Stephen Baxter

Stephen Baxter is a prolific British hard fiction author. He was born on November 13, 1957 in Liverpool, England and lives in Northumberland. Before he became an author he studied mathematics at Cambridge University, obtained a doctorate in engineering at Southampton University and an MBA from Henley Management College.

The best place to start is the Xeelee Sequence series, the earliest of Stephen Baxter's multi-book series: it opens with Raft (1991) and runs to 12 books across 1991–2019, ending with Redemption (2019). Stephen Baxter's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Stephen Baxter has 244 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1985 and 2027. 151 of them belong to 25 named series — the largest being the Xeelee Sequence series with 12 books — and 93 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. Stephen Baxter's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Zenith: The Best in New British Science Fiction (1989, 2 books), Xeelee Sequence (1991–2019, 12 books) and Anti-Ice (1993–2015, 2 books), plus 18 more.

This guide splits Stephen Baxter's 244 books into 25 named series and 93 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Xeelee Sequence (12 books, 1991–2019); The Web - 2028 (7 books, 1998–1999); The Web - 2027 (6 books, 1997); Long Earth (5 books, 2012–2016); Destiny's Children (4 books, 2003–2006), plus 20 further series.