A Reader's Guide to ElfQuest

Links to the EQ homepage


Digital Elfquest - Read every EQ tale published before 2014 for free!


The Publications — Comics and Graphic Novels - the publication history

Reader’s collection - collection of the storylines in books (b/w only)

The Elfquest Chronology - the stories in chronological order

The Elfquest Timeline by Scot Blaser

EQ Comic Books

might add my own listings about publications here ... sooner or later

EQ Prose Novels

The novelization of the Original Quest ... at least part of it:

Journey to Sorrow's End
The Quest begins
Captives of Blue Mountain


Anthologie books about the Wolfriders' wild past - The Blood of Ten Chiefs 1 - 5

The Blood of Ten Chiefs
Pendulum
Coming of Age
Plague of Allos
Swift-Spear*
Tale of the Snowbeast*
The Deer Hunters
Tanner's Dream
The Spirit Quest*
Lessons in Passing*
Night Hunt

Wolfsong
Colors*
Love and Memory
Songshaper
The Search
Genesis
Dreamsinger's Tale
Summer Tag
Stormlight's Way
A Very Good Year for Dreamberries

Winds of Change
Ice
Wind Warning
A Friend in Need
Song's End
The Flood
At the Oak's Root*
The Fire Song
Coyote*
The Phantom of the Berry Patch*

Against the Wind
The Good Summer
Court and Chase
Ties That Bind
Season of Sorrows
Firstborn
Howl for Eldolil*
The Changeling
Hero Worship*

Dark Hours
In Memory Green
Starting Over
Personal Challenge
Riders of the Storm
The Naming of Stonefist
Finder*
Turnings
The Long Hunt
Five-Finger Exercise

*covered by the BoTC comic books (more or less)

Useful thread: A Breakdown of What's What by Skya



My Try of a Reader's Guide

It's not "the ultimative reader's guide" but good enough for a smooth read. I'll give you some information about the different series so you can decide by yourself.


Original Quest
Siege at Blue Montain
King of te Broken Wheel
Dreamtime - happens shortly after the return of the Palace ... awesome Wendy art
Hidden Years #4, #8, #9,5 and #10-15 - single issues filling gaps and giving background information for the time from the return of the Palace until the main story lines SHARDS and HIDDEN YEARS start. Read before starting with Shards and the rest of HY!

Main storyline - Shards (#1 til #15) and Hidden Years (from #16 til the end) - run parallel and influence each other.
Shards #10 / HY #24 and Shards #12 / HY #25 are directly connected - read the Shards issue before you look in the corresponding HY issue - spoiler warning!

About same time as Shards and Ember's Hidden Years storyline
New Blood #14-35 - Forevergreen Arc ... no direct connections with Shards/HY but it has necessary informations about the Sunvillagers' and Windkin's fate.
Would be no fault to read New Blood #11, #12, #13 before you start the Forevergreen Arc with NB #14.

Shards #16 gathers both the three story lines and the scattered elves.

Here you should read In All But Blood - it starts with Cutter's youth, a story about his early time in the Sunvillage, a story centering on Skywise somewhen after the return of the Palace. The last is the important one: Full Circle closes a time and knowledge gap between the end of SHARDS and the following stories ...

The Searcher and the Sword - following Cutter's tribe after Shards
Discovery - follows directly SatS

... that's what would make most sense for me to read in row from EQ1 until "present time" (= The Final Quest)


NOT on Digital EQ:
The Final Quest Prologue
Final Quest #1-24


more or less parallel with SatS / Discovery
Wild Hunt - following Ember's tribe after the Shards War
Mender's Tale (unfinished) - follows Wild Hunt
Recognition (Summer Special) - continues Wild Hunt
partly retold and more or less retconed by the Final Quest #1-2

The Forevergreen Story arc is more or less continued by
Worldpool - following some chars from the Forevergreen Arc - and
Fire-Eye (unfinished)
both probably "non-canon"



Other series and single issues

Tales from the Elves' wild past
Blood of Ten Chiefs
Two-Spear
Wolfrider! - read it!
By any other name (in the Readers Collection "In all but Blood")
Hidden Years #5, #6, #7, #9
#5 Starfall, Starrise - pre-EQ1 (story about Skywise and his parents' fate)
#6/7 How Shall I keep from Singing - High Ones' arrival and first years
#9 The Enemy's Face - story from Leetah's birth and youth
Homespun (in the Readers Collection "In all but Blood")

Spotlights on the time of the Long Wait (disappearance of the Palace until Big Sleep)
Hidden Years #1, #2, #3
#1 Wolfwood - during Long Wait (centering on Strongbow - I love it)
#2 Going Back - during Long Wait (Kahvi "visits" Sorrow's End again)
#3 Little Patch - during Long Wait (Tyleet's "cub")
The Jury (?)
New Blood #11, #12, #13
Kahvi

Background story of the Wavedancers
Wavedancers Issue #1
Wavedancers
Wavedancers - lost chapters (unfinished)
... it might be less puzzeling to read it after Discovery (some inconsistencies and retconning)

----------------

Somewhen in not too far future
Rogue's Curse - following Rayek's journey after Shards/Final Quest

Far future
Jink
The Rebles
Futurequest (unfinished)

--------------

I have not listed EVERYTHING here!

The rest of New Blood is a mix of Wild Past, Long Wait, various Misc stuff ... many of it considered non-canon

same for Bedtime Stories

Elfquest Volume 2 - containes stories that are mostly listed and reposted in collections (ask if you want to know more ... same for stories I missed to mention)

Kings Cross - a "What-If" / alternative universe story ...

Xanth - something totally different



There is no easy way to read through - you'll have to pick when you want to follow the timeline.

As you will notice some of the stories can be found in several topics. The Elfquest Vol. 2 issues have several ongoing stories in each issue - and then and now a single one. Many of these stories are gathered in collections:

Dreamtime, Wild Hunt, Wavedancers, Rogue's Curse, Wolfrider! to mention just a few.

You can stick with the gatherings to follow my suggestions ... Elfquest Vol. 2 is a read for completation when everything else is done in my opinion.


Don't hesitate to ask in case you need more information - or help to find some issues/collections.


Welcome to the pack Enjoy and have fun! Good read!

I don't know ...

... how much space ...

... I will need!

Hopefully less than this!

Thanks for putting this together!

One is glad to be of service.

I hope you don't mind but I just made this a Sticky. Thank you so much for this, Embala! I hope you know how much I appreciate all the hard work you do. You are fantastic! 

How would I mind, Nibblet? I'm honored! Thank you so much.

You should know that I mostly work for fun. I love to share what I've learned and feel happy when it can be helpful for others.
It's great to be a part of something again ... instead of a nuisance. The building up done by many fans, by many hands and minds, was what attracted me to the Scroll of Colors - and captured me for years.

Imagine trying to read all of EQ in chronological order! There'd be a lot of stopping in the middle of one issue to read another and reading several issues at the same time.



And I'm still trying to figure out how Wild Hunt fits in with Final Quest. If only they hadn't shown (adult) Khorbasi in the scene before the birth of Korafay...

Which issue has that story about the moon and sun shagging?

New Blood, Summer Special 2 - first story