The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales
#1994.12 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 9 books Status Ongoing 2002–present Reading commitment High Holly Black Last reviewed 2026-09-28
Overview
Holly Black's faerie world, catalogued as one universe. The Modern Faerie Tales (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside; 2002-2007) introduced it from the human side: Kaye Fierch, a teenager in New Jersey, is drawn into the war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and into the life of the Unseelie knight Roiben, who becomes their king. The Folk of the Air (The Cruel Prince through The Queen of Nothing, 2018-2020) moves to the High Court of Elfhame and Jude Duarte, a mortal girl who schemes her way to power beside the vicious Prince Cardan; Novels of Elfhame (2023-2024) continues with her brother Oak's reign. Roiben's court is part of the later books' politics, and the companion story A Visit to the Impossible Lands is told by Kaye and Roiben as they watch The Cruel Prince unfold.
Romantasy, Fairy-tale retelling · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (9 works) counts toward ranking
The Folk of the Air Holly Black
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Cruel Prince | 2018 | core | 4.00 (1,855,860 ratings) |
 | The Wicked King | 2019 | core | 4.27 (1,129,264 ratings) |
 | The Queen of Nothing | 2020 | core | 4.33 (1,035,643 ratings) |
The original trilogy set in the High Court of Elfhame, following the mortal-born Jude Duarte's rise to power.
Novels of Elfhame Holly Black
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Stolen Heir | 2023 | core | 3.92 (184,692 ratings) |
 | The Prisoner's Throne | 2024 | core | 3.87 (105,615 ratings) |
A direct continuation set in the same Elfhame court a few years later, following Oak (Jude's younger brother) and Suren/Wren; registered Core alongside the original trilogy as one continuous saga in the same world, not a separate universe.
The Modern Faerie Tales Holly Black
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale | 2002 | 1 | core | 3.68 (110,222 ratings) |
 | Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie | 2005 | 2 | core | 3.78 (51,940 ratings) |
 | Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale | 2007 | 3 | core | 3.98 (50,643 ratings) |
A complete trilogy of contemporary faerie novels set in and around New York City, sharing a fictional faerie court (the Unseelie Court/New York Seelie enclave) distinct from Elfhame in Holly Black's later Folk of the Air books.
The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015) core · 3.86 (89,086 ratings); Standalone set in Fairfold, in the same faerie world as The Modern Faerie Tales and The Folk of the Air; the publisher's own description says 'Set in the same world as The Cruel Prince'. Little, Brown, January 2015.
Library / Expanded (1 work)
Folk of the Air companion Holly Black
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories | 2020 | N/A |
A short illustrated companion story bridging the original trilogy and the Novels of Elfhame; supplementary, not required reading.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales? The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales's Core Canon is 9 books, plus 1 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales? Publication order, starting with The Cruel Prince. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales finished? Ongoing (2002–present).
- How much reading does The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales take? High reading commitment (estimated from 9 Core Canon books · ~3,001 pages).
- How is The Folk of the Air / The Modern Faerie Tales ranked? #199 in this site's official ranking, based on 4,612,965 reader ratings across 9 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #199?
Ranked #199 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.12 across 9 core books.
- Backed by 4.6M reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.68 to 4.33.
- 0.01 behind #198, A Night in the Lonesome October.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 9 books · Ongoing · 4.6M ratings · Ranks #199 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running romantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (9 Core Canon books)
- Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
- Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (2005)
- Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale (2007)
- The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015)
- The Cruel Prince (2018)
- The Wicked King (2019)
- The Queen of Nothing (2020)
- The Stolen Heir (2023)
- The Prisoner's Throne (2024)
Documented internal/story order: 3 of 9 Core Canon books
- Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
- Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (2005)
- Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale (2007)
Internal chronology is documented for 3 of 9 Core Canon books; the remaining 6 are not yet mapped onto the same ordinal scale.
Awards (verified)
- Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book (Best Young Adult Book), 2005: won: Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie; Valiant won the inaugural Andre Norton Award (for works published in 2005).
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.12 across 4,612,965 ratings on 9 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Folk of the Air (Holly Black) accepted 2026-08-20
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Holly Black - Wikipedia Tier 2
- Holly Black's own complete bibliography page Tier 1
- Wikipedia: Tithe (novel) Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Valiant (novel) Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Ironside (Black novel) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-09-28
Rule: Core Canon = The Modern Faerie Tales (3), The Folk of the Air (3), Novels of Elfhame (2) and the standalone The Darkest Part of the Forest (2015): 9 novels in their own series orders. Expanded = the illustrated companion story A Visit to the Impossible Lands. Merged into one universe on 2026-09-27 under the one-world rule.