Fantasy Books 24

Texas Tradition is a series of western novels by American novelist Elmer Kelton. The first novel in series in chronological order, The Good Old Boys was adapted into a television movie starring Tommy Lee Jones. Kelton would say that the novel was “probably the closest I have ever come to writing from sheer inspiration.” Each novel is an individual story and the series does not follow a lone featured character.

The Texas Tradition series began in 1971 with the novel The Day the Cowboys Quit and concluded in 1991 after nine novels with Honor at Daybreak, although the chronological order of the series is much different from its publication order. The books may be read in either order. Below is a list of Elmer Kelton’s Texas Tradition books in order of when they were first published (as well as in chronological order):

Publication Order of Texas Tradition Books