Below is the complete list of C.S. Lewis books in publication order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Cosmic Trilogy Books in Order
- Out of the Silent Planet (1938)
Out of the Silent Planet was published in 1938 and is listed as book #1 in the Cosmic Trilogy series. - Perelandra / Voyage to Venus (1944)
Published in 1944, Perelandra / Voyage to Venus is listed as book #2 in the Cosmic Trilogy series. - That Hideous Strength / The Tortured Planet (1945)
That Hideous Strength / The Tortured Planet is a 1945 release and appears as book #3 in the Cosmic Trilogy series.
The Chronicles Of Narnia Books in Order
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was published in 1950 and is listed as book #1 in the The Chronicles Of Narnia series. - Prince Caspian (1951)
Published in 1951, Prince Caspian is listed as book #2 in the The Chronicles Of Narnia series. - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 1952 release and appears as book #3 in the The Chronicles Of Narnia series. - The Silver Chair (1953)
In the The Chronicles Of Narnia series, The Silver Chair is book #4 and was published in 1953. - The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Horse and His Boy was first published in 1954; within the The Chronicles Of Narnia series, it is listed as book #5. - The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
The Magician's Nephew was published in 1955 and is listed as book #6 in the The Chronicles Of Narnia series. - The Last Battle (1956)
Published in 1956, The Last Battle is listed as book #7 in the The Chronicles Of Narnia series.
The Chronicles Of Narnia Companion Books in Order
- A Book of Narnians (1950)
A Book of Narnians was published in 1950 and is listed as book #1 in the The Chronicles Of Narnia Companion series.
The World Of Narnia Books in Order
- Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe (1997)
Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe was published in 1997 and is listed as book #1 in the The World Of Narnia series. - Edmund and the White Witch (1997)
Published in 1997, Edmund and the White Witch is listed as book #2 in the The World Of Narnia series. - Aslan (1998)
Aslan is a 1998 release and appears as book #3 in the The World Of Narnia series. - Aslan’s Triumph (1998)
In the The World Of Narnia series, Aslan's Triumph is book #4 and was published in 1998. - Uncle Andrew’s Troubles (1998)
Uncle Andrew's Troubles was first published in 1998; within the The World Of Narnia series, it is listed as book #5. - The Wood Between the Worlds (1999)
The Wood Between the Worlds was published in 1999 and is listed as book #6 in the The World Of Narnia series.
Standalone Novels Books in Order
- The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933)
The Pilgrim's Regress was published in 1933 and is listed as book #1 in the Standalone Novels series. - The Screwtape Letters (1942)
Published in 1942, The Screwtape Letters is listed as book #2 in the Standalone Novels series. - The Great Divorce (1945)
The Great Divorce is a 1945 release and appears as book #3 in the Standalone Novels series. - Till We Have Faces (1956)
In the Standalone Novels series, Till We Have Faces is book #4 and was published in 1956. - Screwtape Proposes A Toast (1965)
Screwtape Proposes A Toast was first published in 1965; within the Standalone Novels series, it is listed as book #5.
Collections Books in Order
- Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories (1966)
Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories was published in 1966 and is listed as book #1 in the Collections series. - The Dark Tower: And Other Stories (1977)
Published in 1977, The Dark Tower: And Other Stories is listed as book #2 in the Collections series. - Of This and Other Worlds (1982)
Of This and Other Worlds is a 1982 release and appears as book #3 in the Collections series. - Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia (1985)
In the Collections series, Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia is book #4 and was published in 1985. - Present Concerns (1987)
Present Concerns was first published in 1987; within the Collections series, it is listed as book #5. - Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (2013)
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature was published in 2013 and is listed as book #6 in the Collections series.
Graphic Novels Books in Order
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: A Graphic Novel (1995)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: A Graphic Novel was published in 1995 and is listed as book #1 in the Graphic Novels series.
Non-Fiction Books in Order
- The Problem of Pain (1940)
The Problem of Pain was published in 1940 and is listed as book #1 in the Non-Fiction series. - Case for Christianity (1942)
Published in 1942, Case for Christianity is listed as book #2 in the Non-Fiction series. - Mere Christianity (1943)
Mere Christianity is a 1943 release and appears as book #3 in the Non-Fiction series. - The Abolition of Man (1943)
In the Non-Fiction series, The Abolition of Man is book #4 and was published in 1943. - English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama (1944)
English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama was first published in 1944; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #5. - Miracles (1947)
Miracles was published in 1947 and is listed as book #6 in the Non-Fiction series. - What Christians Believe (1952)
Published in 1952, What Christians Believe is listed as book #7 in the Non-Fiction series. - Surprised by Joy (1955)
Surprised by Joy is a 1955 release and appears as book #8 in the Non-Fiction series. - Reflections on the Psalms (1958)
In the Non-Fiction series, Reflections on the Psalms is book #9 and was published in 1958. - The Four Loves (1960)
The Four Loves was first published in 1960; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #10. - Studies in Words (1960)
Studies in Words was published in 1960 and is listed as book #11 in the Non-Fiction series. - A Grief Observed (1961)
Published in 1961, A Grief Observed is listed as book #12 in the Non-Fiction series. - Letters to Malcolm (1964)
Letters to Malcolm is a 1964 release and appears as book #13 in the Non-Fiction series. - Christian Reflections (1967)
In the Non-Fiction series, Christian Reflections is book #14 and was published in 1967. - God in the Dock (1971)
God in the Dock was first published in 1971; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #15. - The Joyful Christian (1977)
The Joyful Christian was published in 1977 and is listed as book #16 in the Non-Fiction series. - The Business of Heaven (1984)
Published in 1984, The Business of Heaven is listed as book #17 in the Non-Fiction series. - All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis, 1922-1927 (1991)
(With Walter Hooper)
All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis, 1922-1927 is a 1991 release and appears as book #18 in the Non-Fiction series. - C.S. Lewis on Grief (1998)
In the Non-Fiction series, C.S. Lewis on Grief is book #19 and was published in 1998. - A Year with C.S. Lewis (2003)
A Year with C.S. Lewis was first published in 2003; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #20. - From Narnia To Space Odyssey (2003)
(With Arthur C. Clarke)
From Narnia To Space Odyssey was published in 2003 and is listed as book #21 in the Non-Fiction series. - C. S. Lewis’s Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile (2011)
(With A.T. Reyes)
Published in 2011, C. S. Lewis's Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile is listed as book #22 in the Non-Fiction series. - Image and Imagination (2013)
Image and Imagination is a 2013 release and appears as book #23 in the Non-Fiction series. - The Weight of Glory (2016)
In the Non-Fiction series, The Weight of Glory is book #24 and was published in 2016. - How to Be a Christian (2018)
How to Be a Christian was first published in 2018; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #25. - The Reading Life (2019)
The Reading Life was published in 2019 and is listed as book #26 in the Non-Fiction series. - On Writing (2022)
Published in 2022, On Writing is listed as book #27 in the Non-Fiction series.
Poetry Books in Order
- Spirits in Bondage (1919)
Spirits in Bondage was published in 1919 and is listed as book #1 in the Poetry series. - Poems (1964)
Published in 1964, Poems is listed as book #2 in the Poetry series. - Narrative Poems (1969)
Narrative Poems is a 1969 release and appears as book #3 in the Poetry series.
About C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis remains one of the most widely read Christian writers of the twentieth century, but his bibliography makes the most sense when seen as the meeting point of several different careers rather than a single literary identity. He was a scholar of medieval and Renaissance literature, a Christian apologist, a novelist, an essayist, a broadcaster, and a writer of children’s fantasy who somehow managed to be taken seriously in all of those roles. That combination is rare. Many writers succeed in one register and become trapped there. Lewis moved between academic criticism, imaginative fiction, and religious argument with unusual confidence, and the shelf he left behind reflects that breadth.
Born in Belfast in 1898, Lewis was marked early by both intense reading and profound loss. The death of his mother when he was a child became one of the shaping griefs of his life, and his later writing often carries a keen awareness of longing, absence, and the fragile distance between joy and sorrow. He served in the First World War, studied at Oxford, and eventually became a distinguished academic, first at Oxford and later at Cambridge. That scholarly foundation matters because it explains part of the density beneath even his most accessible books. Lewis could write with great clarity, but that clarity rested on immense learning.
His bibliography is best understood in four major strands. The first is the Christian apologetics and devotional writing for which many adult readers know him best: works such as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and A Grief Observed. These books show Lewis as a prose stylist of unusual lucidity. He had a gift for making theological and philosophical ideas feel conversational without becoming thin. He could argue fiercely, but he also knew how to translate abstract doctrine into moral and imaginative terms that ordinary readers could grasp.
The second strand is the fiction for children and younger readers, above all The Chronicles of Narnia. Those seven books became his most culturally enduring imaginative creation, but they are not merely children’s fantasies. They hold myth, Christian symbolism, adventure, melancholy, and metaphysical longing in a form simple enough for young readers and deep enough to sustain lifelong rereading. Narnia made Lewis globally famous in a way his criticism never could, and it remains the part of his bibliography most likely to introduce new readers to his name.
The third strand is his adult imaginative fiction, especially the Space Trilogy and novels such as Till We Have Faces and The Great Divorce. These books are essential to understanding him fully. They show that Lewis was not only a teacher of ideas or a maker of allegory, but a serious imaginative writer capable of strangeness, beauty, and moral complexity. Till We Have Faces in particular is often regarded as his finest novel because it reveals a darker, subtler, and more psychologically layered side of his imagination than readers sometimes expect from him.
The fourth strand is his academic and literary criticism. Lewis was not a novelist who happened to teach; he was a major scholar whose works on medieval literature, allegory, and English literary history were central to his professional life. That side of his bibliography can be overshadowed by Narnia and apologetics, but it is crucial. He thought about language, myth, and imagination at the highest level, and that seriousness informs everything else he wrote.
Another key part of his life was friendship and conversation. Lewis belonged to the Inklings, the Oxford literary circle that included J.R.R. Tolkien, and while the two writers were very different, their friendship helped shape modern fantasy literature in ways that still echo. Lewis’s later marriage to Joy Davidman also altered the emotional register of his life and writing, most painfully in the grief that followed her death and found expression in A Grief Observed.
The best way to understand C.S. Lewis, then, is not as merely the author of Narnia or merely a Christian thinker. He was a writer for whom imagination and belief were inseparable. Whether he was explaining doctrine, inventing another world, retelling myth, or writing about loss, he kept returning to the same central questions: what human beings long for, what they worship wrongly, what they are made for, and whether joy can be trusted as a sign of something real beyond the visible world. That is why his bibliography still feels alive. It does not belong to one audience only. It belongs to readers who want argument, story, and spiritual seriousness all at once.