The 10 best book trilogies of all time, ranked

Stories often have three-act structures, because that feels right and works a good deal of the time, and so it’s not too surprising that sometimes, a series overall has a three-act structure. If it’s all planned out in advance, or even written as one massive work split into three, then it’s going to feel like a more purposeful and complete trilogy, but if sequels are planned after the success of a first book, and meaningfully continue the story, then that can also be just as good.

Most of the series below feel well planned-out, in any event, and are thereby among the best book trilogies of all time. Some of these trilogies belong to an overall series that’s technically more than just three novels, but if those three novels are seen as making up one distinct story or arc, then they're still eligible to count as trilogies, for present purposes.

'Sprawl' Trilogy (1984–1988)

At the time of writing, Neuromancer, the first book in the Sprawl trilogy, is yet to be adapted into TV or film, but probably not for long, since there is a TV adaptation in production. It’s worth noting that because Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive are all incredibly important and influential within the world of sci-fi, and especially cyberpunk, all while those three core stories can only be experienced on the page.

Other William Gibson short stories have had movie adaptations, though, like "Johnny Mnemonic" and "New Rose Hotel." Those take place within the same setting as the Sprawl trilogy, but the trilogy does remain its own thing because it’s three main novels, and then some extra stories that do add to the world and continue exploring some similar themes (and it should be acknowledged that the Sprawl trilogy is more of a thematic one, since different characters are focused on in each one).

'The Hunger Games' (2008–2010)

For a young adult series, The Hunger Games is honestly quite grim, seeing as it’s about a dystopian world that feels pretty close to something worse, like a post-apocalyptic one. Those who are wealthy in this world organize an annual competition and make young individuals from the poorer districts take part, with that being the titular Hunger Games, and each competition is a battle to the death, with one child or teenager left standing.

The Hunger Games has expanded beyond the original three books, to be fair, but it’s a bit of a Star Wars situation where you can still count the original three as the original trilogy. The other two books so far have been prequels, and so it’s not a case of a trilogy being stretched, and getting a part 4 followed by a part 5. The story of that original trilogy feels self-contained and done-and-dusted, sure, but more unexpected part 4s have come out before, so who knows. If this is out of date one day, by counting The Hunger Games as a trilogy, then apologies for that.

'Bill Hodges' Trilogy (2014–2016)

Though Stephen King has nearly 70 published novels, he’s only got one true trilogy, at the time of writing. By the end of 2026, The Talisman, Black House, and Other Worlds Than These will make up a trilogy, sure, but for now, it’s only the Bill Hodges trilogy that exists, and all three were published over a pretty short span of time: Mr. Mercedes (2014) to Finders Keepers (2015) to End of Watch (2016).

Of them, Mr. Mercedes is the most compelling, being a very well-paced and no-nonsense cat-and-mouse kind of crime thriller, with Finders Keepers going off in a slightly odd direction, and then End of Watch being more in line with Mr. Mercedes, but with a somewhat strange supernatural spin. The three books are generally good and more than readable, though, with King sort of continuing the Bill Hodges series, but with a focus on Holly Gibney (she becomes the protagonist in two novels, one novella, and then is also a supporting character for about one half of 2018’s The Outsider).

'Broken Earth' Trilogy (2015–2017)

Part-fantasy and part science fiction, The Broken Earth trilogy is set on Earth… maybe? Or it might be a different planet, if it’s not just Earth in the very distant future where there’s now a super-continent called the Stillness. It’s a bit reminiscent of another epic literary saga where the setting’s called Middle-earth, and it’s apparently the actual Earth, even if it’s incredibly different, but more on that one later.

The way The Broken Earth novels mix apocalyptic science fiction elements with fantasy ideas is unique, and there’s also a good deal here that reflects, or comments on, various real-world things on the actual Earth, which might not be as broken, but could potentially be in the process of breaking. Heavy-going, maybe, but that’s what you often get with science fiction, a lot of the time, and increasingly with fantasy, too, at least in the last few decades or so.

'Underworld USA' Trilogy (1995–2009)

The best series James Ellroy has written is probably the L.A. Quartet, but as the name of that one makes plain, it’s a four-book series, rather than a trilogy. So, here’s the Underworld USA Trilogy instead, with each book in this series spanning about five years, so you get events from 1958 through to 1973. And then the books themselves took almost the same amount of time to be published, with the first in 1995 and the third in 2009.

American Tabloid, like with Mr. Mercedes in its trilogy, is the highlight here, telling a fictional story that interweaves real-life historical events, building to the John F. Kennedy assassination in 1963. The Cold Six Thousand explores the aftermath of that, and builds to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. And then the third book, Blood’s a Rover… okay, that one kind of disappears off the deep end a bit. It feels like it goes out of its way not to build to the things you'd expect it to, but as something that’s even morally murkier, darker, and more violent than the already morally murky, dark, and violent American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand, it does admittedly exceed in escalating things in some truly alarming ways.

'Mistborn Era One' (2006–2008)

The Mistborn series is one that’s grown beyond the bounds of just one trilogy, but different entries within the series have been divided into different categories, with the first three novels making up Era One, and Era Two being four stories, to date, sometimes referred to as the Wax and Wayne series. Also, within Era One, there is technically a novella called Mistborn: Secret History, but that’s more of a bonus story.

Era One is principally a trilogy: 2006’s The Final Empire, 2007’s The Well of Ascension, and 2008’s The Hero of Ages. It’s a pretty great fantasy trilogy, with the first novel being the most exciting, admittedly, but then the way the consequences of that novel’s events are explored in books #2 and #3 still prove compelling and more than readable. Brandon Sanderson is currently seeking to top Mistborn with the much longer The Stormlight Archive, but that’s a work-in-progress, at the time of writing, so time will tell and all…

'The First Law' Trilogy (2006–2008)

There are some parallels here with Mistborn, as the books that make up The First Law trilogy were published in 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively, like Era One of Mistborn. And then The First Law trilogy isn't all that Joe Abercrombie has written within this particular world/series, with there being some standalone novels, short stories, and then a second trilogy called Age of Madness (published between 2019 and 2021).

So, there’s a lot here, and it’s hard to summarize, but to just focus on The First Law trilogy (or the first First Law trilogy), it’s about a huge war being fought at different points throughout a vast fantasy world. The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings succeed at doing some great world-building and having a fair few interesting characters caught up in the overall conflict, and so it’s an easy trilogy to recommend to those who like their fantasy books epic in scope.

'His Dark Materials' (1995–2000)

His Dark Materials, like a bunch of the already-mentioned examples, is now more than a trilogy. But also, like those other examples, the “initial” trilogy here is the most noteworthy and deserving of your time, with Northern Lights being the most approachable and consistent of the books, The Subtle Knife doing a lot to make the world of the series more expansive (technically, “worlds” of the series), and then The Amber Spyglass… oh, The Amber Spyglass.

No, The Amber Spyglass is good. It’s also very ambitious, and, as a grand finale, it does some things really well. It’s more that it gets a bit messy at points, but in no way does it stumble over the finish line, nor should it discourage anyone from starting the series. This is a mostly great fantasy saga, and it’s admirable for how it functions as a young adult series, but it doesn’t ever feel condescending or too straightforward for any older readers who might want to give it a shot.

'The d'Artagnan Romances' (1844–1850)

Alexandre Dumas’s d'Artagnan Romances can be considered a trilogy, though it gets a bit complicated when you arrive at the mammoth “third” book. For starters, though, you have The Three Musketeers, which is incredibly well-known, and Dumas’s most iconic alongside The Count of Monte Cristo. Then, book #2 in the d'Artagnan Romances is Twenty Years After, which does what you'd expect, following many of the same characters two decades on and all.

Then #3 is kind of a trilogy in itself, because The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later is huge, and it’s sometimes divided into three: The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière, and The Man in the Iron Mask. But counting The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later as one work, it does round out a trilogy centered around d'Artagnan, and makes for one of the all-time great epic stories in the history of literature.

'The Lord of the Rings' (1954–1955)

It’s tricky here, because The Lord of the Rings isn't exactly a trilogy, but it was published in three installments, and not having it in a ranking of book trilogies might well rub some people the wrong way. It’s here, and the logic behind that decision is that there would probably be more people annoyed if it weren’t here than people who might be annoyed that it is here, and thereby counted as a trilogy.

The movies were also released in three parts, from 2001 to 2003, so that might be another reason for The Lord of the Rings sometimes being considered a trilogy. Look, this is either one of the best epic books of all time, if you want to count it as one work, or it’s one of the very best trilogies of all time, if you want to consider The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King as its three parts. It’s so legendary, in the world of literature, that it functions – and can be admired – either way.