Jayne Ann Krentz – Arcane Society Series Reading Order

The JAK read order is sooo not right.S/B Second Sight,Third Circle, Perfect Poison,Burning Lamp, White Lies,Sizzle & Burn, Running Hot,Fired Up, Midnight Crystal

I believe Debbie was saying thats the reading order because that is the chronological order of when the books were set. I don’t know why Jayne decided to jump around in time like that, but if that’s what she intended, then her way is the “official” reading order.

Listing them in publication order vs. chronological (reading) order is confusing and makes no sense. I went to Borders to order Book 2, of The Dreamlight Trilogy, and the clerk trying to help me said I was wrong, until I showed him the reading list above. He didn’t understand the order or why she was jumping around or why she would have the books cross over each of her pen names.

With JAK it’s important that readers know how she organises her writing.
Historicals are published under the name Amanda Quick
Contemporaries are published under the name Jayne Ann Krentz
Futuristic are published under Jayne Castle.
Several other pseudonyms have been used but are not related to this series.
She has explained the original reason was due to restrictions made by publishers under contracts she signed early in her career and no doubt to assist her readers in identifying the genre of each title. I recommend reading order as she has stated by publishing date. Often new elements and explanations are introduced that add insight into books that take place in other time periods that make more sense when read in the order they were written.
It also helps to read the Harmony world series before Dreamlight Trilogy Book 3. I made a point of reading in publishing order and found it most satisfying.
Enjoy!

I noticed you don’t have her latest book, Quicksilver by Amanda Quick on your list. You should add it for people that just recently became involved in her series and are looking for what else ties in with it.

I agree that her reading order is messed up. the reading order should start with Second sight
third circle
perfect Poison

but after that I am not sure what comes next. I wish there was a reading order list on what should be read and in what order and not an publication list on the year they were published. This way the series would be less confusing and I wouldn’t have to go back to the other books so often to realize something.

I read all the Amanda Quick’s first, then the Jayne Ann Krentz’s second, and the Jayne Castle’s last… by the time I got to the Krentz’s editions I was able to follow the character’s ancestries, which seems to be what most of these are coming from. So, I think if you start with the Quick books first you’ll be better able to follow everything else.

I strongly agree that there needs to be a reading order and not just a publishing order list. I started reading the series as she has it listed on her site and it quickly got confusing. Stories and characters are mentioned that do appear until much later in the series. Then I started reading the Amanda Quick stories first and that made much more sense. I hope I can figure out what to read after The Perfect Poison without getting totally confused again. With at least different series all mixed up, it is not easy.

My two cents is that either reading order is fine. I followed Ms. Krentz’s order and had no difficulty. I helps that each book is really stand-alone within the A. S. framework. I read to “Burning Lamp” and then started the Harmony novels. It should be noted that, as Castle, J A K mentions Arcane as early as “Silvermaster” and a Sweetwater features in “Obsidian Prey”, which I believe is not list as one of the A. S. novels.

The fan reading order simply starts in the past then goes in to the present then future. Oppose to going back and forth I actually started reading Amanda Quick in the 90s so I preferred it that way and jumping into Jayne Castle is so confusing I will have to wait and read her books from the beginning because Cayons of the Night was frustrating not understanding how the world got there

I could be wrong, but I believe the author wrote the books by family, as opposed to time period- as in, the modern day ancestor(s) of the historical characters in the previous book.
I agree with the previous 2 posts (Thomas Dixon & TenaJ)- it’s fine to read them in publication order or in time period order, which many readers prefer.
It’s all a matter of personal preference.

I have all but the last two of each trilogy in just her arcane society novels. I feel reading in any order is satisfying. I read mine, oddly enough, in this order: 2nd sight, 3rd circle, sizzle & burn, running hot, white lies, perfect poison, then the dreamlight trilogy, and finally the looking glass trilogy. no matter how you read them, they are worth the read for anyone who likes that type of story. enjoy everyone :).

I read the books whenever I could get my hands on one and had no difficulty in following the setting of each story. I like the cross over in the time frame, it gave each story that little extra.

My mother has just finished the series, and is not very tech-savvy. She says there are some questions left unanswered in Canyons of Night, and was wondering if she is somehow missing a book, if there is a new book due soon, or if she’s just out of luck and has to dictate some fanfic to me. 😀

This was very helpful! I have read all of these in the authors order and now I am going to read them in the order the readers liked. Thanks so much!!

So I am trying to read the Arcane Society books by the author’s list and it is gradually making me feel crazier. I would love to read the books in a chronological order. I get that it goes historical (Amanda Quick), contemporary (Jayne Ann Krentz), future (Jayne Castle) but I have no idea which books fit where. I don’t know the reading order for each genre, and it seems from reading descriptions that there are other books that are in the same world that are separate series. Going slightly crazy…I tend to read series as a whole instead of as individual books and this is feeling unwieldy.

I’m confused. Why is “White Lies” the second book when it clearly talkes about a man employed by the Jones and Jones investigation company that was established in book 6?

Are any of the other books depicted in the Victorian Era or is it just Second Sight, The Third Circle, and The Perfect Poison? All the others seem to be written in the current modern age.