How long does it take to read the Outlander books?
Diana Gabaldon · 9 books
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, all 9 books of Outlander take about 257 hours to read. As an audiobook, expect about 414 hours at 1x.
Outlander is the second-longest series in our study, behind only The Wheel of Time, and it gets there in nine books instead of fifteen. The shortest, Outlander itself, is about as long as A Game of Thrones. At half an hour a day the nine take about a year and five months.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
Every book, timed
| Book | Words | Read | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlander | ~304,000 | 20h 16m | 32h 41m* |
| Dragonfly in Amber | ~362,000 | 24h 8m | 38h 55m* |
| Voyager | ~403,000 | 26h 52m | 43h 20m* |
| Drums of Autumn | ~417,000 | 27h 48m | 44h 50m* |
| The Fiery Cross | ~516,000 | 34h 24m | 55h 29m* |
| A Breath of Snow and Ashes | ~539,000 | 35h 56m | 57h 57m* |
| An Echo in the Bone | ~427,000 | 28h 28m | 45h 55m* |
| Written in My Own Heart's Blood | ~420,000 | 28h | 45h 10m* |
| Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone | ~460,000 | 30h 40m | 49h 28m* |
* Listening time estimated at a narration pace of 155 words a minute.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the whole series:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the unabridged audiobooks at 155 words a minute, the same figures the Outlander reading-order page uses; treat them as close, not exact. The nine main novels only: the Lord John books and the novellas aren't included.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log each book in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read the Outlander books?
About 257 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 321 hours at 200 and 214 hours at 300. That covers all 9 books, from Outlander to Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.
How many words are in the Outlander books?
About 3.8 million words across 9 books. The longest is A Breath of Snow and Ashes (539,000); the shortest is Outlander (304,000). That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How many pages a day to finish the Outlander books in a month?
About 467 pages a day, or 8h 34m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 13,993 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
Which Outlander book is the longest?
A Breath of Snow and Ashes, book six, at about 539,000 words: roughly 36 hours of reading. The Fiery Cross, book five, is close behind at about 34.
Is the Outlander series finished?
Not yet. Diana Gabaldon is writing a tenth novel, A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out, to conclude the main series. As of November 2026 it has no release date.