Fans of “A Court of Thorns and Roses” returned to Prythian in impressive numbers this week with the release of Sarah J. Maas’ sixth book in her epic fantasy franchise.
The new opus, “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” broke a record for Maas by selling 1.7 million copies on its Tuesday release date alone, Variety confirmed. This represents a 600% increase over the release day sales of Maas’ bestseller “A Court of Silver Flames” (“ACOTAR” Book 5) in 2021.
According to Bloomsbury, publisher of “ACOTAR,” Maas’ “A Court of Splintered Harmony” achieved this massive sales figure by counting pre-orders and first-day sales worldwide for the English-language print and electronic editions at major retailers and independent bookstores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. The total of 1.7 million does not include audiobook sales or translated editions.
With these early results from October 27, “A Court of Splintered Harmony” is currently on track to become the biggest book release of the year.
“When I write, I only think about the characters and stories I want to tell,” Maas said in a statement to Varietyy. “Seeing 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 confirmed that with the release of “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” the author has now sold over 100 million books worldwide across his three bestselling fantasy franchises: “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” “Throne of Glass” and “Crescent City.”
The unprecedented success of the already blockbuster Maas follows a massive marketing campaign for Book 6: Dozens of brands, from Funko to For Love & Lemons, have released official “ACOTAR”-inspired merchandise created in collaboration with Maas over the past few months, while 2,000 midnight release parties took place around the world to celebrate “A Court of Splintered Harmony” on Tuesday.
Following this week’s release of “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” which continues the story of sisters Feyre, Nesta and Elain Archeron and their time in the fairy kingdom of Prythian, “ACOTAR” fans won’t have long to wait for book 7, “A Court of Forgotten Melody,” scheduled for release on January 12.
As Maas previously announced, these two new “ACOTAR” books constitute “The Cycle of the Valkyries: Movement I” and “The Cycle of the Valkyries: Movements II and III” and will be followed by a currently untitled third novel which will conclude this four-part tale of the “Cycle of the Valkyries”.
The fandom around fantasy author Maas and his “ACOTAR” series has reached unprecedented levels in anticipation of the sixth book over the past five years. Maas’s novels have always dominated conversations within the “BookTok” TikTok community, as female-centered, romance-heavy high fantasy books, like Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing,” have become increasingly popular in the publishing industry and subsequently Hollywood.
A television series adaptation of “ACOTAR” was put in development at Disney’s 20th Television and Hulu in 2021 with Ronald D. Moore as showrunner working in collaboration with Maas. This project was abandoned in February 2025 due to creative differences and the rights have since reverted to Maas.
Gn entert
