" - Fantasy and Sci-fi

 I'm sure you've done it. Have you considered reading a series like Star Wars or Star Trek only to not know what book is even first? Here's the post you need to see. We'll dive into Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, The Wheel of Time, and Ender's Game series to determine what order to read them in. 

Courtesy of Abe Books

To restate what series we are tackling, we have Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, The Wheel of Time, and Ender's Game. Two of these I wanted to read, but didn't know the order of. Finding the books isn't a problem, yet I'm afraid I'll pick up a book and be terribly confused because I picked up book five before I picked up book one. I'll go into each series individually, starting with a basic plot overview and ending with a concrete list, or link to a concrete list, of books in the right order. 

Star Wars

We know the basic plot of the movies, yet here I am saying there is even more to explore. The main storyline is about Luke Skywalker and Jedi forces defeating the empire. The expanded world, and I do mean extensively expanded, creates many other storylines from before and after Luke Skywalker. I don't think a short paragraph would be helpful for mapping that, so I'm not going to try it. 

The sheer amount of books is overwhelming. Someone before me took this topic and made a good article about it, thus you can click here for an ultimate guide. What I found was not a simple list of books one through whatever number. Instead, we have eras and a distinction between legend Canon and a newer timeline (2014 and onward). This is horribly confusing for me. I would like to have a list of what order and just roll with that. The closest I could find was this page, which has a list arranged by eras. Good luck, young padawan. 

Courtesy of Giphy

Star Trek

In this series, many space explorers go where no one has gone before to both create diplomacy and fail at it (where the phasers come in real handy). It's set in the future with many alien races communicating openly with everyone else. Leaders such as Captain Kirk and Captain Picard made this series famous. I'm not even naming every leader at this point. The plot does not change with a new leader. 

There is a lot. I'm not going to lie and say "here, have this list" was what I found. No, in fact, the canon is not quite canon if I understood the source correctly. This whole linked website is a reading guide to different series of Star Trek books. Have fun!

Courtesy of tvovermind.com

Dune

The movies are a big hit right now. I have no doubt that you'll find the books out there in library displays and bookstores everywhere. The series follows Paul Atreides while he travels the desert planet Arrakis for valuable spices that control the empire. It gets more interesting from there. It's an older story than you think. There is an older movie, too. 

The series has more than one author. Frank Herbert has books, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The link I found gives you Frank's books and then the other two authors. The list is included in this link. It isn't nearly as complicated to find the order of this series. 

Courtesy of scriptshadow.net

The Wheel of Time

The plot is a complicated mix of time and powers. I'm not sure this book is something to be summed up in one sentence. I'm not worrying about it. You can google the basic plot and get a bit more information. I'm here to give you the order to read the books in. Maybe it is better, in this case, to just jump in and see if you like it. 

You have fifteen books in the entire series. It isn't nearly as expansive as Star Trek or Star Wars. It had to be continued after the author died. Fortunately, the notes left behind clarified for the next author Brandon Sanderson. Below I have the titles listed. My source for this list is here.

1. The Eye of the World

2. The Great Hunt

3. The Dragon Reborn

4. The Shadow Rising

5. The Fires of Heaven

6. Lord of Chaos

7. A Crown of Swords

8. The Path of Daggers

9. Winter's Heart

10. Crossroads of Twilight 

11. New Spring (prequel)

12. Knife of Dreams

13. The Gathering Storm

14. Towers of Midnight

15. A Memory of Light

Courtesy of insidehook.com

Ender's Game

This book follows Ender Wiggin, a gifted boy recruited into a military school to create leaders who can save them from aliens (Formics). This is a highly praised book in Goodreads ratings. I thought I'd have a concrete list when it pulled up a list right away. It also pulled up an article with three ways to read it. 

After inspecting the article I've decided to give you the article link. To sum up what you'll find, you can read it in publication order, series order, or chronological order. All have a list below the categories. You have a choice. 

Courtesy of The Movie Database

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