Throne of Glass Series

I am not typically a fan of fantasy novels. But I read the ACOTAR series by this author and got hooked. I was hungry for more so I dove into Sarah J. Mass’s classic Throne of Glass series. The Throne of Glass Series is actually her earlier series so I recommend starting with this if you can.

Fantasy Romance Novels?

A friend who also didn’t typically read the fantasy genre told me she really got into A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) so I decided to give it a try. I went to Half Price Books and went to the fantasy section but couldn’t find it. That seemed strange because I knew the series was very popular. I had to go ask the reference desk for help and was surprised to find that Sarah J. Maas books are classified as Fantasy Romance (a entirely different section).

I read both the Throne of Glass series and the ACOTAR series but in my opinion, it’s a stretch to call these romance novels. They both do contain some romance themes, but to me a romance novel centers around the development of character romance with a heavy dose of smut and typically involves a pretty weak plot. Not the case with these novels.

The Throne of Glass series was initially written with a YA adult audience in mind. Thus the first few books are very light on romance. But as the books continue, the steaminess factor goes up.

The Throne of Glass series never crosses the border into smut (which could be good thing or a bad thing) but does give you a little sexy distraction from the fact that the world is on the verge of collapse. ACOTAR ticks up even more on the steaminess scale and does approach smuttiness at times so you’ll have something to look forward to if you haven’t read that series yet.

Throne of Glass Series − The Sequence

Once you dive into the world of fantasy novels, you’ll find that there are often overlapping plots and worlds so sometimes it is better to not read the books in sequence, or even to read to books simultaneously.

This seemed very strange to me at first but looking back, I am glad I followed the recommend sequence and not the chronological. Here’s how you will want to approach the 8-book Throne of Glass series.

Throne of Glass
Crown of Midnight
The Assassin’s Blade – This book is a flashback that provides essential history.
Heir of Fire
Queen of Shadows
Tandem Read – Empire of Storms/Tower of Dawn – See below!
Kingdom of Ash

Tandem Read Strategy – Throne of Glass Series

I was not able to tandem read Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn because I was traveling and carrying both of those huge books was just not possible. If you can, I highly recommend doing the tandem read.

The two stories take place at the same time but are the separate timelines of two different characters. Tower of Dawn was also the least interesting book in my opinion and was a bit slow on plot so I wish I could have combined that with Empire of Storms which had a much better pace and ends in quite a cliffhanger. You’ll want to jump right into the next book after Empire of Storms, so having to read the entire Tower of Dawn was an unpleasant hiatus.

The Post-Read Depression

If you haven’t read ACOTAR yet, lucky you. Once you finish the Throne of Glass Series you’ll feel like you’ve lost a lot of good friends so at least you have that to move on to.

When I got close to the end of Kingdom of Ash, I started deliberately slowing down because it was SO GOOD and I didn’t want it to end. I literally cried like 5 times. A testament to the character development.

Alas, now it is over and I’ll likely move on to the Crescent City series in hopes that it will ease the post-read depression.

Reading the Throne of Glass series just reinforced everything I love about good books. It was an escape, it made me think differently, it made me feel things I did not expect, it surprised me more than once and it left me feeling complete at the end.

This series also opened my eyes to the genre of fantasy which then opened up a whole new world of books to discover.

Looking for More Great Books?

Check on the books page on the site to discover more excellent stories. The page is then organized by themes like Love Stories, Classics or General Fiction. I also have a Travel Inspiration section for books that really gave me a sense of place before I traveled to the destination.