Three series, sixteen books, and one shared universe that quietly ties them all together. Here's the reading order that keeps the twists intact — including where The Assassin's Blade really belongs and why Crescent City always goes last.
Contents
Three Series, One Universe
Sarah J. Maas has written three separate series — Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City — and for most of their runtime they behave like standalone worlds. Then they don't. The crossover is real, it lands late, and reading in the wrong order spoils one of the genre's better-kept surprises.
Here's how to do it properly.
Throne of Glass, In Order
Eight books, an assassin protagonist, and the longest character arc Maas has written:
- Throne of Glass
- Crown of Midnight
- The Assassin's Blade (prequel novellas)
- Heir of Fire
- Queen of Shadows
- Empire of Storms
- Tower of Dawn
- Kingdom of Ash
About The Assassin's Blade. Chronologically it comes first, but the official guidance places it third — and that's the better call. The novellas are devastating in a way they simply can't be if you haven't already spent two books with Celaena. Read them before Heir of Fire and the emotional math works.
The Empire of Storms / Tower of Dawn Problem
These two books happen simultaneously, in different countries, with different casts. Read back-to-back, Empire of Storms ends on a cliffhanger that Tower of Dawn pointedly refuses to resolve — you spend an entire book somewhere else while the thing you actually care about hangs.
The fix readers landed on is the tandem read: alternating chunks of chapters between the two books so the timelines run in parallel. Search for a tandem guide before you start book six. It's more work, and it's the version of this story that actually flows.
A Court of Thorns and Roses, In Order
Five books, and the most-recommended entry point into Maas's work:
- A Court of Thorns and Roses
- A Court of Mist and Fury
- A Court of Wings and Ruin
- A Court of Frost and Starlight (novella)
- A Court of Silver Flames
A Court of Frost and Starlight is short, low-stakes, and skippable in theory — but it seeds character work that A Court of Silver Flames pays off directly. Read it. If you want a fuller verdict on where book one actually lands, we covered that in our ACOTAR review.
Crescent City — Always Last
This is the one rule nobody argues about. The crossover between series becomes explicit in book three, and it only works if you've already finished ACOTAR — ideally Throne of Glass too. Reading Crescent City early doesn't just spoil the moment, it flattens it into a cameo you don't have the context to care about.
Which Series Should You Start With?
Start with ACOTAR if you want the romance front and centre and a faster hook — book one is the shortest on-ramp in the Maasverse.
Start with Throne of Glass if you want the deeper world-building and don't mind a slower first book. The payoff across eight books is larger, but you have to earn it.
Don't start with Crescent City. It's the most adult of the three and the best-written on a sentence level, but it's built to be read by someone who already knows this universe.
Where to Go From Here
If you've finished all three and you're looking for the next obsession, our guides to books like ACOTAR and books like Throne of Glass are built for exactly that gap. And if you're weighing up other series entirely, the romantasy reading order guide covers the rest of the genre's big names.
