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Ted Chiang Books in Order
Below you'll find the complete list of Ted Chiang books in publication order. This is generally the recommended reading order for the series.
Reading order verified: March 2026
Quick Answer
What order should I read the Ted Chiang series? Start with "Tower of Babylon" (1990) and follow publication order through all 13 books.
The complete Ted Chiang reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order
Tower of Babylon
1990
Understand (in Asimov's)
1991
Story of Your Life (in Stories of Your Life and Others)
1998
Seventy-Two Letters (in Vanishing Acts)
2000
Hell Is the Absence of God
2001
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
2007
The Lifecycle of Software Objects
2010
The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling
2013
The Great Silence
2015
Omphalos
2019
Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom
2019
Stories of Your Life and Others / Arrival
2002
Exhalation
2019
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