I am about to start reading the Lonesome Dove series. Watched the tv series several times. Last time was probably during Covid.

Anyway, online I've seen two different recommendations on what order to read them. Some say read them in chronological order; Dead Man's Walk, Comanche Moon, Lonesome Dove, and then Streets of Laredo.

Others say read them in the order they were published; Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo, Dead Man's Walk, then Comanche Moon.

What did you do?

In my opinion, it does the series an injustice if you don't start with Lonesome Dove. It's just such a phenomenal story.

I'd start with Lonesome Dove just so you're not burned out when you get to the best book in the series. It's the reason the other books exist.

Disclosure: I've only read Lonesome Dove. I thought it was phenomenal. After reading reviews for the others, I didn't want to tarnish my Lonesome Dove experience by reading anything that would pale in comparison.

I would echo the replies above to start with LD. I feel it has the most character development, as it was written first, so it's the best one to get to know the characters.

They're all great but you'll understand all the characters way more if you start with Lonesome Dove so I'd read them in the order they were published although if you wanted to, you could save Streets of Laredo for last because it's the only sequel and the others are prequels. Let us know what you think!

Well I'm in the minority but I say chronological order.

I feel like you know a lot of the backstory when you do get to LD that you don't get if you start there.

The correct answer to this question is yes.

Read Lonesome Dove first, and when you read every line of dialogue, read it in the voice of the actors you saw in the miniseries. Duvall as Gus, Jones as Call, etc. That sets the tone.

Then read Dead Man's Walk, Comanche Moon and Streets of Laredo in that order.

The only thing that gets screwed up is Pea and Lorena in SoL. After watching the original miniseries it's impossible to square that up.

I know everything pales in comparison to Lonesome Dove but Comanche Moon is great in its own right.

Ag_07 said:

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Well I'm in the minority but I say chronological order.

I feel like you know a lot of the backstory when you do get to LD that you don't get if you start there.

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I read the series in chronological order and enjoyed it.

I did as well and I also didn't watch the series until I read the books.

IMO there's just so much history with all the characters that it's better to get before diving in to LD.

And I wouldn't be too worried about being burnt out. LD is in a class all it's own but the rest of the books are great reads in their own right.

I liked the first two. I wish I hadn't read Streets of Laredo.

I read LD first, and then the rest in chronological order (DMW, CM, SoL) with a reread of LD in there before SoL.

I don't think LM was a one hit wonder, but LD is so good that it makes the rest of them look average at best. He would have been considered a good writer without LD, but it's so good that I often wonder if he stole it.

I would only recommend starting with Lonesome Dove if you have no knowledge of the story. If you have seen the highly acclaimed series, then you should have enough understanding of the characters.

I read them chronologically by chance. I had seen the series and read Dead Man's Walk, and was prepared to go and buy Lonesome Dove, but when I got to the Hastings in Victoria that day, they were featuring the newly released Comanche Moon. Bought them both, and enjoyed them in order. Finished up with Streets of Laredo, but did not enjoy that one as much.

However you read it, enjoy it. Originality doesn't come along like that every day.

You may also enjoy the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy.

Read them as released. Enjoy the ride!

Thanks for the replies! I'm looking forward to this series.

I just finished Don Winslow's trilogy on the cartel. I enjoyed it a lot.

This may be blasphemous but I think Comanche Moon is my
Favorite of all the books.

JABQ04 said:

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This may be blasphemous but I think Comanche Moon is my
Favorite of all the books.

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No maybe. Definitely blasphemous.

Oh and once you start reading McMurtry, you may be reading a while. He is so good at characters and dialogue. There is a reason his books make great films - the Thalia books are fantastic too.

I read them in chronological order. Couldn't finish streets of Laredo. The others were really good. Lonesome Dove was head and shoulders better than the others

JABQ04 said:

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This may be blasphemous but I think Comanche Moon is my
Favorite of all the books.

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I had this same opinion when I read them all in chronological order about a decade ago

I've read all of them multiple times. Lonesome Dove is my favorite book of all time. Comanche Moon is also very good. I hate SoL and pretend it doesn't exist.

Chronological order

Order they came out. Could you imagine watching "Better Call Saul" before you watched "Breaking Bad"?