Can I read House of Sky and Breath first?

Fans of author Sarah J. Maas’ books will likely have already seen that her newest novel, the second in the Crescent City series, House of Sky and Breath, ends on a bit of a cliffhanger… one that has completely changed what readers thought was in store for either of her ongoing series.

Yes, the Maas multiverse has arrived!

But this may lead to some confusion. If you’re new to Mass’ work, where should you start? What if you’ve read Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses? Or you’ve only read Crescent City?

Luckily for you, we’re here with this handy guide of each of Maas’ series and where exactly you should begin!

Discover Bloomsbury-YA’s Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Throne Of Glass

Published in 2012, Throne of Glass marked Sarah J. Maas’s literary debut. It was an immediate success that was nominated for the Goodreads Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction award. The series consists of eight books with the final installment, Kingdom of Ash, published in 2018.

The series follows the journey of teenage assassin Celaena Sardothien. After suffering for her crimes in the salt mines of Endovier, she accepts the Crown Prince’s offer to compete against other assassins and thieves for a chance to become the King’s champion and later gain her freedom. Haunted by her past, Celaena begins to form bonds that will forever change the face of her world.

The final book in the series has a slight crossover with Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series, but it can ultimately be read as a standalone series.

.@BookishlyAmber TOG & ACOTAR are in the same Megaverse. So you could technically open a Wyrdgate between their worlds. ;) #ACOTARParty

— Sarah J. Maas (@SJMaas) April 30, 2015

In 2015, Maas tweeted that it would be possible for characters to cross between the two worlds, so while no Throne of Glass characters have yet appeared in either of her other series, it’s certainly a possibility, one that fans argue is increasingly likely given that Maas herself has said that she doesn’t like to give characters unhappy endings.

Image: Bloomsbury

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses is perhaps Maas’ most popular series. First published in 2015, the story begins as a retelling of the Norwegian fairie tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon. When 19-year-old Feyre Archeron kills a fairie disguised as a wolf, another beast-like creature arrives seeking vengeance. Whisked away to the faerie land of Prythian, she soon learns that her captor is a High Lord of the fae and begins to realize that some of what she has been told of the fae’s nature may not be entirely true.

The first three books in this series, and the novella, do not feature crossovers with any of Maas’ other books, but the most recent installment, A Court of Silver Flames, does feature a slight crossover with Kingdom of Ash. Later books in the ACOTAR series are set to crossover with the Crescent City series, and while we have yet to see exactly what this will entail, fans are already hyped.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is currently being adapted for television by Hulu.

“House of Earth and Blood,” by Sarah J. Maas

Crescent City

House of  Earth and Blood, the first book in the Crescent City series, was published in 2020. Sequel House of Sky and Breath came out in early 2022. The story follows half-fae Bryce Quinlan. Two years after the death of her best friend, Bryce finds herself at the heart of an investigation into a string of murders taking place across Lunathion, or, Crescent City.

The first book hints that it takes place in the wider Sarah J. Maas multiverse, as characters come across books that have also appeared in other series. In the mythology of the series, all the different species on the planet of Midgard appear from another world. Some of those peoples are fae, which has many fans assuming that they came either from the ToG or ACOTAR worlds.

House of Breath and Sky climaxes with one of the characters meeting a characters from ACOTAR. With both series set to continue, it’s clear that this crossover will develop in future books.

Have you read any Sarah J. Maas series, and if so, which is your favorite? Let us know below.

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