Mage Errant Series in Order: 7 Books and the New Volume 1

The Mage Errant series is seven books by John Bierce, from Into the Labyrinth (Kindle, October 9, 2018) to The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells (Kindle, May 14, 2023), plus a short story collection. On September 29, 2026 it came back in a new form: a Mage Errant Volume 1 hardcover that combines the first two books. Below is the order, each book's Kindle date and length, the Ralph Lister audiobooks, and how the new volume and the two-book Audible pack map to the original numbers, all checked on October 11, 2026. No spoilers past the book 1 blurb.

TL;DR: Read the seven books in order: Into the Labyrinth, Jewel of the Endless Erg, A Traitor in Skyhold, The Lost City of Ithos, The Siege of Skyhold, Tongue Eater, The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells. That is 3,095 Kindle pages or about 107 hours on Audible. On audio, books 1 and 2 come as one Publisher's Pack; in the new hardcover, Volume 1 is also books 1 and 2. The Gorgon Incident (24 short stories) comes last.

Key Takeaways

• 7 books, numbered on Amazon: "Book 1 of 7" on the Kindle page; Goodreads counts 7 primary works.
• Two ways books 1 and 2 are bundled: the Audible Publisher's Pack (2019) and the new Volume 1 hardcover (September 29, 2026).
• One narrator: Ralph Lister reads every audiobook for Podium Audio, 107 hours 9 minutes for books 1 to 7.
• Reads as finished: Aethon groups the seven books as "The Complete Series"; a spinoff, The Young Warlocks, is in the works.
• One extra: The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories, "twenty-four short stories set in the world of Mage Errant" (February 27, 2024).

Overview

Mage Errant is a magic-school progression fantasy series by John Bierce, first self-published and now relaunched through Aethon. The book 1 blurb starts it off: Hugh is not expected to be chosen as an apprentice "during the upcoming Choosing", and once he is, "all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years- being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold."

It is a reader favorite for people coming from Cradle. In the 11 threads behind our books like Cradle list it was the most named series, in 24 of 277 top-level comments and 10 of the 11 threads. Across all the threads we save, 40 of the 4,433 comments mention it by name, in 19 of the 43 threads.

Cover: Audible product page (Podium Audio)

Every Mage Errant Book in Order

"Kindle" is the publication date and print length on each book's Amazon Kindle page; "Audible" is the audiobook release date and length. Goodreads ratings were read on the series page on October 11, 2026, and will drift.

The books grow steadily: 216 Kindle pages for book 1, 752 for book 7, 3,095 for all seven. On Goodreads the series opens at 4.18 and ends at 4.49, the highest of the seven, while the number of raters drops from 13,615 for book 1 to 4,214 for book 7.

Cover: Audible product page (Podium Audio)

Step-by-Step: How to Read Mage Errant

1. Pick your edition for books 1 and 2: the Kindle ebooks are separate (216 and 278 pages); on Audible they come only as Mage Errant: Publisher's Pack; in bookstores they are Mage Errant Volume 1. All three are the same two books.

2. Read books 3 to 7 by number: A Traitor in Skyhold, The Lost City of Ithos, The Siege of Skyhold, Tongue Eater, The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells.

3. Finish with The Gorgon Incident: the author's site describes it as "twenty-four short stories set in the world of Mage Errant" and lists it apart from the numbered books. It came out after book 7, so reading it last is the simplest choice.

4. Keep track on the series page: the Mage Errant series page lists every book with a checklist for the ones you have finished.

The 2026 Relaunch: Volume 1 vs the Original Books

On September 29, 2026 John Bierce wrote: "Eight years after Mage Errant's original self-published launch, it's officially relaunching in bookstores today through Aethon and Simon and Schuster!" He adds: "Mage Errant Volume 1 contains the first two books, Into the Labyrinth and Jewel of the Endless Erg."

What we could confirm about the new edition, as of October 11, 2026:

• Format and publisher: hardcover from AETHON: Vault, dated September 29, 2026 on the author's page and on Amazon, ISBN 9781638494089.
• Length: Amazon and Goodreads list 416 pages. The author's own hardcover page says 216 pages, which matches the original book 1 alone, so we take 416 for the two-book volume.
• Where: the post says Volume 1 is in "Barnes and Noble and other major bookstores, as well as on most online retailers in the US and Canada", and promises a sale "alongside the UK release", which had not happened yet.
• Later volumes: we found no date or listing for a Volume 2 on the pages we checked.

So if you already own the ebooks or the Publisher's Pack, Volume 1 is not new story: it is books 1 and 2 in hardcover. If you are starting fresh in print, Volume 1 is your book 1, and you continue with A Traitor in Skyhold, the original book 3. The author also ran a pre-order offer: "an exclusive Mage Errant short story with each pre-order of the new Mage Errant hardcover release."

Cover: Audible product page (Podium Audio)

The Audiobooks

Ralph Lister narrates every Mage Errant audiobook for Podium Audio. The Publisher's Pack (books 1 and 2) runs 16 hours 18 minutes; books 3 to 7 add 90 hours 51 minutes, for 107 hours 9 minutes in all by our sum. The Gorgon Incident adds another 16 hours 14 minutes.

Books 1 and 2 are not sold on their own: their Audible pages read "This audiobook is not available", and the book 1 Kindle page says, "If you're looking for the Into the Labyrinth audiobook, please check out the listing for the combined publisher's pack". The author's audiobook page also notes that The Lost City of Ithos audiobook includes "Murder at Ras Andis, a bonus novella from the Mage Errant series."

Each audiobook followed its ebook by a few months: 148 days for book 3, 103 for book 4, 111 for book 5, 142 for book 6 and 107 for book 7, by our count. Audible ratings run from 4.53 for the Publisher's Pack (4,692 ratings) to 4.75 for book 7 (504), as of October 11, 2026.

Cover: Audible product page (Podium Audio)

Is Mage Errant Finished?

Here is the evidence we found on October 11, 2026:

• Aethon: its page for Into the Labyrinth lists the books under "The Complete Series".
• Amazon: the Kindle series is "Mage Errant (7 book series)". The review summary on book 7 says customers praise "its spectacular conclusion and good series ending", and one review headline reads "This was a solid ending to the series".
• The author's site: book 7 is marked "NOW AVAILABLE", with no book 8 listed. The September 29, 2026 post says he is "in the finishing stages of the Mage Errant spinoff novel The Young Warlocks".
• Book 7's blurb talks of factions spiraling "towards their inevitable final conflict."

We did not find a sentence from John Bierce saying "the series is complete", but the publisher's label, the seven-book count and the spinoff all point the same way. Book 7 came out on Kindle 1,246 days before our check.

What Readers Say

Readers call it finished and recommend it as such. u/SuspiciousSarracenia, in a June 2025 r/litrpg thread: "Mage Errant is fantastic. Completed series, 7 books. Excellent litrpg & progression fantasy." (comment, June 20, 2025).

The usual caveat is the opening. u/artisan1394 wrote that "Mage Errant is a great series that for me started a little slow but then grabbed my imagination in the second book and didn't let go." (comment, May 16, 2026). And u/magestromx: "each book is better than the previous one." (comment, July 1, 2026).

Tips Before You Start

• Do not buy books 1 and 2 twice. Volume 1, the Publisher's Pack and the first two ebooks are the same story.
• Book 1 is short. At 216 Kindle pages it is the shortest of the seven, so the slow start one reader mentions is over quickly.
• Audio listeners start with the pack. There is no standalone book 1 audiobook to buy.
• Spoilers: later blurbs give away earlier plot turns. Read only the blurb of the book you are about to start.

Our take

Based on the facts above, Mage Errant is one of the simplest finished series to start: seven numbered books, one narrator, and a publisher that already calls it complete. The only confusing part is books 1 and 2, which exist as two ebooks, one Audible pack and now one hardcover volume. Treat all three as the same starting point and you cannot go wrong. If you want another finished school-magic series with a single narrator, our Mark of the Fool reading order covers ten books; if you would rather have something long and still going, The Path of Ascension reading order is at twelve books with a thirteenth dated.

How we checked this

On October 11, 2026 we opened the Audible series page and the Audible product data for the Publisher's Pack, books 3 to 7 and The Gorgon Incident (and the unavailable pages for books 1 and 2); the Amazon Kindle pages for all seven books, the Kindle pack and the collection, and the Amazon page for the Volume 1 hardcover; the Goodreads series and editions pages; John Bierce's site (books, audiobooks, the Volume 1 hardcover page and three blog posts from September 2026); and Aethon's page for Into the Labyrinth. Simon & Schuster's pages did not load for us. Reader comments were copied from Reddit thread data saved on October 10, 2026. Totals and day counts are our own arithmetic. A site-agent then compared every number in this article with our source table before publication.

Related Reading

• Cradle series reading order: the finished series that sends most readers to Mage Errant.
• Arcane Ascension reading order: another academy-and-dungeon progression series.
• Mother of Learning audiobook: a finished magic-academy story, four arcs on audio.
• All reading-order guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Mage Errant reading order? The seven books from Into the Labyrinth to The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells, then The Gorgon Incident.

How many Mage Errant books are there? Seven, plus a short story collection.

Is Mage Errant finished? It reads as finished; Aethon calls it "The Complete Series".

What is Mage Errant Volume 1? A September 29, 2026 hardcover of books 1 and 2.

Why can't I find Into the Labyrinth on Audible? It is sold inside Mage Errant: Publisher's Pack with book 2.

Who narrates the Mage Errant audiobooks? Ralph Lister, on every audiobook.

References

• John Bierce: Mage Errant bookstore release
• John Bierce: books
• John Bierce: Into the Labyrinth hardcover
• Aethon Books: Into the Labyrinth
• Audible: Mage Errant series
• Audible: Mage Errant: Publisher's Pack
• Amazon: Into the Labyrinth (Kindle)
• Amazon: Mage Errant Volume 1 (hardcover)
• Goodreads: Mage Errant series
• Amazon: The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells (Kindle)