Novels
The light novel and the web novel
Tappei Nagatsuki began Re:Zero as a free web serial in 2012. The light novel edition rewrites and expands it with Shinichirou Otsuka's illustrations. Both are still going.
Light novel
The published edition: tighter prose, extra scenes, new perspectives and illustrations. This is the version the anime adapts, and the one to buy if you want the definitive text.
Official English edition · Yen PressWeb novel
The original serial, free and far ahead of the books. Rougher, faster, and the only place to read the later arcs — at the cost of spoilers and less polished drafts.
Arc by arc
A Day in the Capital
Light novel vol. 1One street, one stolen insignia, one loop that keeps ending in a warehouse.
Web novel chapters 1–34.
Read this arc free in the web novel →A Week at the Mansion
Light novel vol. 2–3Roswaal's mansion, twin maids, and a week that refuses to reach its eighth day.
Web novel chapters 35–102.
Read this arc free in the web novel →Truth of Zero
Light novel vol. 4–9The Royal Selection begins, the White Whale is hunted, and Subaru is broken and rebuilt.
Web novel chapters 103–305. The arc most expanded in the light novel edition.
Read this arc free in the web novel →The Everlasting Contract
Light novel vol. 10–15Sanctuary, the Witch of Greed's tea party, and four trials of memory.
Web novel chapters 306–470.
Read this arc free in the web novel →Stars of the Water Gate
Light novel vol. 16–20Priestella under siege; a city-wide war against Lust, Greed and Gluttony.
Web novel chapters 471–592.
Read this arc free in the web novel →The Memory Snow Tower
Light novel vol. 21–26The Pleiades Watchtower, a sea of sand, and the cost of asking for erased memories back.
Web novel chapters 593–724. Not yet animated.
Read this arc free in the web novel →The Vollachia Imperial Arc
Light novel vol. 27–Subaru wakes in the Vollachian Empire, small, alone and hunted.
Ongoing in the web novel.
Read this arc free in the web novel →Where to start after the anime
Season 3 ends with Arc 5. Pick up the light novels at volume 21 (Arc 6, the Pleiades Watchtower) for the reading experience closest to the anime, or jump into the web novel from chapter 593 if you would rather not wait for translations to catch up.