C.S. Friedman Books In Order

Publication Order of Alien Shores Books

Publication Order of The Coldfire Trilogy Books

Chronological Order of The Coldfire Trilogy Books

Publication Order of Dreamwalker Books

Publication Order of In Conquest Born Books

Publication Order of The Magister Trilogy Books

Publication Order of Vampire: The Dark Ages Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Please Note: An earlier edition of this bio incorrectly stated that C.S. Friedman had given a vinegar bath to her cat. This is incorrect and was due to a misinterpretation from Quora and we apologize to Celia for this. C.S. Friedman is an American author best known for writing speculative fiction and fantasy novels. She was first published in 1986 with the release of In Conquest Born and has been writing ever since.

She was born in 1957 to Nancy and Herbert Friedman who named their daughter Celia S. Friedman. Her father was a former radio engineer who became a writer for technical magazines so writing is definitely in her blood in some way. Her parents got her into reading at a very young age and she was enamored with it from the start. One memory has her reading an entire Dick and Jane book while she was still in kindergarten. The book was meant to last for the entire semester.

A major turning point towards her future as a writer happened when she was twelve years old on a family trip to France. She had brought along books, but ran out and purchased the only book that she was able to find that was printed in English. That book ended up being Isaac Asimov’s collection, Earth is Room Enough. It may have been her first experience with science fiction and the collection made her realize that she believed that science fiction was the ultimate form of literature.

She wrote a novel at the age of thirteen in her school notebooks about vampires. It wasn’t very good, but it was a start. Then at the age of fourteen, she began designing an interstellar universe with warrior nations and a long history that would later inform the background information for In Conquest Born.

Her journey towards becoming a writer would take a turn at Brandeis University where she became a Theater Major. She loved spending the weekends in period costume and her mother would later encourage her to become a costume designer. Friedman didn’t believe that this could be a career at first, but she decided to pursue it while also continuing to perform at Renaissance festivals. Her study took her to the University of Georgia where she earned her MFA. She began to put together her writing and getting it towards a novel, but it was still a long ways to go before she would get there.

It wasn’t until 1983 that it clicked for her when she wrote 30 pages in one night. Those pages inspired her and would later find their place as Chapter 11 of In Conquest Born. She would later finish it and submit it a publisher, expecting a rejection. However, that rejection never came and In Conquest Born become her first published novel.

Dreamwalker is the first book in the Dreamwalker trilogy. Jessica Drake has dreamed of other worlds her whole life, but she’s never shared the dreams with anyone except for her younger brother Tommy. He is a gamer and uses some parts of what he tells her and puts them into his games. Now, someone is asking questions about her dreams and a strange woman has been watching her. She starts to look for answers and learns that whoever it is, they don’t want her to find out the truth. When they take her brother, she’ll have to leave her world behind in order to find him.

The Magister trilogy begins with Feast of Souls. The story follows a female witch who loses some of her life force whenever she does a spell. The ordinary witch dies young because of this. However, the male Magisters are practically immortal as they take on consorts and use them up. The son of a powerful king has been taken in by an unknown magister. The prince is ill and the father wants to known why, but the magisters don’t want to reveal their secret. A young woman named Kamala manages to get an apprenticeship to become a female Magister and finds out the truth. Now, her fate and that of the Prince is intertwined.

Black Sun Rising is the first book in the Coldfire trilogy. Erna is a seismically active yet beautiful world that was settled by colonists from Earth. The planet was fraught with perils and the colonists found themselves in a desperate battle against the fae, a terrifying force that preys on the human mind by bringing their dreams and nightmares to life. Over the centuries, mankind has achieved a stalemate with the fae as human sorcerers now try to manipulate the fae for process. Unknowingly, they are giving the forces power in doing so. Now, four people are drawn together for a mission to confront an evil beyond their imagining.

In Conquest Born is the book that started it all for Friedman. The story takes place as the Braxi and Azea, two interstellar civilizations that are in an endless war for reasons long forgotten. The people are descended from the human species, but each are bred over generations with opposing ideals. The Braxana are bred to be aggressive, competitive, and secretive. While the Azeans are masters of genetic science and have set out to unlock the powers of the human mind through telepathy. Zatar and Anzha – master Braxana and Azean generals – have each exceeded all genetic expectations and made the war into something personal.

The second book in the In Conquest Born series is The Wilding. The long-awaited sequel came out fifteen years after the first and picks up 200 years after the first book. The endless war is still ongoing, but it takes a backseat to the internal fights that are going on in each civilization. The Azaeans are dealing with the loss of their greatest advantage, the psychics. The psychics are now on the run and find themselves hunted. The Braxana tribe is weakening, but they have captured Tathas, leader of an outlawed tribe. If he hopes for survival, he’ll need to undertake a ritual known as the Wilding which sends him on a search for genetic material worthy to be added to the Braxana bloodlines. Tathas sets out after the psychics.

2 Responses to “C.S. Friedman”

1. Tony: 1 year ago

   I noticed that you failed to mention any of the tv credits indicating C.S. Friedman as the writer of various episodes of Star Trek (TOS) and other sci-fi series. Why is that?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 1 year ago

     No particular reason.

     Reply