The Inheritance Games Reading Order: Main Story and Spin-Off Paths
Quick answer: Begin Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s Inheritance Games world with The Inheritance Games, The Hawthorne Legacy and The Final Gambit. Continue with The Brothers Hawthorne if you want the wider saga. The Grandest Game has its own numbered sequence, while Games Untold is a collection. Keep those categories separate, and check companion contents before buying the same novella in more than one package.
Spoiler boundary: Titles, reading sequence and packaging only. No inheritance answers, romantic outcomes or puzzle solutions. Publisher sources checked October 9, 2026.
The first three books establish your starting route
Read the opening sequence in order. The publisher’s NOVL series page numbers The Inheritance Games as Book 1, The Hawthorne Legacy as Book 2 and The Final Gambit as Book 3. It identifies The Brothers Hawthorne as Book 4.
- The Inheritance Games
- The Hawthorne Legacy
- The Final Gambit
- The Brothers Hawthorne
If you only want to test the series, borrow or sample the first book before committing to every connected volume. Book numbers make the initial order straightforward; the harder question is what kind of related material comes next.
For category expectations, use how adult fantasy and YA romantasy differ. Do not treat YA as a substitute for checking an individual content boundary.
The Grandest Game is a related sequence with its own numbering
Keep the spin-off’s numbers separate from the original sequence. Hachette’s Grandest Game series page lists The Grandest Game, Glorious Rivals and The Gilded Blade as its trilogy.
The first Grandest Game volume is therefore the start of that sequence, not a newly numbered Book 1 of the original Avery reading path. A shared world can still expose earlier-story information. Our spoiler-conservative recommendation is to read the original four-book sequence before exploring the spin-off’s synopses.
Where should Games Untold go?
It is a collection, and the publisher supplies a wider-saga reading suggestion. NOVL’s reading-order paragraph places The Grandest Game after The Brothers Hawthorne, then Games Untold, then Glorious Rivals, followed by The Same Backward as Forward.
That paragraph is useful for companion placement, but it should not be mistaken for a complete forever-current catalog: the same page also lists The Gilded Blade elsewhere. Preserve the Grandest Game trilogy’s own numbered order and recheck the publisher when extending your route.
Different fan lists may organize companions differently. A public reading-order question about Games Untold shows that readers still ask where to place it. That discussion is reader perspective, not a replacement for publisher labels.
The Same Backward as Forward: check the contents first
A separately listed title may contain text already included in a collection. The NOVL page lists The Same Backward as Forward among the novellas inside Games Untold. If you own the collection, compare the exact separate edition’s contents before treating it as entirely unfamiliar material.
This guide does not claim that every edition has identical extras. Our the difference between an omnibus and a box set explains how packaging and story count can diverge. The sensible shopping question is “Which text and extras do I already own?”
Choose your route without turning the entire catalog into homework
| Your goal | Practical next step |
|---|---|
| Try the premise | Start with The Inheritance Games. |
| Follow the original numbered route | Read the first three, then consider The Brothers Hawthorne. |
| Read broadly in the shared world | Use the publisher’s companion placement plus each sequence’s own numbering. |
| Collect editions | Compare contents, ISBN and extras before duplicating a novella. |
Availability is a separate check. A title in a publisher catalog may be listed before a particular format is available. We do not infer current stock or a US release date from sequence position alone.
Inheritance Games reading-order FAQs
Can I start with The Grandest Game?
It begins its own sequence, but belongs to an established world. For a first reader avoiding earlier-series information, this guide recommends beginning with The Inheritance Games.
Is Games Untold another numbered main novel?
The publisher describes it as a collection. Track it separately from the original and spin-off sequences.
Does every fan reading order have equal authority?
No. A fan order may express a preference. Publisher numbering and identified contents are firmer evidence for sequence and packaging.
Will this guide explain Avery’s inheritance?
No. It helps you navigate books while preserving the story’s answers.
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