Throne of Glass
#64.43 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 7 books Status Complete 2012–2018 Reading commitment High Sarah J. Maas Last reviewed 2026-08-07
Overview
Sarah J. Maas's debut fantasy saga (Bloomsbury, 2012–2018) follows Celaena Sardothien, a legendary assassin fighting for her freedom and, later, her kingdom, in the magic-banished empire of Adarlan. A separate continuity from Maas's later A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City sagas; the three share only Easter-egg-level nods, not plot or setting.
Romantasy, Epic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (7 works) counts toward ranking
Throne of Glass Sarah J. Maas
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Throne of Glass | 2012 | 1 | core | 4.18 (2,643,156 ratings) |
 | Crown of Midnight | 2013 | 2 | core | 4.36 (1,947,980 ratings) |
 | Heir of Fire | 2014 | 3 | core | 4.45 (1,733,008 ratings) |
 | Queen of Shadows | 2015 | 4 | core | 4.62 (1,564,837 ratings) |
 | Empire of Storms | 2016 | 5 | core | 4.63 (1,373,263 ratings) |
 | Tower of Dawn | 2017 | 5.5 | core | 4.28 (1,194,540 ratings) |
 | Kingdom of Ash | 2018 | 6 | core | 4.71 (1,223,242 ratings) |
Tower of Dawn is an interquel running concurrently with events late in Empire of Storms/before Kingdom of Ash, hence internal chronology 5.5 rather than a plain integer, following a companion-volume convention already used elsewhere in this canon.
Library / Expanded (1 work)
Throne of Glass -- Prequel Novellas Sarah J. Maas
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Assassin's Blade | 2014 | 4.20 (1,326,451 ratings) |
Omnibus collection of the 5 prequel novellas (The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, The Assassin and the Healer, The Assassin and the Desert, The Assassin and the Underworld, The Assassin and the Empire), individually e-published 2011-2012 and first collected in this one volume in 2014. Expanded, not Core, mirroring A Court of Thorns and Roses' own novella-interlude treatment -- the numbered main sequence is the primary reading unit.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Throne of Glass? Throne of Glass's Core Canon is 7 books, plus 1 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Throne of Glass? Publication order, starting with Throne of Glass. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Throne of Glass finished? Complete (2012–2018).
- How much reading does Throne of Glass take? High reading commitment (estimated from 7 Core Canon books · ~4,492 pages).
- How is Throne of Glass ranked? #6 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 11,680,026 reader ratings across 7 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #6?
Ranked #6 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.43 across 7 core books.
- Backed by 11.7M reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 4.18 to 4.71.
- Less than 0.01 behind #5, The Reformatory (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 7 books · Complete · 11.7M ratings · Ranks #6 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running romantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (7 Core Canon books)
- Throne of Glass (2012)
- Crown of Midnight (2013)
- Heir of Fire (2014)
- Queen of Shadows (2015)
- Empire of Storms (2016)
- Tower of Dawn (2017)
- Kingdom of Ash (2018)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- Readers' Choice Award (Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction), 2018: won: Kingdom of Ash; Confirmed via the award body's own Choice Awards category results page.
Related universes
- Same author A Court of Thorns and Roses: Both by Sarah J. Maas. Secondary reporting describes ACOTAR, Throne of Glass, and Crescent City as part of a loosely shared “literary multiverse”, but this project confirmed there are no direct crossovers beyond Easter-egg references; each is registered as its own separate universe, not a merged shared world.
- Same author Crescent City: Both by Sarah J. Maas. Throne of Glass and Crescent City are confirmed separate continuities from each other, sharing no direct crossover beyond Easter-egg references.
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Suggestions computed from what Throne of Glass and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Seven Realms Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
- A Song of Ice and Fire Epic fantasy / Grimdark · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.41
- Gwendalavir Epic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.31
- Ranger's Apprentice Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.30
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.43 across 11,680,026 ratings on 7 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Throne of Glass admitted; Core Canon = the 7 numbered novels, Expanded = The Assassin's Blade accepted 2026-08-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-07
Rule: Core = the 7 numbered novels (Throne of Glass through Kingdom of Ash), a completed series. Expanded = The Assassin's Blade, the omnibus collection of 5 prequel novellas, following the same novella-interlude-as-Expanded treatment as A Court of Frost and Starlight.