Shari S asked Michael G. Manning:

Hello! I am looking forward to reading your books. I was wondering if the series are independent of each other or if they should be read in a specific order? Thank you!

Michael G. Manning This question has come up frequently, more so as my world has grown and new series have been added. So I figured I’d lay out a guide for it.

First, I’ll make clear the chronology for newcomers. The books farthest back in the past in my universe, are the novels in the Embers of Illeniel Series: The Mountains Rise (1), The Silent Tempest (2), and Betrayer’s Bane (3). These books take place roughly four thousand years before my first series, Mageborn.
Then there’s Mageborn, which contains five books, starting with The Blacksmith’s Son (you can look up the rest).
Following that, is the Champions of the Dawning Dragons series, which has three books. It begins with Thornbear, followed by Centyr Dominance, and ending with Demonhome.
Last, but not least, comes my current work in progress, The Riven Gates, which is a sort of spiritual successor to Mageborn. It follows after Demonhome, but the main point of view is that of Mordecai (as it was in Mageborn). It begins with the first book, aptly named, ‘Mordecai’ and moves on with ‘The Severed Realm’ (which is what I’m writing now).
You could read them all in chronological order, but I don’t think that’s the best way. My preference, is to read them in the order I published them, because there are hints about the past and future in each book that can help flavor the others. I understand that looking up publishing dates is tedious, so I’ll list them in that order for you:
The Blacksmith’s Son (Mageborn 1)
The Line of Illeniel (Mageborn 2)
The Archmage Unbound (Mageborn 3)
The God-Stone War (Mageborn 4)
The Final Redemption (Mageborn 5)
The Mountains Rise (Embers 1)
Thornbear (Champions 1)
The Silent Tempest (Embers 2)
Centyr Dominance (Champions 2)
Betrayer’s Bane (Embers 3)
Demonhome (Champions 3)
Mordecai (Riven Gates 1)
That’s the order I would read them in, but there’s no reason you couldn’t read the series independently of each other, or in chronological order instead.
As a side note, I have one stand-alone book, ‘Thomas’. It’s completely unrelated. It’s an excellent book, but not part of the Mageborn universe.

Good luck,
Michael

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