Colin Falconer Books in Order

How to Start Reading Colin Falconer

With over forty novels spanning multiple genres—from sweeping historical epics to gritty crime procedurals—diving into Colin Falconer's catalog can feel overwhelming. Falconer (the pen name of British-Australian author Colin Bowles) writes books that can generally be split into standalone historical adventures and chronological crime and drama series. Your best starting point depends entirely on what kind of story you are in the mood for:

• For Epic Historical Fiction: Start with Silk Road or Harem. These are his most famous historical adventure books and showcase his ability to bring vanished worlds to life.
• For Modern Crime Thrillers: Start with Lucifer Falls, the first book in the DI Charlie George police procedural series set in London.
• For Historical Sagas: Start with Havana Girl (originally published as Naked in Havana), which begins the decades-spanning Magdalena Fuentes trilogy.

Epic Historical Fiction & Adventure Books

Falconer’s most celebrated works belong to his loose collection of historical adventures. While these books are grouped together by publishers and readers, they are completely standalone stories with different characters, settings, and eras. You can read them in any order you choose, but readers generally approach them in one of two ways: by publication order or by chronological historical setting.

Publication Order

Reading in publication order allows you to see how Falconer's historical style evolved over three decades. Here is the order of publication:

1. Venom (1990)
2. Harem (1992) (Also published as The Sultan's Harem)
3. Feathered Serpent / Aztec (1996)
4. When We Were Gods / Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile (1999)
5. Silk Road (2000)
6. East India (2000)
7. Stigmata (2004)
8. Colossus (2014)
9. Sleeping with the Enemy (2017)
10. Live For Me (2018)
11. Lord of the Atlas (2021)
12. Fever Coast (2022)
13. Ends of the Earth (2023)
14. Converso (2024)

Chronological Order

If you prefer to journey through human history from the ancient world to the mid-20th century, you can follow this chronological path based on the historical settings of the books:

1. Colossus (Set in the 4th Century BC during the conquests of Alexander the Great)
2. Ends of the Earth (Set in 53 BC, following a Roman tribune after the Battle of Carrhae)
3. When We Were Gods / Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile (Set in the 1st Century BC in Ptolemaic Egypt)
4. Stigmata (Set during the Crusades of the 13th Century)
5. Silk Road (Set in the late 13th Century, charting a Templar Knight's journey to the court of Kublai Khan)
6. Feathered Serpent / Aztec (Set in 1519 during Hernán Cortés's conquest of Mexico)
7. Harem (Set in the 16th Century Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent)
8. East India (Set in the 17th Century, exploring the early days of the British East India Company)
9. Fever Coast (Set in 1750, following a quest for revenge from West Africa to India)
10. Lord of the Atlas (Set in 19th Century Morocco)
11. Live For Me (Set during the turmoil of the early 20th Century and the Russian Revolution)
12. Sleeping with the Enemy (Set during World War II)
13. Venom (Set in the late 20th Century)
14. Converso (Set during the final days of the Spanish Inquisition in 1492)

The DI Charlie George Crime Thrillers

For readers who prefer contemporary police procedurals, Falconer writes crime novels under his usual pen name featuring Detective Inspector Charlie George. Set against a gritty London backdrop, this series is highly serialized regarding the personal lives of the detectives and should be read in order of publication:

1. Lucifer Falls (2018)
2. Innocence Dies (2019)
3. Angels Weep (2020)
4. Cry Justice (2021)

The Opium Series

Often described as a gritty cross between historical saga and crime epic, the Opium series charts the rise of the international heroin trade in Southeast Asia during the mid-20th century. Follow this series in order:

1. Opium (1994)
2. Air Opium (2012)
3. Eye of the Tiger (2013)
4. Chasing the Dragon (2013)
5. Godless (2013)

The Magdalena Fuentes Trilogy (The Naked Series)

This historical drama trilogy follows the tumultuous life of Magdalena Fuentes across decades of global conflict. Originally published with "Naked in..." titles, the series was later re-released under new names. They must be read in chronological order:

1. Havana Girl (Originally published as Naked in Havana) – Set during the 1958 Cuban Revolution.
2. LA Woman (Originally published as Naked in LA) – Set in 1960s Los Angeles.
3. Saigon Wife (Originally published as Naked in Saigon) – Set during the Vietnam War in 1970.

The Jerusalem & Fury Saga

Falconer's 1991 standalone novel Fury, which follows Jewish and Arab families during the birth of modern Israel, was later expanded and serialized into the four-part Jerusalem series. If you read the serialized books, read them in this order:

1. Jerusalem (2012)
2. Freedom (2013)
3. Zion (2013)
4. Israel (2013)

Other Notable Series & Subseries

The William Shakespeare Detective Agency

A fun, lighthearted historical mystery duology featuring the ne'er-do-well cousin of the famous playwright solving crimes in Elizabethan London:

1. The School of Night (2014)
2. The Dark Lady (2014)

DI Madeleine Fox Books

An earlier, short-lived police procedural series set in London featuring Detective Inspector Madeleine Fox:

1. Rough Justice (1999)
2. The Certainty of Doing Evil (2000)

20th Century Stories

A collection of standalone novels focusing on key historical figures and events of the 20th century:

1. Anastasia (2002)
2. Pearls (2003)
3. Isabella: Braveheart of France (2013)
4. War Baby (2013)
5. Sleeping with the Enemy (2017)
6. Live For Me (2018)

What to Know Before You Start

Colin Falconer is the pen name of Colin Bowles. Under his real name, he has also written non-fiction, comedy, and children's books in Australia, but his international historical fiction and thrillers are published under the Falconer name. Because he works with different publishers across various countries, many of his books have been released under alternative titles (such as Feathered Serpent being published as Aztec, and When We Were Gods published as Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile). Always double-check descriptions so you do not accidentally purchase the same novel twice under a different title.