Everything you need to know about the Roswell books

Written by Teresa
aka @thebandiswithme & @tinycrashdown

Intro

Teresa's bookshelf
I’ve been a Roswell fan since it aired, but I didn’t hear about the books until several years after it ended. I didn’t know much about the books and never had much interest in them until a few years ago when I began collecting them. I was eager for more Roswell and found out the last 4 books took place after the show ended. I was dying to find out what happened after Graduation and so I began my collection. I was a bit in the dark, gathering details I found online about the different collections, where to buy them and how much to pay for them. As I worked on my collection, I would often post finds on my Instagram story and was surprised by how many people would message me asking the same questions I had. And so I decided to write another how-to guide for The Crashdown with all the details on the Roswell books.

Below I’ll explain what they’re about, where to find them, how much to pay for them and even the order in which to read them! The books are a great way to get a little extra Roswell in your life and they fill in many missing pieces from the show, including more backstory and information about the dupes and hybrids.

I couldn’t have written this article without the Roswell Book Queen, Jessica Buchtel @theroswellbookqueen who is a trove of knowledge about these books.

Also thank you to @nevadajen, @thewendist, @roswellvirtualparty, @karynkordish, @maxevansisstaringatyouagain, @elbat1, @mishi_alexandra, Sophie & Vicki for talking to me about your own Roswell book collections.

The Basics
Roswell High – The ten books in order
The 2nd Set – The Pocketbooks
The Final 8 Books
Where do you find the Roswell books?
What do I pay for the Roswell books?
How do you read the Roswell books?

The Basics:

There are 3 sets of Roswell books. The first ten were written by Melinda Metz and these are the 10 that our beloved show was inspired by. These follow a very different story than the show but this set is the origin story. Of these ten, the first five were released with the ‘original’ covers, pictured below, but eventually they were all released with covers showing the stars of the TV show.

The ten books in order are:

The Outsider
The Wild One
The Seeker
The Watcher
The Intruder
The Stowaway
The Vanished
The Rebel
The Dark One
The Salvation

The 2nd Set – The Pocketbooks

The second set is often referred to as ‘the pocketbooks’. It’s a series of three books and they were written by Greg Cox, Dean Smith and Kristine Rusch. The books in this series all take place in Season 2. Jess the Roswell Book Queen considers these books ‘extra episodes’ of Season 2 and they are especially enjoyable for Alex fans as he features heavily.

They are:

Loose Ends
No Good Deed
Little Green Men

The Final 8 Books

Finally, the last set of eight books. These are written by several different authors throughout the series, my favorite being Andy Mengels. The first four books take place between seasons 2 and 3 and the last four take place after the show ended.

The final eight books are:

Shades
Skeletons in the Closet
Dreamwalk
Quarantine
A New Beginning
Nightscape
Pursuit
Turnabout

Where do you find the Roswell books:

The books are all out of print at this point and some of them were only printed in limited quantities so you’re only going to find them used. Some places I and others have found the books are eBay, ThriftBooks, AbeBooks, Etsy, Mercari, Amazon used, flea markets, sort out library book sections and thrift stores. Many are sold in sets and can be a great way to get a bunch at one time.

What do I pay for the Roswell books?

I’m not going to lie, a complete collection is not cheap! But with some patience and time, you can find most of the books for decently affordable prices, minus the last book. Below is an idea of the average prices that I and other fans have paid for our Roswell books when buying them one at a time. I really recommend creating a budget for each book and sticking to it- they can be found at these prices if you’re patient and diligent at checking sites.

Here is a photo of current listings of book 7 in the last series and an example of the wide range items can be listed for.

The books are often listed as sets as well, sometimes containing a few books from each series. I haven’t included prices on these as they can vary widely depending on what’s in them but this rough guide should help you determine what you should pay for a mixed lot.

Set 1

The first set I’ve found is cheaper to buy as a whole and I frequently see collections on eBay of the entire ten book set for around $60-75 USD. If you’re buying them one by one, I wouldn’t pay more than $5-$10 a book.

Set 2

These three pocketbooks are widely available, I see them the most often. You can routinely find them for under $10 each.

Set 3

The last eight are the most expensive, with increasing value towards the last book which had the smallest amount printed. The numbers below are based on what I and others have paid in the last few years.

Shades, Skeletons, Dreamwalk & Quarantine can all be found for late 10s to high 20s.

A New Beginning, Nightscape & Pursuit are more in the rage of $30-50 each.

And finally, the last book, Turnabout, the rarest book and the one that ties up many loose ends, is always going to be your most expensive one. I regularly see it listed for an eye-watering $100-200! I held out for years before finding a copy listed for $80 on eBay. I believe I offered $70 and it was accepted.

How do you read the Roswell books?

Jess came up with a brilliant system on how to best read the Roswell books so that the details line up as closely as possible with the show.

Step 1: WATCH ALL of season 1 and part of season 2. Stop on
episode 15 (#215 Viva Las Vegas). Alex is still alive in the books here!

Step 2: READ: Loose Ends, Little Green Men and No Good Deed

Step 3: WATCH rest of season 2.

Step 4: READ: Shades, Dreamwalk and Skeletons in the Closet

Step 5: WATCH season 3 and stop on episode 4 (#304 Secrets and Lies)

Step 6: READ: Quarantine

Step 7: WATCH all season 3.

Step 8: READ: A New Beginning, Nightscape, Pursuit and Turnabout

Outro

There you have it! Everything I needed to know to start and finish my collection and hopefully everything you need to start yours too. If you’re not able to currently start your collection or the physical books aren’t important to you, digital files of the books have been floating around the fandom for a long time.

You can reach out to @theroswellbookqueen if you need help finding any of the books.

The books are such an enjoyable way to experience some additional Roswell all these years later. Starting a collection can be daunting especially with some of the higher priced books, but I believe it is a worthwhile endeavour for Roswell fans. There were many details of the show that were left hanging and as Jess and many fans say, the books make the story all come together.

Happy collecting Roswellians!

Photos by Teresa, Jess and Lena