The Recommended Reading Path for Icehome
The Icehome series is a direct spinoff of Ruby Dixon’s widely popular Ice Planet Barbarians (IPB) series. While you can technically read Icehome on its own as a standalone romance series, it is highly recommended to read it in tandem with the later books of the main Ice Planet Barbarians series. The events of Icehome are set in motion by a crash-landing on a tropical volcanic island located on the very same icy planet, and characters from both settlements cross paths, share resources, and reference major planetary events.
For the most cohesive experience that preserves the timeline flow and avoids minor character spoilers, you should weave the early Icehome books into the main Ice Planet Barbarians run. Here is the recommended chronological path for starting the spinoff:
- Read Ice Planet Barbarians Books 1 through 15: Start with the original series and read up to Barbarian’s Tease (IPB Book 15). This ensures you understand the world, the environment, and the survival mechanics of the icy planet.
- Start Icehome Book 1: Read Lauren’s Barbarian (2017). This book introduces the new camp of stranded humans and alien warriors on the tropical island.
- Read Icehome Books 2 & 3: Follow with Veronica’s Dragon (2018) and Willa’s Beast (2018). These two stories run concurrently with one another, showing different perspectives of the camp's early days.
- Return to IPB: Read the novella The Barbarian Before Christmas.
- Read Icehome Book 4: Read the novella Gail’s Family (2018).
- Return to IPB: Read Barbarian’s Beloved (IPB Book 16).
After this specific crossover point, the two communities diverge enough that you can read the rest of the Icehome series sequentially from Book 5 (Angie's Gladiator) to Book 17 (Flor's Fiasco) without worrying about major timeline disruptions. Alternatively, you can follow Ruby Dixon's official 'Rubyverse' chronological checklist to swap back and forth between the remaining IPB releases and Icehome books in strict publication order.
Icehome Publication Order
If you prefer to read the series strictly in the order the books were written and published, follow this sequence. The series is complete and spans 17 entries published between 2017 and 2022:
- Lauren's Barbarian (2017)
- Veronica's Dragon (2018)
- Willa's Beast (2018)
- Gail's Family (2018)
- Angie's Gladiator (2018)
- Hannah's Hero (2019)
- Devi's Distraction (2019)
- Nadine's Champion (2019)
- Callie's Catastrophe (2019)
- Penny's Protector (2019)
- Mari's Mistake (2020)
- Raven's Return (2020)
- Bridget's Bane (2020)
- Steph's Outcast (2021)
- Sam's Secret (2021)
- Daisy's Decision (2022)
- Flor's Fiasco (2022)
What to Know Before You Start
Icehome shifts the setting of Dixon's sci-fi romance world from the snowy caves of the main tribe to a unique, warm volcanic island nestled inside the frozen wastes of the planet (commonly nicknamed 'Not-Hoth' by fans). The story begins when a spaceship containing sixteen human women and a few alien captives crashes. Finding themselves far away from the main tribe, the survivors must establish a new colony, deal with active volcanic threats, navigate dangerous tropical flora and fauna, and build a new society from scratch.
The central romance mechanism in this series remains the 'khui'—a symbiotic organ implanted in the characters' chests that vibrates, or 'resonates,' when it detects a genetically compatible mate. This creates a fated-mates trope combined with high-stakes survival. Because the Icehome camp has a different mix of alien species (including the four-armed, tail-bearing gladiators and golden-skinned warriors) and humans with different backgrounds, the dynamics are fresh, focusing heavily on community-building, overcoming personal trauma, and cultural integration.
Spin-offs, Sequels, and the Wider Rubyverse
Once you finish Flor's Fiasco and complete the Icehome series, the story doesn't end there. Ruby Dixon continues the timeline in the direct sequel series Ice Planet Clones. This follow-up series focuses on a new generation and clone characters created within the established world, directly building on the plots, relationships, and children introduced throughout Icehome.
For readers who want to explore beyond the ice planet, Dixon's Risdaverse and Corsairs series exist in the same shared universe. While they take place in different parts of the galaxy (exploring space pirates, space stations, and alien farming colonies) and can be read independently, they share the same overarching sci-fi lore and occasionally reference characters or technologies from the Ice Planet series.