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“A Court of Thorns and Roses” fans returned to Prythian in staggering numbers this week with the release of Sarah J. Maas’s sixth book in her epic fantasy franchise.
The new installment, “A Court of Splintered Harmony,”
broke a record for Maas when it sold 1.7 million copies on its Tuesday release date alone, Variety confirmed. That’s up 600% from release day sales for Maas’ bestselling “A Court of Silver Flames” (“ACOTAR” Book 5) in 2021.
According to “ACOTAR” publisher Bloomsbury, Maas’ “A Court of Splintered Harmony” hit that massive sales figure when counting preorders and Day 1 sales worldwide for English-language print and ebook editions at major retailers and indie bookstores in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia. The 1.7 million total does not include audio book sales or translated editions.
With those initial Oct. 27 debut-day results,“A Court of Splintered Harmony”is currently tracking to be the largest book release of the year.
“When I write, I’m only thinking about the characters and the stories I want to tell,” Maas said in a statement to Variety. “To see how much these books mean to so many people and the way readers have shown up for this one really blows my mind. It’s a feeling I can’t even comprehend, but I’m just beyond grateful.”
Maas’ team has confirmed that with the release of “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” the author has now sold more than 100 million books worldwide across her three hit fantasy franchises: “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” “Throne of Glass” and “Crescent City.”
The unprecedented success for the already bestselling Maas comes on the heels of a massive Book 6 marketing campaign: Dozens of brands, from Funko to For Love & Lemons, released official “ACOTAR”-inspired merch created in collaboration with Maas over the past few months, while 2,000 midnight release parties were held globally in celebration of “A Court of Splintered Harmony” Tuesday.
Following this week’s debut of “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” which continues the story of sisters Feyre, Nesta and Elain Archeron and their time in the faerie realm of Prythian, “ACOTAR” fans won’t have long to wait for Book 7, “A Court of Forgotten Melody,” which is set for release on Jan. 12.
As Maas previously announced, these two new “ACOTAR” books make up “The Valkyrie Cycle: Movement I” and “The Valkyrie Cycle: Movements II and III” and will be followed by a currently untitled third novel that will conclude this four-part “Valkyrie Cycle” narrative.
The fandom surrounding fantasy author Maas and her “ACOTAR” series has reached unprecedented levels in the wait for the sixth book over the past five years. Maas’ novels have consistently dominated conversations among the “BookTok” TikTok community as women-centered and romance-heavy high fantasy books, like Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing,” have become increasingly popular within the publishing industry and subsequently Hollywood.
A TV series adaptation of “ACOTAR” was put into development at Disney’s 20th Television and Hulu back in 2021 with Ronald D. Moore set as showrunner working in collaboration with Maas. That project was scrapped in February 2025 due to creative differences and the rights have since reverted back to Maas.
