K.J. Parker

KJ Parker is the pen name for Tom Holt, who for 17 years had been a mysterious author whose identity was hidden to his cult of fantasy fiction readers. Best known for “The Fencer”, “The Scavenger”, and “The Engineer Trilogies”, it is only in early 2015 that Tom Holt the author of parody science fiction novels came out to assert that he was the writer behind the identity of KJ Parker. Prior to his press release admitting to writing as KJ Parker, his biographical notes asserted that KJ was an author that previously worked in numismatics, journalism, and law, and retired to dabble in metal and woodwork.

The best place to start is the Fencer Trilogy series, the earliest of K.J. Parker's multi-book series: it opens with Colours in the Steel (1998) and runs to 3 books across 1998–2000, ending with The Proof House (2000). K.J. Parker's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

K.J. Parker has 65 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1998 and 2026. 30 of them belong to 10 named series — the largest being the Five Stories High series with 5 books — and 35 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. K.J. Parker's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Fencer Trilogy (1998–2000, 3 books), Scavenger (2001–2003, 3 books) and Engineer Trilogy (2005–2007, 3 books), plus 7 more.

This guide splits K.J. Parker's 65 books into 10 named series and 35 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Five Stories High (5 books, 2016); Corax Trilogy (3 books, 2023); Engineer Trilogy (3 books, 2005–2007); Fencer Trilogy (3 books, 1998–2000); The Loyal Opposition Trilogy (3 books, 2026), plus 5 further series.