Book Recommendations
The Adaptive Reading Order of Sarah J. Maas Books, From ‘ACOTAR’ to ‘Crescent City’
Believe it or not, there are people out there that have not been sucked into the Sarah J. Maas fae-universe. It seems impossible to imagine considering how ubiquitous Maas and the A Court of Thorns and Roses series have been on TikTok for the past three years. However, we at Swooon listen, and we don’t judge anyone who hasn’t started drinking the Maas Kool-Aid. In fact, if you’re looking to get into the Maas fandom but don’t know where to start, we are here to help you on that journey.
Maas has three different but connected romantasy series. The most popular, A Court of Thorns and Roses, has four books and a novella, with a sixth book currently in progress. Throne of Glass is Maas’ first fantasy series and has nine books. And finally, there is the Crescent City series, which currently stands at a trilogy, but there is room in Maas’ current publishing contract to add more to that total. For anyone that doesn’t want to do the math, that is a total of 16.5 and counting books in the Maas universe.
That’s extremely overwhelming if you haven’t already gotten started. Even if you have read a few of the books, hopefully, this suggested reading order will help you maximize your experience in joining this fandom. As a romance-centric site, we recommend starting with the ACOTAR series first to help get you acclimated and comfortable with Maas’ writing before going into the other books. However, if you are more of a fantasy-first-romance-second type of person, starting with Throne of Glass may be the more ideal route for you. Here’s how we suggest reading each series below.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
You should start with A Court of Thorns and Roses because it is Maas’ most accessible series. If you’re new to fantasy books or getting back into reading after some time off, it’s a great intro course to the romantasy genre. You don’t have to be a Tolkien expert to fit in here, and the world-building is gradual enough that you won’t feel overwhelmed. There is nothing tricky about the ACOTAR book order, which also makes it a good place to start.
You should be warned that you may not fully understand the hype around Maas or her books from the first ACOTAR novel, but stay the course. The first ACOTAR novel is very enjoyable and an easy read, but the real magic comes in Book 2, A Court of Mist and Fury. And, no, you can’t just skip to the good stuff. The first book sets up everything that will be flipped on its head in Mist and Fury.
Here’s the order you should read the ACOTAR series:
A Court of Thorns and Roses (Book 1)
A Court of Mist and Fury (Book 2)
A Court of Wings and Ruin (Book 3 — the end of the Feyre-centric trilogy)
A Court of Frost and Starlight (Multi-perspective holiday novella. It is skippable if you are in a rush, but it does contain one of the series’ steamiest spice scenes and valuable backstory for the next book)
A Court of Silver Flames (Nesta’s book, and by far the spiciest of the set)
Azriel’s Silver Flames bonus chapter (This was included in brick-and-mortar exclusive versions of Silver Flames when it first came out. If your book doesn’t have it, there are a plethora of links online. You’ll definitely want it in your noggin’ before Book 6 comes out)
Throne of Glass
Throne of Glass is Maas’ most complicated series, and technically falls under the YA label. What does this mean? It means virtually no spice. While that may sound like a slog, many fans argue that Throne of Glass is Maas’ best-executed series. Even King of BookTok Jordan Fisher identifies as a Throne of Glass devotee, but it does take some determination to get to the end of this series.
Maas started writing Throne of Glass when she was in high school, which makes some of the early books a little bit of a slog to get through. That’s why Swoon recommends reading the books slightly out of order. If you want to go by how things happen chronologically, you would start with The Assassin’s Blade, which was published fourth, and then go through the rest of the series in publishing order. We recommend something slightly different and also caution against the touted tandem read of Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn on your first read-through. Bouncing back and forth between the two books can be really confusing and a lot to juggle. It is a very fun adventure if you are doing a re-read though and want a new challenge.
Here’s how Swooon recommends reading the Throne of Glass series:
Throne of Glass (Book 1)
Crown of Midnight (Book 2)
The Assassin’s Blade (Prequel, but it will hit harder here now that you know the characters and prepare you for the next in the series)
Heir of Fire (Book 4. This is like the Goblet of Fire of the Throne of Glass series. Everything gets so much more dire and intense here.)
Queen of Shadows (Book 5)
Empire of Storms (Book 6)
Tower of Dawn (Book 7)
Kingdom of Ash (Book 8)
Crescent City
Finally, there are the Crescent City books. Some people have looked at the nine book total of Throne of Glass and skipped it before jumping into Crescent City. That is a viable and enjoyable option, but Maas’ worldbuilding in Throne of Glass better prepares you for the absolute info dump that is the first 50 pages of the first Crescent City book. You’re more equipped to handle the size of the mythology of Crescent City once you’ve made it through Throne of Glass, which may make it more fun when you finally get here.
Crescent City is also the book that ties the entire universe together, so you definitely want to read ACOTAR first, if not both ACOTAR and Throne of Glass. Here’s the suggested reading order for the Crescent City novels:
Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood
Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath (Seriously, do not read this until you’ve finished A Court of Silver Flames)
Crescent City: House of Flame and Shadow (Did you listen to us about ACoSF? If you didn’t, you absolutely need to before picking up this book)
What is your preferred Maas reading order? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
