The anime series Code Geass by Sunrise has been adapted into various series of light novels. First serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's The Sneaker magazine, they are divided into two separate series corresponding with the series two seasons. The first series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, spanned five volumes with the first, labelled as volume 0, released in Japan on April 28, 2007 and the last on February 29, 2008. All five volumes in the first series of novels have been released in English by Bandai Visual as licensed in December 2007. The first volume was released on November 2008 and the last one on February 23, 2010.
The series focus on how the former prince Lelouch Lamperouge obtains a power known as Geass and decides to use it destroy the Holy Britannian Empire. The first novel acts as a prologue, focusing on how Lelouch befriended Suzaku Kururugi, the son of Japan's last prime minister, when the former and his sister Nunnally Lamperouge were sent to Japan as a political hostages.
The second novel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, covers the second season of the anime series in which Lelouch continues his battle against the Britannian Empire. It was released in four volumes from May 31, 2008 to February 28, 2009. Only the first English volume of this series was released in North America by Bandai. A single volume side story novel, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Red Tracks (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ 朱の軌跡 Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurūshu Shu no Kiseki) was released on March 29, 2008 in Japan. It focuses on the life of teenage girl Kallen Stadtfeld who becomes a soldier from the organization the Black Knights under Lelouch's leadership to defeat Britannia.