The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 9 books · 1966 to 1987

Samuel R. Delany

FantasyScience fictionLiterary and generalHistorical and mythic fantasyClassic science fictionLiterary fiction

Samuel R. Delany is one of the great stylists of science fiction. Babel-17 follows a poet and starship captain decoding an alien language used as a weapon; Dhalgren is a vast, strange novel set in a ruined American city. His Return to Nevèrÿon books are sword and sorcery turned inside out.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip.

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Who appears in which book

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LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Samuel R. Delany books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Return to Nevèrÿon

4 books · Set in NevèrÿonHistorical and mythic fantasyLiterary fiction
  1. 1Tales of Nevèrÿon1979Buy on Amazon
  2. 2Neveryóna1983With PrynBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Flight from Nevèrÿon1985Buy on Amazon
  4. 4Return to Nevèrÿon1987Buy on Amazon

Standalone

5 books · Mostly set in spaceClassic science fictionLiterary fiction
  1. 1Babel-171966With Rydra WongBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Einstein Intersection1967With Lo Lobey · Set in a far-future EarthBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Nova1968With Lorq Von RayBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Dhalgren1975With The Kid · Set in the fictional Bellona, USABuy on Amazon
  5. 5Trouble on Triton1976With Bron HelstromBuy on Amazon

Characters

7 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Nevèrÿon

Standalone leads