Laini Taylor Books in Order
Laini Taylor writes fantasy with a fairy-tale lushness that sets her apart in modern fantasy. Her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy reimagines the ancient war between angels and chimaera through a cross-world romance spanning lifetimes. Strange the Dreamer follows a librarian obsessed with a mythical lost city — and the girl who fell from its sky. Taylor's prose is intensely lyrical, her worlds are ornate and handcrafted, and her romances are the kind that make readers cry in public. Best for readers who loved The Night Circus or A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Series 1 — Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Start here — the best entry point into Laini Taylor's work.
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Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Book 1 · 2011
Start here.
Karou, a blue-haired art student in Prague, runs mysterious errands for the chimaera family who raised her — until the day the portals to their world are burned shut by an angel with a message. Taylor builds two worlds simultaneously, and the collision between them is devastating.
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Days of Blood & Starlight
Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Book 2 · 2012
In the aftermath of the first book's revelations, the ancient war between angels and chimaera escalates while Karou tries to hold together what is left of the people she loves. The series shifts from fairy-tale wonder to something genuinely harrowing.
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Dreams of Gods & Monsters
Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Book 3 · 2014
The concluding volume brings the war between angels and chimaera to a cataclysmic confrontation while a new threat emerges that neither side can fight alone. Taylor delivers on five hundred pages of accumulated feeling.
Night of Cake & Puppets (2013 novella)
A standalone novella set in the world of Daughter of Smoke & Bone, following a side romance between two secondary characters. Originally published as an ebook exclusive; read after book one.
Series 2 — Strange the Dreamer
A complete duology. Can be read independently from Daughter of Smoke & Bone.
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Strange the Dreamer
Strange the Dreamer, Book 1 · 2017
Can be read independently from Daughter of Smoke & Bone.
A librarian obsessed with a mythical lost city finally reaches it — only to find a god's ruined palace floating above, and a girl watching from the sky. Taylor's world-building here is among the most original in modern fantasy.
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Muse of Nightmares
Strange the Dreamer, Book 2 · 2018
The conclusion to the Strange the Dreamer duology — the city of Weep, the godspawn, and the librarian who fell in love with a legend all converge on an ending Taylor spent two books earning. Do not read the synopsis before book one.