Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.yahoo.com
Don’t bother making plans with any Sarah J. Maas fans today – ACOTAR 6 is here and we’re booked until we reach the back cover.
“A Court of Splintered Harmony,” the highly anticipated next installment in Maas’ romantasy series, is officially in bookstores today. It’s been more than five years since Maas released her last book in the series, “A Court of Silver Flames.” Understandably, booklovers are freaking out.
This is just one of two new books in the ACOTAR series on the horizon. “A Court of Forgotten Melody” comes out Jan. 12, kicking off the Valkyrie cycle.
Maas announced the two new books on Alex Cooper’s podcast “Call Her Daddy” earlier this year, following a cryptic social media post that kept fans guessing.
“It took me a long time to write, just because there were enough things going on in my life that I had to sort through,” Maas told Cooper. “It took me a while to find the right story and to be in the right headspace. And then what poured out of me was this, and it poured out very quickly.”
Fans, celebrities react to ACOTAR 6 release
The freakouts began even before the clock struck midnight. Australian readers got their copies fourteen hours before the earliest American release parties, prompting jealous comments from readers who may or may not plan some impromptu worldwide travel for the next release in January.
BookTok influencer-turned-author Luke Bateman held up a copy to a crowd of screaming fans at an elaborate midnight release parties in Brisbane. Singer Cody Simpson – who narrated a teaser clip for Maas – revealed he identified with the “Summer Court” at another launch party in Sydney.
Olympian Ilona Maher was among the lucky early readers, posting the ACOTAR bookstore display on her Instagram Story on Oct. 26: “When you’re in NZ so you’re a day ahead of your American friends.”
Five years is a long time to hold onto an entire universe of characters, plotlines and foreshadowing. Not only that, but fans are warning to brush up on Maas’ Crescent City series, which has an ACOTAR crossover that’s especially relevant in the new book. Others are going full conspiracy board to recap all the important connections you need to know before “A Court of Splintered Harmony”: “At this point I’m questioning whether I even read the books,” one user commented on Instagram.
“Everyone warning me I’ll be lost in the new ACOTAR because I didn’t read Crescent City. Bold of you to assume I remember a single thing that happened in ACOTAR,” one reader posted on Threads. “I’m going in confused either way. It’s part of the experience.”
“Normal People” actor Daisy Edgar Jones is also binging Maas’ bibliography, telling USA TODAY in a recent interview she finished the five ACOTAR books and had started on Throne of Glass. She’s currently on “Tower of Dawn,” the penultimate in the series.
“But I haven’t finished the final three chapters,” she said on the “Sense and Sensibility” red carpet. “I don’t want to finish because I don’t want to go onto the next book because then I have to read it and then it’ll be done.”
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, covering buzzy releases, chatting with authors and diving into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].
