Sarah J. Maas Reveals New ACOTAR Books: Titles, Release Dates & Plot Details

Fantasy readers finally have the update they have been waiting years for, and now we know much more than just the release dates.

Bestselling author Sarah J. Maas has officially revealed the titles and covers of the next two A Court of Thorns and Roses books, giving fans their clearest look yet at the future of the enormously popular fantasy series.

The sixth ACOTAR book is officially titled A Court of Splintered Harmony and will be released on October 27, 2026. It will be followed less than three months later by A Court of Forgotten Melody on January 12, 2027. Both books are available for preorder through Bloomsbury.

And that isn’t all.

The books are part of a new ACOTAR storyline called The Valkyrie Cycle, and Maas has confirmed that the story is much larger than readers may have originally expected.

After more than five years without a new ACOTAR novel, Prythian is officially coming back in a very big way.

The Next ACOTAR Book Is A Court of Splintered Harmony

On August 17, 2026, Maas finally unveiled the title and cover of ACOTAR Book 6: A Court of Splintered Harmony.

The novel will arrive on October 27, 2026, and Bloomsbury currently lists the hardcover edition at 352 pages. The book is described as the first movement of the new Valkyrie Cycle.

Its official tagline is:

“What was broken will be remade.”

More importantly, Bloomsbury has now revealed the first real plot details.

Koschei the Deathless, who has been lurking in the background of the ACOTAR universe for years, is finally becoming a major threat. Although he has remained bound to a mountain lake for millennia, his influence is beginning to spread throughout the Fae territories.

Powerful forces are gathering around him, and they have their sights set on reclaiming the human lands. The Night Court will have to confront not only Koschei and his allies but also divisions within their own ranks.

That makes A Court of Splintered Harmony sound much more like the beginning of a major new ACOTAR conflict than a standalone romance.

A Court of Forgotten Melody Arrives in January 2027

Fans won’t have to wait years for the next installment.

The seventh ACOTAR book is officially titled A Court of Forgotten Melody and will be released on January 12, 2027.

And this one is going to be enormous.

Bloomsbury currently lists the hardcover at 896 pages, making it substantially longer than A Court of Splintered Harmony.

The official tagline is:

“What was lost will be reclaimed.”

Bloomsbury’s description reveals that the Night Court’s Inner Circle will disperse in search of any possible advantage against Koschei and his increasingly powerful allies.

The publisher also warns that bonds will be tested, power will shift, and enemies connected to the past will return as the conflict escalates.

That wording should immediately get longtime fans theorizing about which old enemies—or forgotten parts of Prythian’s history—Maas plans to bring back.

The New Books Are Part of “The Valkyrie Cycle”

Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement is the structure of the new story.

Maas is calling this storyline The Valkyrie Cycle.

A Court of Splintered Harmony represents Movement I, while A Court of Forgotten Melody contains Movements II and III.

But the story doesn’t end there.

During her Call Her Daddy interview, Maas explained that the story she began writing became so large that she decided not to force it into the traditional structure of a single novel.

The overall story contains four movements, meaning another physical volume is expected to eventually contain the fourth and final movement. That book does not yet have an official title or release date.

Maas has also emphasized that readers shouldn’t necessarily think of the books as a conventional trilogy. Instead, they are pieces of one enormous continuous narrative, with major arcs potentially carrying directly from one volume into the next.

That could make the Valkyrie Cycle one of the most ambitious stories Maas has attempted in the ACOTAR universe.

Why the Valkyries Could Be More Important Than Ever

The name The Valkyrie Cycle immediately points toward one of the biggest developments from A Court of Silver Flames.

Nesta Archeron revived the legendary Valkyries alongside Gwyn and Emerie, turning the group into one of the most exciting new elements of the series.

Maas has not officially announced whose point of view will dominate A Court of Splintered Harmony, and Bloomsbury’s descriptions deliberately avoid naming most of the major protagonists.

Still, calling the new storyline the Valkyrie Cycle strongly suggests that the Valkyries will have an important role in what comes next. That may mean readers haven’t seen the last of Nesta’s story after all.

There are also plenty of unresolved storylines involving Elain, Azriel, Lucien, Gwyn, Emerie, Vassa and the Night Court, giving Maas no shortage of characters to explore as the conflict with Koschei grows.

For now, however, fans should separate official information from theories. Maas still hasn’t confirmed exactly who the central romantic pairing or primary narrator of the sixth book will be.

Koschei the Deathless Is Finally Taking Center Stage

One of the most important pieces of confirmed information is the return of Koschei the Deathless.

Koschei has been one of ACOTAR’s biggest unresolved threats, and the official description for A Court of Splintered Harmony makes it clear that his story is finally moving to the forefront.

He isn’t simply waiting by the lake anymore.

His influence is spreading throughout the Fae territories, and new allies are gathering around him. The human lands appear to be one of the major prizes in the coming conflict.

That could connect several storylines that have been building for years, particularly those involving Vassa, the human queens, Lucien and the fragile political situation outside the Fae courts.

It also gives the upcoming books a clear overarching villain—something that could allow Maas to pull characters from across Prythian back into the same conflict.

Sarah J. Maas Explains Why ACOTAR Took So Long

When Maas originally announced the two release dates during her March 2026 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she also opened up about why readers had waited so long.

She said it took time to find both the right story and the right creative headspace before the next ACOTAR adventure finally came together. Once she found it, however, the story expanded rapidly.

What started as the next ACOTAR novel eventually became an enormous four-part narrative.

Rather than make readers wait until every section could be combined into one gigantic book, Maas and Bloomsbury decided to release the story in separate volumes.

That decision explains the unusually short gap between A Court of Splintered Harmony in October and A Court of Forgotten Melody in January.

According to Maas, the goal is essentially to give readers a huge amount of ACOTAR within a very short period.

Sarah J. Maas Is Bigger Than Ever

The timing couldn’t be better for another trip to Prythian.

Bloomsbury now says Sarah J. Maas has sold more than 75 million books worldwide across A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass and Crescent City.

ACOTAR has also become one of the defining series of the modern romantasy boom.

BookTok, Instagram and online reading communities have introduced Maas’s novels to millions of new readers, allowing the series to remain enormously popular despite the five-year gap since A Court of Silver Flames.

And the publisher clearly expects the new books to be major releases.

When the October 2026 and January 2027 publication dates were first announced in March, the news even helped send Bloomsbury’s share price sharply higher as investors anticipated the impact the books could have on the publisher’s consumer division.

With two ACOTAR releases arriving so close together, the end of 2026 and beginning of 2027 could become one of the biggest publishing events the fantasy genre has seen in years.

What Happened to the ACOTAR TV Show?

The situation surrounding the ACOTAR adaptation has also become clearer.

The television series was originally announced in 2021, with Outlander creator Ronald D. Moore attached to work on the adaptation.

However, the project ultimately stalled. Moore confirmed in 2024 that he was no longer involved, and Maas revealed during her March 2026 interview that she now has the rights to her work back.

There is currently no officially announced ACOTAR television or film adaptation in active development.

Maas hasn’t ruled out returning to Hollywood eventually. In fact, she made it clear that she still loves movies and television.

But she also said that if an adaptation happens, she wants to be deeply involved in how her world is translated to the screen—from its visual design to its music and overall creative direction.

For the moment, her priority appears to be the books.

Considering how much new ACOTAR material is coming, that probably isn’t bad news for readers.

When Does A Court of Splintered Harmony Come Out?

A Court of Splintered Harmony will be published on October 27, 2026. It is the sixth book in the ACOTAR series and the first movement of the Valkyrie Cycle. Bloomsbury currently lists it at 352 pages.

When Does A Court of Forgotten Melody Come Out?

A Court of Forgotten Melody will be published on January 12, 2027. The seventh ACOTAR book contains Movements II and III of the Valkyrie Cycle and is currently listed at 896 pages.

Will There Be Another ACOTAR Book After Book 7?

Yes, based on Maas’s explanation of the new story’s structure.

The Valkyrie Cycle consists of four movements. The October book contains Movement I, while the January release contains Movements II and III.

That leaves Movement IV, which Maas has said will appear in another volume. However, no official title or publication date for that book has been announced yet.

The Wait for ACOTAR Is Almost Over

For years, ACOTAR readers had little more than theories about when Sarah J. Maas would finally return to Prythian.

Now, things couldn’t be more different.

A Court of Splintered Harmony arrives on October 27, 2026, followed by A Court of Forgotten Melody on January 12, 2027. Koschei the Deathless is finally moving to the center of the story, the Night Court is facing new divisions, the Valkyries appear poised for a major role, and an additional installment will eventually complete the enormous four-movement storyline.

After more than five years without a new ACOTAR release, fans are about to get two books within just a few months.

And judging by everything Maas has revealed so far, the next era of A Court of Thorns and Roses may be much bigger than anyone expected.

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