Defiance of the Fall Reading Order: All 17 Books in Order

The Defiance of the Fall reading order is simple: 17 numbered books by JF Brink (TheFirstDefier on Royal Road), from Defiance of the Fall (June 8, 2021) to Defiance of the Fall 17 (September 16, 2026). Below are the release dates, page counts, the Audible length of every audiobook (Pavi Proczko reads them all) and where the story continues after book 17, as of October 10, 2026. No plot spoilers past the book 1 blurb.

TL;DR: Read books 1 to 17 in number order. Book 17 came out on September 16, 2026 in ebook and audio on the same day. All 17 audiobooks are narrated by Pavi Proczko, about 398 hours in total. The story continues on Royal Road at 3 chapters a week; there is no book 18 date yet.

Key Takeaways

• 17 books out, all from Aethon; book 17 arrived September 16, 2026 (Amazon Kindle and Audible).
• One narrator: Pavi Proczko on all 17 Audible editions, 397 hours 59 minutes by our sum.
• Audio keeps pace: for most books the audiobook came out the same day as the ebook.
• Long books: 564 to 778 pages each on Aethon's pages, 10,707 pages for books 1 to 16.
• Still going: Royal Road posts 3 chapters a week; chapter 1,468 went up October 8, 2026.

Overview

Defiance of the Fall is a cultivation LitRPG series published by Aethon Books. The book 1 blurb on Aethon opens: "Zac was alone in the middle of the forest when the world changed…" The author's Patreon describes it in his own words: "I am JF Brink / The First Defier, and I am writing the Cultivation LitRPG series Defiance of the Fall on Royal Road, Amazon, and Audible."

It is one of the series readers name after Dungeon Crawler Carl and He Who Fights with Monsters: it appears in our books like Dungeon Crawler Carl list, and it was third, with 41 comments, in the r/litrpg tally behind our books like He Who Fights with Monsters list.

Cover: Aethon Books

Every Defiance of the Fall Book in Order

"Ebook" is the "Publication Date" field on each Aethon product page, except book 17 (Amazon's Kindle date, explained below the table); pages are Aethon's "Page Count". "Audiobook" is the release date and length on each Audible product page. Audible ratings are as shown on October 10, 2026.

Two dates need a note. For book 8, Audible's release date (December 30, 2022) is earlier than Aethon's ebook date (January 24, 2023). For book 17, Aethon's product page still shows a preorder with a December 2, 2026 date, but Amazon's Kindle page gives a publication date of September 16, 2026, and the author's Royal Road post that day says: "As usual, it's a dual release with both Ebook and Audio." We use September 16.

Cover: Aethon Books

Step-by-Step: How to Read Defiance of the Fall

1. Start with book 1: Defiance of the Fall, 778 pages on Aethon's page or 23 hours 29 minutes on Audible.

2. Read books 2 to 17 by number: each title is the series name plus its number, and there are no side novels to slot in between.

3. Pick a format: ebook and audio are both complete to book 17, so you can switch between them at any book without a gap.

4. Keep going on Royal Road if you want more: the chapters after book 17 are posted there three times a week (see below).

The Audiobooks

Pavi Proczko narrates all 17 audiobooks on Audible, and Aethon Audio is the publisher on each one. The 17 lengths add up to 397 hours 59 minutes, so each book averages about 23 hours 25 minutes; the shortest is book 10 (20 hours 8 minutes), the longest book 12 (26 hours 24 minutes).

Listeners have rarely had to wait. Fifteen of the 17 audiobooks came out on the same day as the ebook; book 8 came out on audio 25 days before Aethon's ebook date, and book 11 two weeks after it. Audible's ratings stay between 4.49 and 4.85, with the fewest ratings on book 17, which was less than a month old when we checked.

If you want another long series with one narrator throughout, our Primal Hunter reading order covers 16 books read by Travis Baldree, and our best LitRPG audiobooks list ranks the series listeners name most.

Cover: Audible product page (Aethon Audio)

After Book 17: Royal Road and What Comes Next

The story is still posted on Royal Road by TheFirstDefier, but the page is marked STUB: it shows the prologue and chapters 1 to 7 (first posted May 5 and 6, 2019) and then the newest chapters, from chapter 1,409 onward. A 2021 entry in the chapter list is titled "Continue reading on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible". The page lists the schedule as "3 Chapters a week; Mon-Wed-Fri.", and chapter 1,468 went up on October 8, 2026. As of October 10, 2026 it had 19,016 followers.

There is no book 18 yet: Aethon has no product page for it, and we found no date anywhere official.

Two other formats are on the way. On March 29, 2026 the author announced a Defiance of the Fall webcomic on Webtoon, with "one ep a week". On June 16, 2026 he announced a physical edition of book 1 through Simon & Schuster, revised from the original: "Altogether, we've made over 15,000 edits to book one alone." He adds that the edits will continue into the following books. We could not open the retailer pages, so we do not give a date for the print edition here.

Cover: Aethon Books

What Readers Say

Defiance of the Fall comes up often when listeners finish the big two. In a January 2024 r/litrpg thread titled "I've listened to DCC and HWFWM, what's next?", one answer with 25 points (its author has since deleted the account) was simply "Cradle, Ripple System, and Defiance of the Fall" (comment).

On the main character, u/cfl2 answered a reader who wanted an MC "that isnt a cringe edgelord" but not "a goody two shoes" either: "Zac, MC of Defiance of the Fall, splits the difference very nicely." (comment, March 29, 2023).

Tips Before You Start

• Plan for length. At about 23 hours per audiobook, the full series is close to 400 hours of listening.
• Royal Road is not a free shortcut. Only the opening chapters and the newest ones are public there; the middle is in the books.
• Watch for the revised book 1. The author says the Simon & Schuster edition changes early details, so readers comparing notes may describe book 1 differently.
• Spoilers: the Royal Road comments and r/litrpg threads discuss chapters well past book 17.

Our take

Based on the facts above, Defiance of the Fall is one of the easiest long series to follow in order: 17 numbered books, no side novels, and an audiobook that has almost always come out with the ebook, read by the same narrator from the start. The commitment is the issue. At roughly 670 pages or 23 hours per book, you are looking at about 400 hours of audio before you reach the Royal Road chapters. If you want to test it first, book 1 alone is 23 hours 29 minutes; readers in the threads we quote put it alongside Cradle and The Ripple System, so if those worked for you, it is a reasonable next pick.

How we checked this

On October 10, 2026 we opened the Aethon product page for each of the 17 books (publication date, page count, narrator and duration fields), the Audible product page for each audiobook and the Audible series page (17 books), Amazon's Kindle page for book 17, the Royal Road fiction page and its chapter list (status, schedule, chapter dates, followers), the author's Royal Road posts about book 17, the webcomic and the Simon & Schuster edition, and the author's Patreon page. The Reddit comments were copied from thread data we saved that day. Totals and averages are our own arithmetic. A site-agent then compared every number in this article with our source table and re-opened the key pages; the lines it flagged were fixed before publication.

Related Reading

• He Who Fights with Monsters reading order: another long Aethon series with same-day audio.
• Cradle series reading order: a finished 12-book cultivation series if you want an ending.
• All reading-order guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Defiance of the Fall reading order? Books 1 to 17 in number order.

How many Defiance of the Fall books are there? 17 as of October 10, 2026.

Who narrates the Defiance of the Fall audiobooks? Pavi Proczko, on all 17 Aethon Audio editions.

Is Defiance of the Fall finished? No. New chapters go up on Royal Road three times a week.

Can I read Defiance of the Fall free on Royal Road? Only the first chapters and the newest ones; the page is a stub.

References

• Aethon Books: Defiance of the Fall (book 1)
• Aethon Books: Defiance of the Fall 17
• Amazon: Defiance of the Fall 17 (Kindle)
• Audible: Defiance of the Fall series
• Audible: Defiance of the Fall 17
• Royal Road: Defiance of the Fall
• Royal Road: "Defiance of the Fall Book 17 out now!"
• Royal Road: "Defiance of the Fall, Soon in a Bookstore Near You!"
• Patreon: DefianceNovels