The Color of Water and Sky – Recommended Reading Order
With six books published in The Color of Water and Sky series of novels, some short-stories, some spin-offs, and some considered part of the “main series”, it can be intimidating to know where to start! Here are three ways to experience the six books in The Color of Water and Sky:
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Release-Date Order (Author’s Preferred Order)
Like Star Wars, a good place to start is to look at the release order. This is, after all, the way that the audience was first exposed to the series to begin with. As the author of the series, this is how I would personally recommend someone go about reading them in order.
The release-date order is as follows:
IrisKholvariaCassidyVeznekHiveAtlantia
In this way, we are presented with a small claustrophobic undersea world first, then the world slowly opens up as the series progresses. The world becomes more vast and expansive; the characters and events richer as the books go on.
In this way, the audience is also more easily eased into reading the perspective of Kholvari characters before they become much more prevalent in the later books.
Main Series, Then Spin-Offs (Great for “Testing Out” the series)
Not sure if an entire six-book series is for you? That’s understandable. If you are worried about committing to an entire series, another option is to read the main series first, then read the spin-offs later. In this way, reading of Cassidy and Atlantia becomes optional. That way, if you want to stop after the main series is over, there is no need to continue.
As the author of the series, this is my second most recommended reading order.
The main series, then spin-offs go as follows:
IrisKholvariaVeznekHiveCassidyAtlantia
Although Cassidy and Atlantia are both spin-offs, it is still important to read Cassidy first and Atlantia second, as the third part of Atlantia is intended as a direct sequel to Cassidy.
In this reading order, readers will still experience the slow rise from claustrophobic undersea city to sprawling vast outer space chaos, but then will be pulled back to a smaller, more familiar setting later on before finishing with a fleshed-out, bigger picture of the events they have already read about. Rather than a more consistently expanding scope, the scope will “swell” out and in.
Chronological Order (Great for a Full Read-Through at Once)
Reading it all in chronological order is really cool! However, I would not recommend this as a first-time read through. If you are new to the series, start with a different order first. I say for a few reasons. Firstly, Downfall is admittedly one of the weaker stories in the series and doesn’t provide the strongest starting point. Secondly, the characters will come and go and be generally inconstant until we finally get to Iris. Thirdly, the direction of the series will be a bit lost on a new reader until we get to Iris. Still though, if you have read the series once already, this could be a fun way to experience it on a second read.
This order is a bit trickier:
Downfall (part of Atlantia)Descent (part of Atlantia)Cassidy (prologue)IrisCassidy (chapters 1-6)KholvariaCassidy (chapters 7-12)VeznekCassidy (chapters 13-18 + epilogue)HiveAllora (part of Atlantia)Hive Epilogue
In this way, readers will experience everything in order. Readers will more easily be able to see how everything fits together, especially with overlapping events such as the events of Cassidy and how they mold with the other books in the series.
Which ever way you want to experience The Color of Water and Sky, you can buy the full series on Amazon.com:
