“Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.”
Fans of the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series have spent the better part of the five years since the release of the last book bickering, theorizing, and biting their fingernails to the quick. But author Sarah J. Maas? She’s been writing—a lot. We now have confirmation of what she’s been working on: the sixth ACOTAR book will be released on October 27, 2026, and ACOTAR 7 (or ACOTAR 6 parts two and three) will drop on January 12, 2027. A fourth book, or part, will follow.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Maas says. “It took me a long time to write.”
The author broke the news on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast in a rare, candid interview that spanned nearly two hours. Ahead, everything you need to know about what will surely be the biggest book news of 2026 and 2027.
Is the Next Book ACOTAR 5 or ACOTAR 6?
This announcement of the sixth ACOTAR book (but technically fifth novel, given A Court of Frost and Starlight‘s status as a novella) comes almost eight months after Maas first teased the completion of the novel on Instagram, and a year after the 10th anniversary celebration of the series, which first hit bookshelves back in 2015. It will join Maas’s 16 best-selling books across three series—Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City—that are a global phenomenon, selling more than 70 million copies in English since she published the first ToG novel in 2012.
Set in worlds of magic, Fae, and fated mates, all three of her series are helmed by powerful female heroines (Celaena Sardothien, Feyre Archeron, Nesta Archeron, and Bryce Quinlan) who set out to save their respective worlds. But if you pay close enough attention, you’ll notice Taylor Swift–level Easter eggs that suggest these worlds might not be siloed at all. Will the next two or three books finally bring them all together?
The first three books in the ACOTAR series tell Feyre’s story. The fourth is a wintertime, post-war novella that moves the series from first-person POV to third-person. The fifth book, A Court of Silver Flames (ACOSF), follows Feyre’s sister Nesta and her mate Cassian. There is no word yet on who the just-announced sixth book will follow.
What Is the Plot of ACOTAR 6?
“The story that came out of me was big,” she says. “Really, really, really big.” So, what can fans expect from ACOTAR 6 and 7? Maas didn’t tell Cooper any details of the plot. But, she was named Spotify Wrapped’s top author back in December of 2024, and in a video promotion, she shared one tiny piece of info: “No surprise, it’s going to be a long book.” For Maas, long equates to one book split into four parts.
The author opened up about what it was like returning to the ACOTAR world in this new format. “When this right story hit me, it hit me hard, and I had a vision from the start of what it would be, how I would deliver it to you guys,” she says. “That’s what I want to do, and getting to be in the driver’s seat and decide this is how I wanna tell stories. And if I want to adapt it for every new book or arc, I can do that. I can do that, and why not? Why do we have to stick to these boxes, of this is how you tell a story from A to B? I’m like, ‘What if we do something different?'”
Personally, I’m taking the fact that Maas posted Taylor Swift’s song “Guilty As Sin?” on her Instagram stories back in April 2024 as a clue that this novel will see Feyre’s sister, the now-Fae Elain Archeron, breaking her Cauldron-determined mating bond with Lucien Vanserra. Will she reject fate to forge her own path with everyone’s favorite Shadowsinger, Azriel? Maas danced around this topic on the podcast. “Elain’s got her own trauma and shit that she’s going through right now,” Maas says about the rejected bond. “Being transformed into a whole new body. You’ve gone from the human world, where 60 years is a good life, to centuries, a millennium. The world looks very different, and surprise! You’ve been essentially married to a stranger who was involved in bringing you into this world and shoving you into the cauldron.”
Maas continues: “Exploring the concept of free will, what does that look like with a mating bond? What does that mean? Does nature get it wrong sometimes? Does nature get it right sometimes? What do you do? Are you stuck with this person? The guy’s hot…It’s something that I really find to be an interesting concept. Whereas with Feyre and Nesta, it was so easy for them—nature picked right.”
Not to make this all about Swift, but could the singer’s tune “Ivy” also play a role in the plot? In an interview from 2018, Maas mused on gardening at home, writing: “And I remember the entire time I was ripping out the ivy, and trying to get some semblance of order into the garden beds, I just slipped into Elain’s head. Elain is a gardener, and everything I did during those weeks became research for her book.”
In a later interview, she spoke of ivy again in relation to the middle Archeron sister: “Elain is now going to have dreams about pulling out the ivy and the ivy coming through the window to strangle her in the night, because let me tell you, that ivy didn’t want to leave.”
How Many Books Will There Be in the ACOTAR Series?
Perhaps the best news for fans is that ACOTAR 6 isn’t the end of the beloved series. Maas is said to be contracted with Bloomsbury Publishing for two more books in the ACOTAR world (it’s unclear whether a single book split into four parts counts here), plus a mysterious new novel due out next. “There’s one book that I’m going to be writing after this next ACOTAR book that I’m very excited about. I’m not going to say what world it’s in. I’m not going to say anything,” she told Today.com in 2024. “But it’s a story that’s been brewing in the back of my mind for a long time…. I think it’s going to be a very emotional book for me to write just in terms of the world I’ll be writing and the characters that might pop up.”
A Court of Thorns and Roses Paperback Box Set (5 books)
$47.00 at amazon.com
When Is ACOTAR 6 Coming Out?
As stated above, the next book will drop on October 27, 2026, followed by parts two and three on January 12, 2027. Part four is still in the works. I’ll update this post when more details, including the title or titles, become available.
You Might Also Like
