October 27 will see the release of A Court of Splintered Harmony, the long-awaited sixth book in Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses saga.
It's been over five years since the last instalment and the series has only grown in popularity since then. These books were already beloved by readers worldwide, but in the interim years, the romantasy boom in publishing has turned them into a mega-sensation.
How big are these books? 13 million copies sold worldwide (although Maas has sold over 38 million books in total!), dozens of weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, multiple year-end best-of list placings, and oh-so-many sobbing fans on BookTok. The #ACOTAR hashtag alone boasts over 8.5 billion views on TikTok, according to Time Magazine.
There's a reason that Maas's work is cited frequently as the impetus for the romantasy trend that has now taken over fiction in the 2020s. Sometimes, hype can overwhelm a book and the noise can drown out what makes the work so intriguing.
Why, out of all the romantic fantasy books of this time, was it A Court of Thorns and Roses that became a phenomenon?
Maas got her start writing fantasy stories on FictionPress (the spin-off of fanfiction.net designed for original works). She posted several chapters of what would later become her debut novel. For her plot, she came up with a genius idea: "What if Cinderella was not a servant, but an assassin? ... what if she didn't attend the ball to meet the prince, but to kill him, instead?" The story, initially called Queen of Glass, quickly became one of the most popular stories on the site and was picked up by a publisher.
Renamed Throne of Glass, the YA book was an instant hit, and seven more books followed in the series. At a time when young adult fiction was largely defined by dystopian stories and contemporary romances, Maas's high fantasy stood out. Critics and readers alike celebrated her dense world building, blending folklore and fairytale, old-school fantasy and historical intrigue. Reviews also called out her strong heroine, Celaena Sardothien, an 18-year-old assassin in the Kingdom of Adarlan who competes against a slew of killers and thieves for a chance to serve as the King of Adarlan's Champion.
For her second fantasy series, Maas turned to another classic fairy tale for inspiration: Beauty and the Beast (and other similar stories that share roots with it, such as Tam Lin and East of the Sun and West of the Moon.) Intended for a slightly older YA audience, the book was an instant hit, although it would take a few years for the series’ popularity to grow to what it is today.
(Editor's note: The following section does contain spoilers.)
Our heroine is Feyre Archerson, a 19-year-old young woman who kills a faerie wolf in the woods. For her sins, she is taken to the land of the faerie, Prythian, by her captor, Tamlin, an immortal faerie and the High Lord of the Spring Court. Under his captive, she grows increasingly attracted to the fae, but she also learns the truth of the faerie world that has been kept hidden from her kind for generations: that the lands have been cursed by Amarantha, the High Fae former general of Hybern who took control and crowned herself the High Queen of Prythia. Feyre must undergo three trials to help the High Lords regain their power. In this mission, she is aided by Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court.
The book is a classic fantasy romance with high stakes and lots of steamy action. But it's in the later books where Maas's ambition grows. Book two, A Court of Mist and Fury, sees Feyre reject life with Tamlin, escaping from his court with Rhysand on her wedding day. The King of Hybern wishes to destroy the veil that separates the human and faerie worlds, which Feyre must fight against. The war against Hybern grows in scale and might, and Feyre's sisters, Elain and Nesta, are forced into the action.
While the first book plays around with a lot of well-worn fantasy tropes—the stoic, alpha-esque hero, the evil mistress who must be vanquished, the Beauty and the Beast seduction—Maas quickly subverts much of it by the second book and beyond. Feyre goes from having the classic romance with the “beast” to discovering that he is a very broken and abusive figure to whom she cannot remain attached. The dynamics of power are forever shifting throughout the series, with Feyre embroiled in tangled and traumatizing court drama. But her relationship with Rhysand, while not without complications, is forever on equal ground. There’s a reason he’s the romantasy book boyfriend of the era.
Maas’s adeptness with strong, layered heroines is a constant across her many books. Feyre is put through the wringer but so are her sisters. A Court of Silver Flames, the fifth and most recent book in the series, is centered on Nesta and her struggle to cope with being forced to become a High Fae. She's dealing with a new body, mind, and place in the world, all while bound to someone who put her in this position.
And then, of course, there is the sex. We’d be lying to ourselves if we said the mega-success of ACOTAR—and, indeed, romantasy as a whole—wasn’t at least in part due to the high levels of steam. Feyre is a sexual woman, one who isn't a virgin when the series starts, which is a pretty rare occurrence in a genre where, historically, virginal heroines are considered the status quo. And the sex is good!
As Maas explained in an interview with Cosmopolitan, "I wanted her to have a sexual history that wasn’t something to be ashamed of, that was something that she was in charge of; I wanted her to be in charge of her body, her passions and desires. It’s important for women to realize it's your body, it’s your choices, and if anyone tries to shame you about that stuff, then that’s on them.”
For all of their drama and heartache, ACOTAR carries with it an undeniable note of optimism, that its heroes can overcome strife and find happiness no matter what. “I want my readers to come away from my books with the knowledge that they can fight for what matters to them,” Maas told Time. “My books have happy endings. They’re supposed to be hopeful.”
Maas's ambition has only grown grander. Her third series, Crescent City, surprised readers when (spoiler alert!), in the third book, the heroine fell through a rift in time and space and ended up in the world of ACOTAR! Now, Maas fans have an even bigger canvas to explore, and it’s only getting bigger.
After A Court of Splintered Harmony, readers won't have to wait long for book seven. A Court of Forgotten Melody is set for release on January 12, 2027. An eighth installment is set to conclude the continuous story told across books six, seven and eight. There will be a fourth Crescent City book, and then, who knows? The world of romantasy is Sarah J. Maas's oyster.
Read the full series!
