Sarah J. Maas knew exactly how to send the ACOTAR fandom into complete chaos.
After apparently wiping her Instagram feed and transforming her website with mysterious new imagery, the bestselling fantasy author finally revealed what fans had spent hours desperately trying to decode: not one, but two new A Court of Thorns and Roses books are coming-and readers won't have to wait years between them.
The sixth installment is officially titled A Court of Splintered Harmony: The Valkyrie Cycle, Movement I and arrives October 27, 2026. Even more surprisingly, book seven, A Court of Forgotten Melody: The Valkyrie Cycle, Movements II & III, follows less than three months later on January 12, 2027.
Yes, after waiting more than five years since 2021's A Court of Silver Flames, ACOTAR readers are suddenly getting two books practically back-to-back.
And Maas made sure the announcement became an event.
Fans noticed that her Instagram posts had disappeared while her website began displaying cryptic artwork involving spiders, flames, bones and other imagery. That was enough to send readers hunting through everything from website changes to source code looking for clues. Some fans apparently discovered the titles before Maas officially announced them, leaving the fandom debating whether they were legitimate or elaborate fan creations.
Then Maas confirmed everything.
Her teaser for A Court of Splintered Harmony was deliciously vague: "What was broken will be remade."
For A Court of Forgotten Melody, she offered another tantalizing clue: "What was lost will be reclaimed."
Naturally, ACOTAR detectives are already working overtime.
The biggest clue may be the subtitle "The Valkyrie Cycle." The Valkyries became enormously important in A Court of Silver Flames, where Nesta Archeron, Gwyneth Berdara and Emerie revived the legendary female-warrior tradition. The new naming immediately fueled speculation that Nesta and her fellow Valkyries could remain central to the story.
But Maas isn't making it that easy.
Details about exactly whose romantic story will dominate the books remain guarded, which means one of the fandom's most combustible debates is still very much alive: What about Elain, Azriel, Lucien-and Gwyn?
Readers have spent years arguing over potential pairings, particularly whether Elain's future lies with her Cauldron-chosen mate Lucien or whether Maas is building toward something with Azriel. Gwyn's relationship with Azriel has inspired its own passionate faction of readers. For now, none of those theories should be treated as confirmed.
There's another shock hidden in the numbers.
According to publishing information reported following the announcement, A Court of Splintered Harmony is expected to run about 352 pages.
A Court of Forgotten Melody?
A whopping 928 pages.
That's not a sequel. That's practically a residency in Prythian.
And apparently even these two books won't finish the story.
Maas has described the new storyline as one enormous interconnected narrative divided into movements, with another installment still to come. That means Splintered Harmony and Forgotten Melody aren't simply two unrelated ACOTAR adventures-they are pieces of a much larger arc.
The timing also makes the announcement particularly interesting for fans of Maas' wider universe. Crescent City has increasingly demonstrated that the author's fictional worlds aren't necessarily as separate as readers once assumed, leaving plenty of room for speculation about just how ambitious the forthcoming ACOTAR storyline could become.
And then there are those covers.
They abandon the familiar solid-color look of the recent ACOTAR editions for dramatic gradient artwork, and reader reaction has been...mixed. Some fans immediately began analyzing every visual element for clues, while others were considerably more concerned about whether the new books would even match the rest of their collection.
Very on-brand for BookTok.
But Maas has accomplished the important part: after years of theories, shipping wars, fake titles and increasingly desperate speculation, ACOTAR season is officially back.
A Court of Splintered Harmony arrives October 27, followed by A Court of Forgotten Melody on January 12.
And considering Maas managed to turn deleting her Instagram posts into a fandom emergency, just imagine what will happen when she finally reveals exactly whose love story we're getting.
