Novels, Series, Short Stories, Graphic Novels, Romanian Editions & Reading Order
Victoria Elizabeth Schwab, better known as V. E. Schwab and Victoria Schwab, is an American fantasy author whose work spans adult fantasy, young adult fiction, middle-grade adventures, gothic stories, comics and supernatural fiction.
Her bibliography includes the Shades of Magic universe, the Villains series, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Gallant, The Archived, Monsters of Verity and several other imaginative worlds.
Schwab has also published collaborative fiction under the name Evelyn Clarke, shared with fellow author Cat Clarke.
This BookFairy guide brings together her published books, major short fiction, graphic novels, collaborations, collected editions and Romanian translations, with publication dates and series reading orders.
๐ V. E. Schwab Books in Publication Order
The following chronology uses the original publication year of each work wherever possible. Short fiction, graphic novels and collaborative publications are identified separately.
| Year | Title | Category / Series |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Near Witch | Young adult fantasy novel |
| 2012 | The Ash-Born Boy | The Near Witch prequel novella |
| 2013 | The Archived | The Archived #1 |
| 2013 | Vicious | Villains #1 |
| 2013 | Warm Up | Villains short story |
| 2014 | The Unbound | The Archived #2 |
| 2014 | New Beginnings | Everyday Angel #1 |
| 2014 | Second Chances | Everyday Angel #2 |
| 2014โ2015 | Last Wishes | Everyday Angel #3 |
| 2015 | A Darker Shade of Magic | Shades of Magic #1 |
| 2015 | Leave the Window Open | The Archived short fiction |
| 2015โ2016 | Broken Ground | Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts #2 |
| 2016 | A Gathering of Shadows | Shades of Magic #2 |
| 2016 | This Savage Song | Monsters of Verity #1 |
| 2017 | A Conjuring of Light | Shades of Magic #3 |
| 2017 | Our Dark Duet | Monsters of Verity #2 |
| 2018 | Vengeful | Villains #2 |
| 2018 | City of Ghosts | Cassidy Blake #1 |
| 2018 | Common Ground | Villains short fiction |
| 2018 | Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince | Comic series begins |
| 2019 | Tunnel of Bones | Cassidy Blake #2 |
| 2019 | Shades of Magic: Night of Knives | Graphic novel |
| 2019โ2020 | Shades of Magic: The Rebel Army | Comic series / collected graphic novel |
| 2020 | The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | Standalone novel |
| 2020 | First Kill | Short story |
| 2021 | Bridge of Souls | Cassidy Blake #3 |
| 2021 | ExtraOrdinary | Villains graphic novel |
| 2022 | Gallant | Standalone novel |
| 2023 | The Fragile Threads of Power | Threads of Power #1 |
| 2025 | Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil | Standalone novel |
| 2026 | The Ending Writes Itself | As Evelyn Clarke, with Cat Clarke |
| 2026 | Victorious | Villains #3 |
Publication note: Some early children’s titles have different dates for school-market availability and general retail publication. Graphic novels may also have separate dates for their original comic issues and collected editions.
๐ Fantasy Series & Reading Orders
Shades of Magic Trilogy
The Shades of Magic trilogy introduces a world of parallel Londons, dangerous magic, political conflict and travellers capable of crossing the boundaries between realities.
Recommended reading order:
- A Darker Shade of Magic (2015)
- A Gathering of Shadows (2016)
- A Conjuring of Light (2017)
The trilogy forms the foundation of the larger Shades of Magic universe.
Threads of Power
Set in the world established by Shades of Magic, this follow-up series introduces new characters and conflicts while reconnecting readers with familiar elements.
- The Fragile Threads of Power (2023)
Readers unfamiliar with this universe should begin with A Darker Shade of Magic before moving to The Fragile Threads of Power.
Villains
The Villains books explore extraordinary abilities, ambition, rivalry, revenge and the complicated distinction between heroes and villains.
Main novels:
- Vicious (2013)
- Vengeful (2018)
- Victorious (2026)
Related fiction:
- Warm Up (2013) โ a short story connected to the Villains universe.
- Common Ground (2018) โ additional short fiction.
- ExtraOrdinary (2021) โ an original graphic novel expanding the universe.
For a straightforward first reading, begin with Vicious and continue through the novels in publication order. The shorter works can be explored afterward.
Monsters of Verity
A young adult urban fantasy duology featuring a divided city where violence creates monsters.
- This Savage Song (2016)
- Our Dark Duet (2017)
These novels form a complete two-book story.
The Archived
This supernatural young adult series imagines a world where the dead are preserved as records of the lives they once lived.
- The Archived (2013)
- The Unbound (2014)
Additional reading:
- Leave the Window Open (2015) โ a companion short work.
The first two novels have also been made available together in a collected edition titled The Dark Vault.
Cassidy Blake / City of Ghosts
Published as Victoria Schwab, these middle-grade supernatural adventures follow Cassidy Blake, a girl with an unusual connection to ghosts.
- City of Ghosts (2018)
- Tunnel of Bones (2019)
- Bridge of Souls (2021)
The books take readers through atmospheric locations while exploring friendship, danger and the supernatural.
Everyday Angel
An early middle-grade trilogy published under the name Victoria Schwab.
- New Beginnings (2014)
- Second Chances (2014)
- Last Wishes (2014โ2015)
The publication dates of the third volume vary between original school-market distribution and later retail listings.
The Near Witch
- The Near Witch (2011) โ the original standalone young adult fantasy novel.
- The Ash-Born Boy (2012) โ a prequel novella.
For a first reading, The Near Witch is a natural starting point; the prequel provides additional background.
Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts
- Broken Ground (2015โ2016)
This book belongs to a shared-world children’s fantasy series written by multiple authors.
Schwab wrote Broken Ground, but the complete Spirit Animals franchise is not exclusively her work.
๐ Standalone Novels
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020)
An adult fantasy novel about a young woman who bargains for freedom and receives a form of immortality with devastating consequences: everyone she encounters forgets her.
The novel explores memory, identity, loneliness, art, love and the human desire to leave a mark on the world.
Gallant (2022)
A gothic fantasy centred on family secrets, an eerie estate and the mysterious boundary between the living world and something much darker.
Its atmospheric storytelling combines supernatural horror with fairy-tale elements.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025)
An adult gothic fantasy novel connecting the lives of women across different periods and exploring desire, hunger, transformation and the cost of immortality.
The novel stands independently of Schwab’s established fantasy series.
The Near Witch (2011)
Although accompanied by a prequel novella, The Near Witch is a self-contained fantasy novel and Schwab’s first published novel.
โ๏ธ Short Stories, Novellas & Anthology Contributions
Schwab’s shorter fiction includes standalone pieces, series-related material and contributions to multi-author anthologies.
Individually Published Short Fiction
| Year | Title | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Ash-Born Boy | Prequel to The Near Witch |
| 2013 | Warm Up | Villains universe |
| 2015 | Leave the Window Open | The Archived universe |
| 2018 | Common Ground | Villains universe |
| 2020 | First Kill | Vampire-themed short story |
Anthology Contributions
Schwab has also contributed fiction or other writing to collaborative anthologies, including:
- Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy (2017)
- (Don’t) Call Me Crazy (2018) โ a multi-author collection of essays and personal perspectives.
- Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite (2020) โ includes Schwab’s First Kill.
First Kill subsequently inspired a television adaptation.
Individual stories are listed separately from anthologies where appropriate, preventing the same work from being counted twice as an original publication.
๐จ Graphic Novels & Comics
Schwab has expanded her fictional universes through comics and graphic novels.
Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince
This comic-book prequel explores events in the Shades of Magic universe before the original novel trilogy.
Collected-volume reading order:
- The Steel Prince โ comic series began in 2018; collected edition published in 2019.
- Night of Knives (2019)
- The Rebel Army โ comic issues began in 2019; collected edition followed in 2020.
The individual comic issues and their collected paperback or hardcover editions contain overlapping material and should not be counted as separate stories.
ExtraOrdinary (2021)
An original graphic novel connected to the Villains universe.
It can be read as supplementary material after becoming familiar with Vicious.
๐ค Collaborations & Other Pen Names
Evelyn Clarke
Evelyn Clarke is a collaborative pen name used by V. E. Schwab and Cat Clarke.
- The Ending Writes Itself (2026) โ a collaborative novel published under the Evelyn Clarke name.
This novel belongs in Schwab’s bibliography because she is one of its co-authors, even though her familiar author name does not appear on the cover.
Shared-World Writing
Schwab contributed Broken Ground to Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts, an established multi-author children’s fantasy property.
The book is included here as a collaboration within a shared fictional universe, not as an independently created Schwab series.
๐ฆ Omnibus Editions, Bind-Ups & Boxed Sets
Some Schwab books have been reissued together in collected volumes or boxed sets.
These are useful for collectors but do not represent additional original novels.
| Collected Edition | Contents |
|---|---|
| The Dark Vault | The Archived and The Unbound |
| Everyday Angel collected editions | The three Everyday Angel novels |
| Shades of Magic boxed sets | The original three Shades of Magic novels |
| Villains collected or boxed editions | Existing Villains novels |
| Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince collected editions | Previously published comic issues |
Special editions, anniversary editions, redesigned covers and later paperback releases are not repeated in the main publication chronology unless they introduce distinct new content.
๐ท๐ด V. E. Schwab Books Published in Romanian
Several of Schwab’s most popular fantasy novels have appeared in Romanian translation.
The table below pairs original titles with their Romanian equivalents. Publisher details are included where identified; different reprints of the same translation are not listed repeatedly.
| Original Title | Romanian Title | Romanian Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| A Darker Shade of Magic | Partea รฎntunecatฤ a magiei | Nemira / Armada |
| A Gathering of Shadows | Adunarea umbrelor | Nemira / Armada |
| A Conjuring of Light | Invocarea luminii | Nemira / Armada |
| The Fragile Threads of Power | Firele fragile ale puterii | Nemira / Armada, 2024 |
| The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | Viaศa invizibilฤ a lui Addie LaRue | Bookzone |
| Gallant | Gallant. Conacul bรขntuit | Bookzone |
| Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil | รn miez de noapte sฤ ne รฎngropaศi | Nemira / Armada, 2026 |
Translation note: Firele fragile ale puterii and รn miez de noapte sฤ ne รฎngropaศi are translated by Alexandru Szollo.
The Romanian bibliography records distinct translated works rather than every later cover design, impression or publisher relaunch.
A title’s absence from this table should not automatically be interpreted as proof that no Romanian edition has ever existed.
๐ Where Should You Start Reading V. E. Schwab?
Schwab’s books cover several reading audiences and styles.
For epic fantasy and intricate magical worlds:
Start with A Darker Shade of Magic.
For morally ambiguous characters and darker speculative fiction:
Start with Vicious.
For an emotional standalone fantasy:
Choose The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
For atmospheric gothic fiction:
Try Gallant or Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.
For young adult supernatural fiction:
Begin with The Archived or This Savage Song.
For younger readers:
Explore the Cassidy Blake trilogy, beginning with City of Ghosts.
There is no single reading order for the entire bibliography because most of these series and standalone novels take place in separate fictional worlds.
However, books within the Shades of Magic universe are best approached in their intended sequence.
๐ฆ V. E. Schwab on BookFairy
BookFairy features a review of:
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Published in 2025
Read the BookFairy review of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
More reviews can be added to this section as the BookFairy reading journal grows.
๐ Related BookFairy Pages
๐ Bibliographic Sources & Further Reading
For original publication information, series details, collected editions and Romanian translations, consult:
- V. E. Schwab โ Official Website
- V. E. Schwab โ Books
- V. E. Schwab โ Macmillan Publishers
- V. E. Schwab โ Titan Books
- V. E. Schwab โ Original Books at a Glance
- Nemira
- Bookzone
Bibliography compiled for BookFairy. Original works, companion stories, graphic novels and collected editions are distinguished to avoid counting reprints as new publications. This page may be expanded as new works and independently verified translations become available.
