The Books of Babel reading order
Publication order for Josiah Bancroft’s Books of Babel tetralogy, why Senlin Ascends is the only start, and why the Orbit reprints are not a new sequence.
Start here
Senlin Ascends
It is book one of a finished four-book climb. There is no prequel, no side-novel on-ramp, and no honest way to begin with Arm of the Sphinx because the first book “is slow.”
The first book is deliberate. Senlin is a headmaster with a guidebook. The Tower trains him out of that. Starting at book two hands you a crew and a problem you have not earned.
Some readers bounce. That is a taste problem, not a reading-order problem. The series does not have a gentler door.
The four novels
Publication order is the story order. The tetralogy is complete.
| # | Title | Year | Notes | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Senlin Ascends | 2013 | Self-published; Orbit reprint 2018. Start here. | Amazon |
| 2 |  Arm of the Sphinx | 2015 | Self-published; Orbit reprint 2018. | Amazon |
| 3 |  The Hod King | 2019 | Orbit. | Amazon |
| 4 |  The Fall of Babel | 2021 | Last novel. | Amazon |
The 2018 Orbit editions are the same first two books, not a reboot. If your library has the later covers, you are still in the same sequence.
Bancroft’s series page lists them as Book I–IV of the tetralogy. There is no contested chronology. People who “argue Senlin vs sequels as a start” are arguing about patience, not about hidden prequels.
Optional extras
This is a short spine. We are not stuffing picture books or RPG extras into it.
If you find a later anthology or related short, read it after the tetralogy. Nothing currently belongs in a numbered fifth slot. Do not wait for a fifth novel before starting; The Fall of Babel is the end of this climb.
Common mistakes
- Starting with Arm of the Sphinx because a review said the series finds its crew in book two.
- Treating the Orbit reprints as Books 1–2 of a different series.
- Searching “Babel” and picking up a different author’s tower.
- Stopping after book one and calling the series unfinished. It was unfinished in 2013. It is not unfinished now.
What to read next
- Mistborn Era 1 (Brandon Sanderson) — If you want another complete trilogy about a person who entered a system with a plan and left it unable to use the same plan.
- The Locked Tomb (Tamsyn Muir) — If you want a short series that still changes camera and manners between books, without a ten-volume commitment.
- The Goblin Emperor (Katherine Addison) — If Senlin’s manners-in-a-hostile-court problem was the hook, in one volume.
- The Craft Sequence (Max Gladstone) — If the Tower’s ringdoms felt like city-states with contracts, and you want that as a whole setting.
- Piranesi (Susanna Clarke) — If the pleasure was a building that is also a worldview, and you want one book, not four.
FAQ
Do I have to read them in order?
Yes. It is one climb.
Is Senlin Ascends optional if I already know the premise?
No. The premise is not the book.
Which edition should I buy?
Whichever printing your shop has. Orbit 2018 is the widely available first volume, not a rewrite.
Is there a book five?
Not as part of this tetralogy. The Fall of Babel is the last novel on the author’s series page.
Is this related to R. F. Kuang’s Babel?
No. Different book, different argument. Search “Senlin” if the title is crowded.
Sources
- Josiah Bancroft, The Books of Babel — tetralogy listing, Book I–IV. Opened 2026-09-13.
First-publication years above are the original English appearances; Orbit’s 2018 reprints are the common trade editions of books 1–2.
Same shelf
