Michael Livingston

Michael Livingston is an American author, historian and professor who is famous for his fantasy novels which take an alternative history form. His most famous novel is “The Shards of Heaven,” which is part of the series by the same name. Livingston is a Colorado native, and holds a B.A in history from Baylor University.

The best place to start is The Shards of Heaven series, the earliest of Michael Livingston's multi-book series: it opens with The Shards of Heaven (2015) and runs to 4 books across 2015–2017, ending with The Realms of God (2017). Michael Livingston's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Michael Livingston has 65 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1985 and 2025. 48 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being The Shards of Heaven series with 4 books — and 17 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. Michael Livingston's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The Shards of Heaven (2015–2017, 4 books) and The Seaborn Cycle (2020–2025, 3 books).

This guide splits Michael Livingston's 65 books into 3 named series and 17 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: The Shards of Heaven (4 books, 2015–2017); The Seaborn Cycle (3 books, 2020–2025); L. Ron Hubbard Presents: Writers of the Future (41 books, 1985–2025).