Reading order
Sarah J. Maas Books in Order
Three series that have begun to cross over, and an argument about one prequel that her own website already settled.
Updated November 2026 · By Sawyer V.
The short version
Start with the first book of whichever series appeals — the author's own site says so explicitly. Throne of Glass is the classic fantasy, A Court of Thorns and Roses the romantasy most readers come for, and Crescent City the urban one. Within Throne of Glass, read The Assassin's Blade third, not first.
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How we picked
The six below are entry points and decision points, not a complete list — there are sixteen-plus novels across the three series and nobody buys them at once. Every sequence on this page comes from the author's own reading-order page rather than a fan list, because the fan guides disagree with each other and with her. We do not print per-book publication years here: the catalog records for several of these titles disagree with the published release dates, so the page gives order, which is what the question is actually about. We have not read all six.
What we do on every list: read the publisher’s own description rather than a summary of it, check print length and first publication year against library catalog data (last refreshed November 8, 2026), confirm the book is still sold in the format we suggest, and write the match line before the blurb. What we do not do is claim to have read every book here cover to cover. The full method is published, and it is written so anyone can check it.
Three series, and no wrong door
The question people ask is which series to start with, and it has an unusually clean answer: the author's own site says you can begin with the first book of any of the three. They share a world and have begun to cross over, but none of them requires another first.
| Series | Books | What it is | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Throne of Glass | 8 | Classic fantasy — assassins, courts, banished magic | Throne of Glass |
| A Court of Thorns and Roses | 5, with more announced | Romantasy — the one most readers mean | A Court of Thorns and Roses |
| Crescent City | 3 | Urban fantasy — a modern magical city | House of Earth and Blood |
If you want a recommendation rather than a choice: start with A Court of Thorns and Roses. It is the shortest commitment, it is the series the conversation is about, and if her writing is going to work for somebody it usually works there first.
The short answer
Who each book is for, at a glance. Select a row for the full write-up.
| # | Book | Give this if | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Throne of GlassSarah J. Maas · 432 pagesStart here for classic fantasy | they want assassins, courts and a world with the magic switched off | |
| 2 |  The Assassin's BladeSarah J. Maas · 462 pagesThird, not first | they have read the first two and want the backstory | |
| 3 |  A Court of Thorns and RosesSarah J. Maas · 451 pagesStart here for romantasy | this is the series they have actually heard of | |
| 4 |  A Court of Mist and FurySarah J. Maas · 626 pagesThe one that decides it | they finished the first and were unconvinced | |
| 5 |  House of Earth and BloodSarah J. Maas · 805 pagesStart here for urban fantasy | they want her writing in a modern setting | |
| 6 |  House of Flame and ShadowSarah J. Maas · 835 pagesWhere the worlds meet | they have read both Crescent City and ACOTAR |
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Six, by where each one sits
1. Start here for classic fantasy
Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey want assassins, courts and a world with the magic switched off
An eighteen-year-old assassin is pulled out of a salt mine to compete for the post of royal champion. It opens the longest of the three series at eight books, and it is the one that reads most like traditional fantasy rather than romance.
One caveat: The first book is the weakest of its series by common consent — it was written young and it reads it. Readers who push to book three are the ones who stay.
- Print length
- 432 pages
- First published
- 2012
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
#ad — how we’re funded · price as of November 9, 2026
2. Third, not first
The Assassin's Blade
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey have read the first two and want the backstory
Five linked novellas about Celaena before the first novel — the jobs, the guild, and the betrayal that put her in the mines. The author's own reading order places it third, after Crown of Midnight, and that placement is the single most useful thing on this page.
One caveat: Read first, as many guides suggest, it spoils the reveal the first two novels are built on. It is a prequel, not an introduction.
- Print length
- 462 pages
- First published
- 2014
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
#ad — how we’re funded · price as of November 9, 2026
3. Start here for romantasy
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthis is the series they have actually heard of
A huntress is taken across the wall into a faerie court in a Beauty-and-the-Beast retelling that turns much darker than it starts. It is the series that made her a household name and the one most new readers mean.
One caveat: Explicit content from the second book on. It is marketed widely to teenagers and is not a young-adult series past book one.
- Print length
- 451 pages
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
#ad — how we’re funded · price as of November 9, 2026
4. The one that decides it
A Court of Mist and Fury
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey finished the first and were unconvinced
The second ACOTAR novel moves Feyre out of the court the first book left her in and reorients the whole series around a different one. Readers who were lukewarm after book one almost always name this as the point they were caught.
One caveat: Unreadable out of sequence, and much longer than the first. If book one did nothing for them, this is the last thing to try before giving up.
- Print length
- 626 pages
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
#ad — how we’re funded · price as of November 9, 2026
5. Start here for urban fantasy
House of Earth and Blood
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey want her writing in a modern setting
A half-Fae party girl in a contemporary magical city investigates the killing of her closest friends alongside a Fallen angel. Crescent City is the newest of the three and the most unlike the other two — phones, bars and police procedure rather than courts.
One caveat: Very long, and the first two hundred pages are world-building. The tonal switch from her other series throws some readers completely.
- Print length
- 805 pages
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
#ad — how we’re funded · price as of November 9, 2026
6. Where the worlds meet
House of Flame and Shadow
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey have read both Crescent City and ACOTAR
The third Crescent City novel, and the point at which the crossover between her series stops being an easter egg. It is the one book here that genuinely rewards having read another series first.
One caveat: Read without ACOTAR behind you, part of it will simply not land. This is the only place in her work where that is true.
- Print length
- 835 pages
- First published
- 2024
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
#ad — how we’re funded · price as of November 9, 2026
The order people argue about
Only one sequence in this catalog is genuinely contested, and it is inside Throne of Glass. Here is the order as the author's own page lists it:
- Throne of Glass
- Crown of Midnight
- The Assassin's Blade — the prequel novellas, third
- Heir of Fire
- Queen of Shadows
- Empire of Storms
- Tower of Dawn
- Kingdom of Ash
The common advice is to read The Assassin's Blade first because it comes first chronologically. That is true and it is still a bad idea: the novellas show you directly what the first two novels withhold, and a reader who starts there has been handed the answer before the question. Chronology and reading order are not the same thing.
How much the crossover matters
The three series share a world, and recent books have started to acknowledge it directly rather than through background detail. This worries new readers more than it should.
- For the first two series, it does not matter. Read either one on its own and you will miss nothing you would notice.
- For Crescent City's third book, it does. That is the one place where having read ACOTAR changes what is on the page.
- Publication order catches everything. If you intend to read all three eventually, working through them in the order they were released is the way to see the crossovers land as they were written to.
- Nothing is spoiled by choosing wrong. The worst case is a reference you do not catch, which is a different thing from a plot you cannot follow.
Her catalog is also still growing — the ACOTAR series has further titles announced on her own site — so any count you read elsewhere is a snapshot. We give the shape rather than a total for that reason.
Buying these for somebody else
This is one of the most-given series on the adult fantasy shelf, which makes duplication the main risk. Before buying, the useful question for a reader is not whether they like Sarah J. Maas but which series they are in — the answer is always one of three, and it tells you exactly what to buy next.
One content note worth having before you wrap anything: these are explicit from the second ACOTAR book onward, and they are shelved and marketed to teenagers almost everywhere. For a younger reader, Throne of Glass starts much tamer than ACOTAR does. Book gifts for teens and for tweens are the age-sorted lists.
For a reader who has finished all three, the neighboring shelves are romantasy, which is the genre she largely defined, and books like ACOTAR, which sorts the successors by which part of her they match. ACOTAR vs Fourth Wing answers the other question people arrive with.
Two ways to read this list for less
If several books here appeal, a subscription usually beats buying them one at a time — but only for the right kind of reader. Here is who each one actually suits.
Audible Premium Plus
For anyone whose hands are busy
Driving, walking, cooking, cleaning. It converts hours that were never available for reading, which is a bigger effect than any discount. Books bought with a credit stay yours after you cancel — titles from the included catalog do not, and confusing the two is the most common complaint about the service.
See Audible plans and current pricingHow Audible actually works — credits, gifting and what happens when you cancel.
Kindle Unlimited
For fast readers who browse
It pays off from about three ebooks a month, in the genres the catalog covers well — romance, romantasy, cozy mystery, thriller, progression fantasy. It does not pay off if you are waiting on a specific new hardcover, because those are usually not included. Everything is borrowed, not owned.
See Kindle Unlimited terms and pricingIs Kindle Unlimited worth it? — the arithmetic, done on your own reading.
#ad — how we are funded. We print no subscription prices anywhere on this site, because they change and a stale figure sends you to a checkout expecting something that is not there. And if you read in silence in a chair, neither of these is for you — buy the book, or borrow it from your library.
What we would skip
Reading The Assassin's Blade first because a list told you to
It is the most repeated piece of advice about this author and it is wrong, or at least it is not what she says. Her own reading-order page lists the Throne of Glass series as Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, The Assassin's Blade, then the rest — the prequel novellas sit third. Read first they spoil a reveal the opening two novels are constructed around, because they show you on the page what those books spend hundreds of pages withholding. Chronological order and reading order are different things here, and this is the clearest case on the site of a fan consensus that contradicts the author.
Questions people ask
What order should I read Sarah J. Maas's books in?
Start with the first book of whichever of the three series appeals — her own site says you can begin with any of them. Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City each run in published order from their first book.
Which Sarah J. Maas book should I read first?
A Court of Thorns and Roses, if you want a recommendation rather than a choice. It is the shortest commitment of the three series and the one the conversation is about. Throne of Glass is the better start for a reader who wants classic fantasy over romance.
Should I read The Assassin's Blade first?
No. The author's own reading order places it third, after Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. It is chronologically first, but it shows directly what the opening two novels are built on withholding, so reading it first spoils them.
Do I need to read all three series?
No. They share a world but each stands alone. The only place it genuinely matters is the third Crescent City novel, where having read A Court of Thorns and Roses changes what is on the page.
How many Sarah J. Maas books are there?
Eight Throne of Glass, five A Court of Thorns and Roses with further titles announced, and three Crescent City. Her site is the only count worth trusting, because the series is still growing and every other list is a snapshot.
Are Sarah J. Maas books suitable for teenagers?
They are shelved and marketed to teenagers almost everywhere, and from the second ACOTAR book onward they are explicit. Throne of Glass starts considerably tamer than ACOTAR, which is worth knowing before buying either for a younger reader.
Sources
- Sarah J. Maas, official reading order — The author's own page, listing each series in published order and stating that a reader can begin with the first book of any of the three. The source for every sequence on this page.
- Open Library Search API — First publication year, median print length and cover art for every book on this page. Queried 8 September 2026.
- Audible Premium Plus membership page — The only authoritative source for current Audible plans, prices and terms.
Read next
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- ACOTAR vs Fourth Wing
Faeries or dragons: pace, heat and commitment compared, with where each payoff sits.
- Best Romantasy Books
Eight romantasy books with the heat level and series commitment flagged on each.
- Best Adult Fantasy Books
Eight fantasy novels written for adults, from a canal-city heist to a world that breaks.
- Best Books for Teens
Eight books a teenager might pick up voluntarily, with the syllabus deliberately excluded.