Hades x Persephone reading order

Short version of the fork: Touch or Game first?. This page is the numbered path plus the tandem note.

Two overlapping spines used to be sold as “Hades x Persephone” (Persephone) and “Hades Saga” (Hades). The author’s current numbering puts them in one column. That is the useful object: Persephone’s book, then Hades’s book for the same stretch, then the next Persephone, and so on.

You can read all four Touch novels first and the Game books later. You will repeat events. You will not be lost. Starting with A Game of Fate is how people meet Hades’s interior before the series has introduced the bargain.

Author numbering — first read

House rule: A Touch of Darkness first. Then either follow the numbered seven above, or finish the Touch novels and add the Game books after the matching Touch volume. Do not start with Fate.

St. Clair has said the books can be read in more than one order, and has been emphatic that A Game of Gods should come before A Touch of Chaos. That is the one sequence this house will not reverse.

Tandem — reread, not homework

The author site hosts a chapter-by-chapter tandem guide for the first six books, aimed at hardcore readers and recommended on a second pass. That is the right label. Tandem means you already know both voices and want them in the same sitting. It is not how a first-time reader should meet New Greece.

If you tandem anyway: Touch chapter, then the matching Fate chapters, as the PDF lays out. Do not invent a braid from forum posts.

Neighboring shelves

When Stars Come Out is the same author’s other myth door (Asterion / Ariadne). Optional later. Not Hades 8.

King of Battle and Blood is a different St. Clair vampire shelf. Leave it off this spine.

Common mistakes

• Starting with A Game of Fate because it is Hades’s book, or because a set numbered it 1.
• Skipping A Game of Gods and going straight to A Touch of Chaos.
• Treating the tandem PDF as required first-read apparatus.
• Mixing King of Battle and Blood into the New Greece column.

What to read next

1. The Bargainer (Laura Thalassa) — If you want another finished fae-romance with a second-POV extra that is not book one.
2. From Blood and Ash (Jennifer L. Armentrout) — If you want another long romantasy whose prequel series looks like a new door.
3. ACOTAR (Sarah J. Maas) — If you want the other courts-and-bargains run with a novella that pretends to be a novel.
4. The Folk of the Air (Holly Black) — If you want another finished fae-court three with a correct first book.
5. Stop after A Touch of Malice if the dual-POV extras are not for you. The Persephone novels carry the plot. The Game books are a second shoulder, not a hidden trilogy.

FAQ

Touch or Game first?
A Touch of Darkness. A Game of Fate is book 2 on the author’s numbering.

Do I have to tandem-read?
No. The tandem guide is a second-read option.

Do I need A Game of Gods before A Touch of Chaos?
Yes. That is the sequence St. Clair flags.

Are the Game books skippable?
You can follow Persephone without them. You will miss Hades’s interior. They are not an alternate book one.

Sources

• Scarlett St. Clair, Hades x Persephone resources — author hub, including the tandem guide framed for a second reading. Opened 2026-09-18.
• Scarlett St. Clair, A Game of Fate — author numbering that lists Fate as book 2 in the combined Hades x Persephone column. Opened 2026-09-18.