Sarah J. Maas Books in Order: ACOTAR, Throne of Glass & Crescent City (2026)
Sarah J. Maas books in order should be simple. Then you meet the prequel collection readers argue about, the short novella that absolutely counts and two Throne of Glass books that happen at the same time. This guide lists every Maas novel across A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass and Crescent City with its year and a spoiler-free hook, then covers where to start and the two new ACOTAR books on the way. The next one is close: A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth ACOTAR book, arrives October 27, 2026.
Each series opens with its own book one, so you can begin wherever the premise grabs you. The order inside each series is where readers get tripped up, and that’s what we sort out below.
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Where to Start With Sarah J. Maas
The quick answer: start with A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015), then read each series in publication order. ACOTAR is the most romance-forward of her three series, and its first three books tell one complete arc, so it’s the easiest place to fall in. Prefer to choose by mood?
- Romance front and center: A Court of Thorns and Roses.
- A long epic with a lethal heroine: Throne of Glass.
- Magic with smartphones and nightclubs: House of Earth and Blood, the first Crescent City book.
- Everything, eventually: the full publication list further down, which keeps later books from revealing things before the books that set them up.
A Court of Thorns and Roses Series in Order
- A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015): nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods and is dragged into a faerie land to pay for it.
- A Court of Mist and Fury (2016): the sequel widens the world, deepens the cast and turns up the heat.
- A Court of Wings and Ruin (2017): the high-stakes conclusion to Feyre’s original arc.
- A Court of Frost and Starlight (2018): a short winter solstice companion that bridges to the next chapter of the series.
- A Court of Silver Flames (2021): the spotlight moves to Feyre’s sister Nesta in the steamiest book of the series.
Coming next: A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth ACOTAR book, arrives October 27, 2026, and A Court of Forgotten Melody follows on January 12, 2027.
ACOTAR is Maas at her most romantic. A mortal heroine lands in a world of High Fae, ancient bargains and rival courts, and the love story drives the plot as hard as the politics do. The first book began as a Beauty and the Beast riff, and the series grows into something much bigger from there.
Heat starts warm in book one and climbs from there, with plenty of open-door scenes and A Court of Silver Flames the spiciest of the five. Keep the novella in place even though it’s short, because it sets up Silver Flames. Our ACOTAR reading order guide explains exactly where it fits, the ACOTAR spice guide covers the heat book by book and our ACOTAR before-you-read primer helps you decide whether book one is for you. Already finished? Try these books like ACOTAR.
See A Court of Thorns and Roses on Amazon →
Throne of Glass Series in Order
- Throne of Glass (2012): assassin Celaena Sardothien is pulled out of the salt mines of Endovier to compete for the title of the king’s champion.
- Crown of Midnight (2013): the palace intrigue sharpens and the secrets get far more dangerous.
- The Assassin’s Blade (2014): five prequel novellas from Celaena’s years as the most notorious assassin in Adarlan.
- Heir of Fire (2014): the world widens dramatically, and the series starts turning into an epic.
- Queen of Shadows (2015): old debts come due, and the prequel stories start paying off.
- Empire of Storms (2016): war gathers and every alliance gets tested.
- Tower of Dawn (2017): a parallel story that follows Chaol to the southern continent, running alongside Empire of Storms.
- Kingdom of Ash (2018): the nearly thousand-page finale.
Where does The Assassin’s Blade go? Publication order puts it third, after Crown of Midnight, and that’s a great spot for it. Some readers start with it because it’s a prequel, but the stories land harder once you’ve met Celaena. The one firm rule: read it before Queen of Shadows, which leans on its characters and events.
The tandem read: Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn take place at the same time in different parts of the world, so many fans alternate chapters between the two using a tandem-read guide. It’s an excellent way to reread. On a first pass, plain publication order works too, and it’s simpler.
Throne of Glass is the longest and most epic of Maas’s series. It opens as a deadly palace competition and grows into a continent-spanning war story with a huge ensemble cast. It started life on the YA shelf, so the early books keep the heat low; the romance and the steam build as the characters grow up, and the later books run noticeably warmer. When you finish, our list of books like Throne of Glass has ten more assassin and dark fantasy reads.
See Throne of Glass on Amazon →
Crescent City Series in Order
- House of Earth and Blood (2020): half-fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan teams up with a fallen angel to hunt the killer behind a series of murders in Lunathion, the Crescent City.
- House of Sky and Breath (2022): Bryce and Hunt want a quiet life, and a brewing rebellion has other plans.
- House of Flame and Shadow (2024): the finale pushes every stake in the series to its limit.
Crescent City is Maas’s adult urban fantasy: angels, shifters, witches and fae share a city with phones, cars and nightclubs, and the first book wraps a murder mystery around a slow-burn partnership. These are big books, and the romance takes its time. The heat is adult from the start and builds across the trilogy. If the modern-magic setting is your favorite part, our books like Crescent City list has ten more urban fantasy and romantasy picks.
See House of Earth and Blood on Amazon →
All Sarah J. Maas Books in Publication Order
Planning to read everything? Here is the full list of Sarah J. Maas books in order of release, with all three series interleaved. Reading this way means you never meet a later development before the book that sets it up, which matters more the deeper you go.
- Throne of Glass (2012): Throne of Glass book 1
- Crown of Midnight (2013): Throne of Glass book 2
- The Assassin’s Blade (2014): Throne of Glass prequel collection
- Heir of Fire (2014): Throne of Glass book 3
- A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015): ACOTAR book 1
- Queen of Shadows (2015): Throne of Glass book 4
- A Court of Mist and Fury (2016): ACOTAR book 2
- Empire of Storms (2016): Throne of Glass book 5
- A Court of Wings and Ruin (2017): ACOTAR book 3
- Tower of Dawn (2017): Throne of Glass book 6
- A Court of Frost and Starlight (2018): ACOTAR book 4, the novella
- Catwoman: Soulstealer (2018): a standalone DC Icons novel
- Kingdom of Ash (2018): Throne of Glass book 7
- House of Earth and Blood (2020): Crescent City book 1
- A Court of Silver Flames (2021): ACOTAR book 5
- House of Sky and Breath (2022): Crescent City book 2
- House of Flame and Shadow (2024): Crescent City book 3
What’s Next for Sarah J. Maas
ACOTAR is getting its first new books since Silver Flames. Maas has announced two more: A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth ACOTAR book, arrives on October 27, 2026, and the seventh, A Court of Forgotten Melody, follows on January 12, 2027. Publishing dates can shift, so double-check the listing before you preorder. Our ACOTAR reading order guide tracks both announcements and shows where they slot in.
See A Court of Splintered Harmony on Amazon →
See A Court of Forgotten Melody on Amazon →
On screen, there’s nothing to watch yet. Hulu’s planned ACOTAR series is officially no longer moving forward there, news that broke in early 2025.
Read Next: Hotter Romantasy From Fractal Enigma
Maas readers come for the fae and stay for the bargains, the courts and the slow fall for someone dangerous. These five Fractal Enigma romantasies keep those ingredients and turn up the heat, starting with the closest matches. And if Fourth Wing is next on your list, our Rebecca Yarros books in order guide covers the Empyrean series.
The Shadow Sovereign — Draven Moore
Vesper Ashford has spent ten years as an invisible servant in the governor’s mansion, waiting for the right moment to avenge her father’s execution. Then she finds a starving god sealed beneath the cellar, and Malakor, Lord of Shadows, offers her power in exchange for her touch. What begins as a transaction becomes obsession as she rises from kitchen maid to revolutionary leader to something not quite human: ACOTAR’s immortal bargain and Throne of Glass’s slow climb to power in one MF standalone, with a bittersweet happily ever after.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Morally Grey Hero, Touch Her and Die, Forced Proximity, Power Exchange, He Falls First
Start reading The Shadow Sovereign →
Bite the Hand That Feeds You — Isla Wilde
Iris Morcant arrives at Countess Vespera Saint-Clair’s black-stone estate with a blood-companion contract and a silver blade hidden in her corset. The human resistance wants the three-century-old vampire dead before the next full moon. But Vespera refuses to feed without permission, and the monster Iris was sent to kill turns out to be starved for touch that’s freely given. An FF gothic enemies-to-lovers romance for Throne of Glass readers who fell for the assassin first.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Vampire/Courtesan, Hidden Assassin, Gothic Age Gap, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Touch Starved
Start reading Bite the Hand That Feeds You →
The King of Tides & Ruin — Draven Moore
Rourke Thorne was once the Empire’s most feared witch-hunter. Now he’s the Salted King, a pirate captain slowly turning into living crystal, and when his crew captures Sera Blackwood, a healer who can cure any curse by taking it into herself, breaking his curse may be her only way out. Every touch that heals him pulls her closer to destruction. If ACOTAR’s curse-breaking bones are what hooked you, this MF pirate romantasy keeps the morally gray hero and runs a little cooler than the rest of this list.
Heat: Scorching 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Curse Breaking, Captive Romance, Morally Gray Hero, Enemies to Lovers
Start reading The King of Tides & Ruin →
Hoard of the Dragon — Draven Moore
Master thief Elara Vance has seventy-two hours to save her sister, so she breaks into a Manhattan vault to steal a legendary ruby. Asleep beneath the city is Valerius, the last of the Dragon Lords, who wakes after five hundred years and decides he would rather keep the thief than kill her. It’s MF fated mates with modern-city magic, the pick for Crescent City fans who want a possessive dragon and far more heat. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Fated Mates, Dragon Shifter, Monster Romance, Captive Romance, Size Difference
Start reading Hoard of the Dragon →
The Demon’s Tithe — Rowan Black
Kaelen Ashward hunts monsters for coin. The demon blood poured into his wounds was called a gift, and villagers bar their doors when he rides through. A werewolf contract brings him to Castle Voss and to Lady Seraphine Voss, whose secrets go back centuries and who offers him pleasure without price in a land where nothing is free. Rowan Black’s MF dark fantasy runs 267,000 words of supernatural politics, ancient hunger and a hero who falls first, made for readers who love Maas at her darkest. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Monster Hunter, Morally Grey Hero, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Touch Starved, He Falls First, Ancient Entity, Found Family
Start reading The Demon’s Tithe →
FAQ: Sarah J. Maas Books in Order
Where should I start with Sarah J. Maas?
Start with A Court of Thorns and Roses if you want romance at the center, Throne of Glass if you want a long epic with an assassin heroine or House of Earth and Blood if you prefer modern urban fantasy. Each series begins cleanly with its own first book.
What order should I read Sarah J. Maas books in?
Read each series in publication order. In ACOTAR, keep A Court of Frost and Starlight between Wings and Ruin and Silver Flames. In Throne of Glass, read The Assassin’s Blade before Queen of Shadows. If you plan to read all three series, follow the master list of Sarah J. Maas books in order above.
How many Sarah J. Maas books are there?
Sixteen across her three fantasy series: five ACOTAR books including the novella, eight Throne of Glass books including The Assassin’s Blade and three Crescent City books. She also wrote a standalone DC Icons novel, Catwoman: Soulstealer, and two more ACOTAR books are on the way: A Court of Splintered Harmony (October 27, 2026) and A Court of Forgotten Melody (January 12, 2027).
How spicy are Sarah J. Maas books?
It depends on the series. ACOTAR starts warm and gets steamy, with A Court of Silver Flames the spiciest. Throne of Glass begins at YA heat and warms up in the later books, while Crescent City is adult from the start with heat that builds slowly. Our romance spice levels guide explains how heat ratings work, and every Fractal Enigma pick above lists its chili rating.
Is there going to be an ACOTAR 6?
Yes. A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth ACOTAR book, is scheduled for October 27, 2026, and book seven, A Court of Forgotten Melody, is set for January 12, 2027.
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