Everything we know about Sarah J. Maas’ next ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ book so far

After four long years of waiting, Sarah J. Maas fans can finally start getting excited for the next “A Court of Thorns and Roses” book.

On Friday, the author revealed she had finished a draft of the sixth installment in the series.

Maas’ magical world of Prythian briefly appeared in her 2024 novel, “House of Flame and Shadow,” but the last “ACOTAR” book was released in 2021.

Here’s everything we know about book six so far. Some spoilers for Maas’ work ahead.

Maas is working on the next ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ book

In March 2023, Bloomsbury announced that Maas had signed a deal for three more books with the publisher. At the time, she was already contracted for four titles, including “House of Flame and Shadow,” the third installment in her “Crescent City” series.

In September 2023, Maas gave readers their first clue as to what would come next in the six books she had left under her contract, telling Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings during a “Live Talks Los Angeles” appearance that she was “drafting” the next “ACOTAR” book — and having a blast doing it.

“I will say that I’ve become so focused and obsessed with writing this book,” she told Hobbs and Billings. “It’s like that feeling of having a crush or when you’re first, like, obsessed with someone, and you’re just thinking about it nonstop.”

Likewise, in a January 2024 interview with Today’s Jenna Bush Hager, Maas said her next published work would be the sixth installment of “ACOTAR.”

“I’m very, very excited about that one,” Maas told Today of the coming book, though she didn’t give any details about it.

Finally, after over a year of silence about the novel, Mass revealed in a reel that she had finished a first draft of the sixth “ACOTAR” book.

In the video, Maas closes a notebook with “ACOTAR 6” and an arrow written on it, shuts a laptop, and pops a bottle of bubbly.

“First drafts DONE,” she captioned the post.

Fans were quick to leave excited comments under Maas’ post, and some wondered if “drafts” meant the author had written drafts for multiple coming works.

Bloomsbury hasn’t announced a release date or title for the sixth “ACOTAR” book, but Maas’ latest post gives readers hope that the book will be published sooner rather than later.

The most recent book in the series was “A Court of Silver Flames,” which was released in 2021 and focused on Nesta Archeron. The first four “ACOTAR” books were told from the perspective of Feyre Archeron, while Maas seemed to move into a new era of the series by writing from her sister’s perspective with “ACOSF.”

To readers’ delight, Nesta also appeared in “House of Flame and Shadow.”

Clues about the new book in ‘House of Flame and Shadow’

Maas has been tight-lipped about the contents of her coming work, but a new “ACOTAR” installment is a natural follow-up to “House of Flame and Shadow.”

The novel created a multiverse between Maas’ “ACOTAR,” “Crescent City,” and “Throne of Glass” series and offered insight into what might be happening in Prythian when a new novel begins.

In “House of Flame and Shadow,” Nesta and Azriel discover the magical prison in Prythian, which lies atop what was once a powerful fae court, alongside Bryce Quinlan, the protagonist from “Crescent City.”

They also learn that Rhysand’s lineage traces back to the fae who ruled the prison, which would have been the Dusk Court, creating the potential for Rhys to rule two courts.

Nesta also seems to have connections to those long-forgotten fae, as she bears an eight-pointed star tattoo that matches a chamber in the prison and the design on a sword called Gwydion that had been missing from Prythian for centuries. The sword had been with Bryce’s family on her planet, Midgard, where it is called the Starsword.

In “HOFAS,” Bryce brought the sword to Prythian with her when she sought aid from the fae there, and she ultimately stole Gwydion’s twin, a dagger called Truth-Teller, from Azriel. She used the weapons together to bring peace to her planet, but she returned the dagger to Azriel — alongside a magical mask Nesta let her borrow — at the novel’s end. In the same scene, she gifted Gwydion to Bryce.

“I think that eight-pointed star was tattooed on you for a reason. Take that sword and go figure out why,” Bryce told Nesta.

It’s possible Maas was setting up a continuation of Nesta’s story for her next “ACOTAR” novel in the scene, which may see her continue to explore her power and connections to the Starborn fae, as they are called on Midgard.

Elain’s story

Maas tied “ACOTAR” and “Crescent City” together primarily through Nesta and Azriel in “House of Flame and Shadow.”

Still, Maas might turn to other characters in Prythian for her next “ACOTAR” novel. For instance, Maas told Eva Chen during an appearance on “Live Talks Los Angeles” in February 2021 that she plans to write a book from the third Archeron sister’s perspective — Elain.

In “A Court of Silver Flames,” Elain had settled into life at the Night Court, refusing to explore her mating bond with Lucien. After breaking ties with Tamlin and the Spring Court, Lucien served as an emissary to the human lands for the Night Court, keeping his distance from Elain because being around her was painful.

Elain also seems to have an attraction to Azriel in the text, though Maas juxtaposed their bond with how ill-fitting aspects of life at the Night Court are for Elain during a visit to the Court of Nightmares in “ACOSF.” Some fans think Maas set up a storyline for Elain to find a home at a different court, and that Azriel will find love with Nesta’s friend Gywn instead of Elain.

Maas also hasn’t explored the full potential of Elain’s Seer powers in the series, so she will likely write more about her abilities when Elain’s novel comes around.

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