Essential ACOTAR Reading Order Guide (Including A Court Of Splintered Harmony)

Published Oct 29, 2026, 6:03 PM EDT Amanda Kay Oaks is a writer and lifelong book nerd. She has been writing about books on the internet for over 10 years, with prior bylines at Book Riot and ComicBook.com. Though she reads across most genres, Amanda Kay is particularly fond of romance, cozy fantasy, and books with strong female characters. So you want to read Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series but don't know where to start. With so many main series books and interlinking crossovers, it can be confusing to know where to start. While publication order is an obvious choice, there are a few quirks to the series timeline that can make it tricky to get the most out of the story doing it that way. Readers debate the ideal order for diving into the extended Maasverse, especially with ACOTAR book 6 finally out in the wild. After all, other Sarah J. Maas series like Throne of Glass and Crescent City are technically separate from the ACOTAR books. But as Maas wrote books like Crescent City while working on the ACOTAR series, they've become pretty interlinked. Thanks to crossovers between all three series, reading everything about the ACOTAR universe has gotten a bit more complicated. As such, reading each series separately and in straightforward publication order might not always give you the fullest picture and context. If you're just starting to get into the Maasverse thanks to A Court of Splintered Harmony hype, or if you want to make your next series re-read extra optimal, reading order matters. To get the most out of the Sarah J. Maas extended romantasy universe, follow this fan-approved ideal reading order for every book in ACOTAR and beyond. Throne of Glass Publication Order Recommended Reading Order Throne of Glass (2012) The Assassin's Blade Crown of Midnight (2013) Throne of Glass The Assassin's Blade (2014) Crown of Midnight Heir of Fire (2014) Heir of Fire Queen of Shadows (2015) Queen of Shadows Empire of Storms (2016) Empire of Storms Tower of Dawn (2017) Tower of Dawn Kingdom of Ash (2018) Kingdom of Ash For the most part, you can read Throne of Glass in the same order the books were published without any major issues or confusion. However, readers debate the best placement for Assassin's Blade, the third published book in the series. Though the book was published after Crown of Midnight, it's a compilation of prequel novellas that predate the events of Throne of Glass. As such, it's best to read this book first, then dive into the rest of the series in publication order. That way, you're experiencing the books in true chronological order. Some readers prefer to keep the series in publication order, even though Assassin's Blade is a prequel. The argument there is that some of the emotional beats in the novella collection hit harder if you've got more context for the characters. Even so, most readers agree that keeping events in chronological order is the best way to go with the Throne of Glass series, and that means pushing Assassin's Blade up to the top of the list. As for how Throne of Glass plays into the broader Maasverse, that's a bit muddier. Crossovers for ACOTAR don't come into play until the last book, and Throne of Glass itself will still make perfect sense without reading ACOTAR first. That said, the brief crossover encounter in Kingdom of Ash could be considered a minor potential spoiler for events in A Court of Silver Flames. So, you could hold off on finishing Throne of Glass until you read ACOTAR book 5. Unless you're really spoiler-avoidant, though, reading Throne of Glass in the recommended order entirely before moving on to ACOTAR is still the best way to go. ACOTAR 1-5 A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015) A Court of Mist and Fury (2016) A Court of Wings and Ruin (2017) A Court of Frost and Starlight (2018) A Court of Silver Flames (2021) By and large, reading the first five ACOTAR books in publication order is the way to go. The first three books are quite closely linked and function as a mini-trilogy within the series, so they're best read back-to-back. After that, though, things get a bit stickier. Book 4, A Court of Frost and Starlight, is a novella that many readers recommend skipping altogether. The shorter interlude between the closely-knit starting trilogy does little to progress the series' plot. Its slice-of-life vibes flesh out the world and characters, but don't add anything earth-shattering to the events of the broader series. Still, it's just around 230 pages compared to the 400+ of a typical ACOTAR read. So a true completionist run can and should include it without slowing you down too much. Crescent City House of Earth and Blood (2020) House of Sky and Breath (2022) House of Flame and Shadow (2024) For the most part, reading Crescent City is pretty straightforward. As far as the series itself goes, publication order and chronological order are one and the same. We also don't have the same potentially skippable novella situation as with the early ACOTAR books. So if you're just here for Crescent City, you can pick up the books and read them in the order they came out without any issues. However, there are some ACOTAR crossovers that make things a bit confusing if you haven't read those books yet. Starting with House of Sky and Breath, characters from the Night Court start to pop up here and there. As such, it's best to read this series after finishing the first five ACOTAR books. That way, you've got the full context for who Rhysand is and can enjoy that crossover content to its fullest extent. ACOTAR 6-8 With A Court of Splintered Harmony out in the world, readers can finally jump into what's next after ACOTAR book 5. Because of the aforementioned crossovers with Crescent City, reading that series before jumping into the latest ACOTAR will give you the fullest picture of the universe. And of course, you don't want to read book 6 before reading the other books in the series. A Court of Forgotten Melody is set to release in January 2027. So, you'll want to finish ACOTAR 6 before the year ends if you plan to jump right in as soon as the next book arrives. Beyond January 2027, we don't know much about what's to come for book 8. The title and release timeline will likely be revealed sometime after the release of A Court of Forgotten Melody. Depending on when that book comes out, and what else Maas might cook up before it does, the recommended reading order could change. But for now, it seems like wrapping the series in publication order, after reading Crescent City, will be the way to go. As of now, no new books are confirmed after the eighth installment, but Maas also hasn't outright said the ACOTAR series will end with book 8. You can purchase A Court of Splintered Harmony here.