Darkness Rising Books in Order

How to Read the Darkness Rising Series

The core of the Darkness Rising series is a young adult paranormal trilogy by Canadian author Kelley Armstrong. Set in the rugged, isolated wilderness of Vancouver Island, it tells the story of Maya Delaney and her friends as they uncover their supernatural genetics and fight back against the sinister corporations that created them. However, because it is directly connected to Armstrong's earlier Darkest Powers trilogy, reading only the main novels means missing out on the broader narrative, several critical short stories, and a major crossover finale.

Depending on how deeply you want to dive into the universe, there are two primary ways to approach the Darkness Rising reading order. Below, we break down the series-only path and the recommended joint universe path.

Option 1: The Darkness Rising-Only Order

If you only want to focus on Maya's storyline and are not interested in reading the companion series first, this is the most direct chronological route. It incorporates the short stories that provide crucial backstory and the epilogue novella that wraps up the plot.

• "The New Guy" (2011): A prequel short story narrated by Maya. It introduces the atmosphere of Salmon Creek and sets up the arrival of Rafe Martinez. It is best read before the first novel to establish the characters' normal lives before everything goes wrong.
• "The Invitation" (2012): A short story written from Rafe's point of view. It takes place just before Maya's sixteenth birthday party and highlights the tension and secrets building in the town.
• The Gathering (2011): The first full-length novel. Maya starts noticing strange events in her quiet town of Salmon Creek, including local wildlife behaving oddly and her own physical abilities changing, following the mysterious drowning of her friend Serena.
• The Calling (2012): The second novel. After a forest fire forces them to evacuate, Maya and her friends find themselves running for their lives from the St. Cloud Corporation, surviving a helicopter crash and navigating the deep forests of Vancouver Island.
• The Rising (2013): The third and final novel. Maya and her friends make their stand. This book features a major crossover where they meet up with the characters from the Darkest Powers trilogy to take down the Edison Group.
• "Atoning" (2014): A follow-up novella set roughly 18 months after the main events. It acts as a final chapter for the combined survivors of both trilogies, showing how they live together in safety while still dealing with the fallout of their pasts.

Option 2: The Recommended Darkest Powers / Darkness Rising Combined Order

Because the two trilogies exist in the same universe, run roughly parallel in chronology, and culminate in a massive team-up in The Rising and the novella Atoning, we highly recommend reading both trilogies in their publication/logical order. Reading the Darkest Powers trilogy first ensures you fully understand who the Edison Group is, what the Genesis experiments are, and who the returning characters are when they show up in Maya's story.

1. The Summoning (Darkest Powers Book 1)
2. The Awakening (Darkest Powers Book 2)
3. The Reckoning (Darkest Powers Book 3)
4. "The New Guy" (Darkness Rising Prequel Short Story)
5. "The Invitation" (Darkness Rising Prequel Short Story)
6. The Gathering (Darkness Rising Book 1)
7. The Calling (Darkness Rising Book 2)
8. The Rising (Darkness Rising Book 3 — crossover begins here)
9. "Atoning" (Darkness Rising / Darkest Powers Crossover Novella)

Publication Order of Darkness Rising Books

For readers who prefer to read the books exactly as they were released, here is the publication sequence of the novels and accompanying short works. The short stories were originally published as digital extras or companion pieces before being compiled into print collections.

• The Gathering (Novel) — April 2011
• "The New Guy" (Short Story) — 2011
• The Calling (Novel) — April 2012
• "The Invitation" (Short Story) — 2012
• The Rising (Novel) — April 2013
• "Atoning" (Novella) — 2014 (later included in The Complete Darkest Powers Tales compilation)

Chronological Caveats and Universe Connections

The timeline of Darkness Rising overlaps slightly with the timeline of Darkest Powers. While Chloe Saunders is escaping Lyle House and running from the Edison Group in the United States, Maya Delaney is living in the manufactured, corporate-owned town of Salmon Creek in Canada, completely unaware that she is part of the sister project, Project Phoenix.

Understanding this parallel timeline explains why the St. Cloud Corporation (which funds the Salmon Creek project) is so desperate to capture Maya and her friends in The Calling. The events of the Darkest Powers trilogy have already caused massive disruptions for the Edison Group, making them much more aggressive in securing their remaining assets. Reading Darkness Rising without reading Darkest Powers is entirely possible, but you will miss the significance of the scientific details and the emotional impact of the character reunions in the third book.

Furthermore, both trilogies are technically part of Kelley Armstrong's larger adult urban fantasy series, the Women of the Otherworld. While you do not need to read the adult novels to enjoy these young adult trilogies, they share the same rules of magic, cabals, and werewolf/spellcaster lore.

What to Know Before You Start

Before diving in, it is helpful to know that Darkness Rising shifts the focus away from traditional supernatural creatures like vampires or classic wizards. Instead, it leans heavily into skinwalker lore and Native American mythology. Maya is a skinwalker who can shift into a cougar, and Rafe is a benandanti (a traditional defender against witches and malevolent shapeshifters in Italian folklore). This unique mythological grounding gives the series a distinct flavor compared to other early-2010s young adult paranormal romances.

Additionally, because the main characters are teenagers who have been genetically modified, the story blends sci-fi corporate conspiracy with fantasy. If you enjoy survival stories in the wilderness mixed with secret lab experiments and superpowers, this series will fit your tastes perfectly.

Practical Reading Advice

If you want to track down all the stories, the easiest way to read the short fiction is by acquiring a copy of The Complete Darkest Powers Tales. This compilation contains "The New Guy," "The Invitation," and "Atoning," alongside the short stories from the Darkest Powers trilogy. Having them all in one place saves you from searching for out-of-print digital promotions and online extras, making it the most seamless way to enjoy the complete narrative arc.