A Court of Splintered Harmony

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A bare granite rock in the Northern Sea, a negotiating table, and nobody at it who trusts anybody else. That is where A Court of Splintered Harmony begins. Koschei the Deathless, bound to a mountain lake for thousands of years, is stirring, and his return has given two foreign kingdoms, Vallahan and Montesere, the excuse they wanted to demand the old human lands back. Prythian should be presenting a united front. Instead the Night Court arrives still bleeding from the betrayals that closed the last two books, and its enemies can see it.

This is the sixth novel in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and it is not the book most fans expected. It is short by Sarah J. Maas's standards. It is told from seven points of view rather than one. And it is openly labelled as the first movement of a longer story called the Valkyrie Cycle, which means it sets a table rather than clearing it.

The honest caveat first. You need the five earlier books, and the story leans on House of Flame and Shadow from the Crescent City series often enough that a newcomer will feel the gaps.

Seven voices, and the spymaster takes the lead

Feyre still narrates in the first person, as she always has. But she now shares the book with Cassian, Nesta, Lucien, Gwyn, Mor and, above all, Azriel, who gets the prologue and more chapters than anyone. The Night Court's shadowsinger has been a fan favourite for a decade without ever being allowed inside his own head, and the picture is darker than the fandom's version of him. The review site The Bookish Elf put it neatly: Azriel is finally allowed to be frightening.

Lucien's chapters are brief but do real work, showing how the Night Court treats him and what he feels about Elain. Elain herself has no chapters of her own, and the triangle between her, Lucien and Azriel is the thread readers argue about most. Feyre's chapters turn on new motherhood, which some listeners found slow.

A first movement, not a finale

Maas has said the story that finally came out of her was very big. Rather than hold everything for one enormous volume, Bloomsbury is releasing the next book, A Court of Forgotten Melody, early in the new year with movements two and three. So do not expect an ending. Alliances are not resolved. Koschei stays mostly offstage as a creeping pressure. Several threads are left wide open.

What you do get is politics with teeth, where the kingdoms demanding the human lands have a reasonable case and the Night Court does not always come off well. You also get one superb set piece at the midpoint, an attack during a Naming Day ceremony that early reviewers have called some of the best action Maas has written in this world. Early critical opinion is split, with some reviewers calling it a sharp, dark opening and others calling it setup for a story that starts in the next book.

Why the audio is the version to get

Recorded Books produced the unabridged audiobook, and Elizabeth Evans reads it. Evans has become the voice of this world. She re-recorded the earlier A Court of Thorns and Roses books for their tenth anniversary editions, so her Feyre, Rhysand and Cassian are already the ones many UK listeners carry in their heads.

Seven narrators on the page is a lot, and this is where audio earns its keep. Evans gives the men and women distinct registers without tipping into caricature, and the production clearly marks the point-of-view changes, including the ones that happen mid-chapter. At around twelve hours it is also a manageable listen, roughly half the length of the series' longer entries. The edition includes three bonus stories, and Maas's own note suggests the Azriel scene is the one to hear first.

The author, and the record she just broke

Sarah J. Maas started writing her first novel, Throne of Glass, at sixteen and posted early chapters online before Bloomsbury bought it. That series, then A Court of Thorns and Roses, then Crescent City, made her the central figure of the romantasy boom and the author most credited with turning BookTok into a sales engine. Her books have sold more than seventy-five million copies worldwide.

In the UK, A Court of Splintered Harmony became the fastest-selling adult fantasy novel since Nielsen records began in 1998, overtaking Rebecca Yarros's Onyx Storm in its first five days and going straight to the top of the overall book chart. That is why it sits high on the Audible UK bestseller list now. If you are catching up before the next one arrives, the Audible free trial covers this one.

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