The Wicked Years Books in Order
The Wicked Years is Gregory Maguire's Oz for adults: Wicked (1995) takes the green girl born to Munchkin missionaries and follows her to Shiz University, the Animal rights movement, and the terrorism charges that make her the Wicked Witch of the West - a political novel wearing a fairy tale. Three more volumes completed the quartet by 2011; the musical (2003) made Elphaba a global icon and softened the book into a phenomenon; and the two-part film (2024, 2025) did it again at cinema scale. Maguire has since kept expanding his Oz: a Maracoor sequel trilogy (2021-2023) following Elphaba's son, and childhood prequels - Elphie (2025) and Galinda (2026), the newest. This page sequences all of it (1995–2026).
Where to start
Wicked (1995), volume one - the one the musical adapts, roughly its first half. Readers who want the quartet's shape: it is one story told across four viewpoints.
The complete list
Tick the boxes off as you read, or for the bookshelf.
| Year | Title | Series / type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Wicked | #1 — the musical's source; start here | |
| 2005 | Son of Witch | #2 — Liir | |
| 2008 | A Lion Among Men | #3 — Brrr | |
| 2011 | Out of Oz | #4 — the quartet closes | |
| 2021 | The Brides of Maracoor | Another Day #1 — the sequel trilogy | |
| 2022 | The Oracle of Maracoor | Another Day #2 | |
| 2023 | The Witch of Maracoor | Another Day #3 — closes | |
| 2025 | Elphie: A Wicked Childhood | Prequel — Elphaba before Shiz | |
| 2026 | Galinda: A Charmed Childhood | Prequel · 2026 — the newest |
Does the reading order matter?
The quartet, in order: Wicked (1995, Elphaba), Son of a Witch (2005, her son Liir), A Lion Among Men (2008, the Cowardly Lion as diplomat), Out of Oz (2011, the close) - strict sequence, one civil war arc. The sequels: the Another Day trilogy - The Brides of Maracoor (2021), The Oracle of Maracoor (2022), The Witch of Maracoor (2023) - follows Rain into the ocean world beyond Oz, and assumes the quartet. The prequels - Elphie: A Wicked Childhood (2025) and Galinda: A Charmed Childhood (2026), the newest - go back before Shiz and can be read first, though they are written with the whole history in play. The musical and the films (Wicked, 2024; Wicked: For Good, 2025) adapt the first book's shape, not its politics - readers arriving from the film should expect a darker, adult novel. Maguire's non-Oz retellings - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (1999), Mirror Mirror (2003), Hiddensee (2017) - stand alone
Which one is the best?
Wicked (1995), the source of everything; Son of a Witch (2005), the sequel that earned its place; Out of Oz (2011), the close the quartet deserved.
Related guides
Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Chronicles of Narnia books in order, J.R.R. Tolkien books in order, Anne of Green Gables books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.
Make it a project
Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.
Frequently asked questions
What order should you read The Wicked Years books in?
Quartet strict (1995-2011) → Maracoor trilogy (2021-23) → Elphie (2025), Galinda (2026) prequels.
Where should I start with The Wicked Years?
Wicked (1995), #1 of 4, in order.
How many The Wicked Years books are there?
Four Wicked Years novels, the three Maracoor sequels, the two childhood prequels through Galinda (2026) - nine Oz books for adults - plus the standalone retellings, behind a musical that has run since 2003 and the two-part film (2024-2025). As of October 2026 this list is current.
What was The Wicked Years's first book?
Wicked (1995) — the first row of the list above.