‘A Court of Splintered Harmony’ release: What to know about Sarah J. Maas’ ‘ACOTAR’ series

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Sarah J. Maas’ books. Buckle in, “A Court of Thorns and Roses” fans: “A Court of Splintered Harmony” hits shelves on Tuesday, reuniting readers with the Night Court for the first new “ACOTAR” novel in five years. The last book, 2021’s “A Court of Silver Flames,” wraps up relatively neatly: Nesta learns to weather her trauma while training to become one of the forgotten female warriors, the Valkyrie; Feyre and Rhysand have a baby; and Cassian and Nesta fall in love and accept their mating bond. The synopsis for “Splintered Harmony” hints at lingering conflicts, both in and outside of the Inner Circle, that have yet to take center stage. And clocking in at 352 pages, it’s just the beginning of the next phase of the story, what author Sarah J. Maas is calling “The Valkyrie Cycle.” This book, as well as the already announced “ACOTAR” 7, “A Court of Forgotten Melody,” will be part of this arc. Essentially, readers are in for plenty of new content — and with a new villain on the horizon. For this recap of the most important things to remember headed into the next “ACOTAR” installment, TODAY.com caught up with four experts for their takes: Sarah Mori, a book influencer who runs a 5,000 person+ Sarah J. Maas book club called Rosebud’s Realm on Discord and has re-read each of Maas’ books at least three times.Ronnie Boswell and Abby Flock, co-hosts of the romantasy podcast “Dragons in the Details,” which dives into fan theories and lore explanations for “ACOTAR,” “Crescent City” and Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing” series.Garri James, senior managing editor and book club co-host at The Everygirl, who wrote her own bullet point recap of the entire “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series. Here are the details they say are worth remembering before diving into the next book. Characters Koschei Koschei, primed to be the “ACOTAR” world’s next big enemy, is the only character named in the official synopses of “Splintered Harmony” and “Forgotten Melody.” He’s first mentioned by name in “A Court of Wings and Ruin,” when the Bone Carver is describing how he and his siblings “fell” into Prythian. “We have to remember that the Bone Carver, the Weaver — they are Koschei’s siblings,” Mori says. Click here for a deep dive on what to know about Koschei. Vassa Boswell and Flock both predict Vassa, one of the human queens who comes to the aid of Prythian forces at the end of “Wings and Ruin,” will be a major player going forward. “I think she’s going to be really important and play a big role in the next book, and I’ve seen almost no one talking about her,” Flock says. In “Mist and Fury,” Vassa is the sixth queen missing from a summit with Rhys in the Mortal Lands. Her fellow queens lie and say she is sick. It’s later revealed Vassa opposed the queens’ plan of allying with Hybern in the last war, so they sold her to a “sorcerer-lord,” later revealed to be Koschei. Elain, made a seer by the Cauldron, sees that Vassa is confined to a lake and has been cursed to be a firebird by day, a woman by night. Vassa is kept captive by Koschei along with other women, except “their feathers are white as snow,” according to Elain. “They glide across the water — while she rages through the skies above it.” But somehow, the Archeron sisters’ father negotiates with Vassa’s captor to free her, and she sails into battle with his fleet to attack Hybern. In “Frost and Starlight,” it’s revealed other High Lords have been unable to break her curse. And in “Silver Flames,” she’s seen hiding out with Jurian and occasionally Lucien, representing an alliance between mortals and Fae, even as the queens stir. “Koschei has just let (Vassa) continue to be free and we have no idea why,” Boswell adds. Lucien In addition to serving as an emissary to Jurian and Vassa, Lucien has been in limbo, as Elain has yet to accept their mating bond. Mori points out that one undersung narrative involving Lucien is his parentage. At the end of “Wings and Ruin,” his father is revealed to not actually be Beron, High Lord of the Autumn Court, but Helion, High Lord of the Day Court. Feyre and Rhys know this, but it’s unclear who else does. Eris Speaking of the Autumn Court, Eris, Lucien’s brother, proved a confounding figure in “Silver Flames,” serving as an emissary to Rhys, reporting back on his father’s shady dealings with the human queen Briallyn. Throughout the book, Nesta and Cassian struggle to decide whether to trust Eris, even as he insists he’s allied with the Night Court. “One of the last scenes in the book was Eris being called a good male by Cassian, who is his biggest hater, so I do think we have a redemption arc coming,” Boswell says. To recap Eris’ lore: He and Mor were betrothed for an alliance between their parents, but she sabotages the match by sleeping with Cassian. Eris rejects the engagement. Mor’s father and leader of the Court of Nightmares, Kier, punishes her by beating her and leaving her naked on the border of the Autumn Court. It’s said Eris saw her and left her there. He suggests there’s much more to the story. “You’re not the person I want to explain myself to,” Eris tells Cassian when asked why he left Mor in the woods. “I have a suspicion that Eris is protecting Mor and that there’s a real reason behind it,” Mori says. Gwyn Gwyn is one of the Valkyries, along with Nesta and Emerie. She’s introduced in “Silver Flames” with a traumatic backstory: Her and her twin sister were priestesses in Sangravah. A piece of the Cauldron was hidden there, and Hybern sacked it. Gwyn helped smuggle children out of the temple, and when she refused to give up their location, her twin was beheaded in front of her. Gwyn was raped by a Hybern general. Azriel arrived and slaughtered the soldiers. Mori says what most surprised her on her most recent re-read of the “ACOTAR” series was how early Sangravah was mentioned. In “Mist and Fury,” Feyre overhears Rhys tell Mor about the attack on the temple in Sangravah. “This is Gwyn’s introduction, technically,” Mori says. What to remember Nesta’s actions in ‘House of Flame and Shadow’ While readers don’t know who will take center stage in “Splintered Harmony,” it’s worth noting that the characters seen most recently are Nesta and Azriel, due to their role in “House of Flame and Shadow,” a book in Maas’ “Crescent City” series. Together, the duo team up with Bryce Quinlan to navigate the Prison and discover how Prythian and Midgard are connected. (Read a full deep dive on the crossover here.) Nesta in particular helps Bryce by handing over weapons from Prythian, enraging some members of the Inner Circle in the process. For people who haven’t read “House of Flame and Shadow,” Mori says Nesta’s position inside the Night Court may not be as settled as it seemed at the end of “Silver Flames,” when she saves Feyre’s life. “Looking at the relationship between Nesta and the Valkyries and Cassian and the Inner Circle, I think if you are just an ‘ACOTAR’ reader, you were left with one impression, but if you read ‘Flame and Shadow,’ you’re left with another,” Mori says. Regarding Nesta’s relationship with Cassian, “I think they have a very important conversation headed their way” after Nesta defied Rhys to help Bryce, and Nesta was left feeling on the outs again. Nesta also ends “Silver Flames” by making a bargain with the Cauldron to save Feyre and her baby, resulting in a new tattoo on her back. She says she gave her powers back but later clarifies “a little remains. I think something else — someone else — stopped the Cauldron from taking it all.” “Feels ominous and feels like it might matter. We don’t really get an answer as to what exactly it is or why it exists or how it might come into play,” Boswell says. Notably, when Bryce meets Nesta in “House of Flame and Shadow,” which is set chronologically after “Silver Flames,” Bryce mentions seeing a glimpse of “silver flame” in her eyes. And at the end of the book, Bryce recalls Nesta having an eight-pointed star tattoo. The love triangle “The big thing everyone is talking about is going to be the love triangle between Lucien, Azriel and Elain,” James says. “At the heart, these books are romance first.” To recap: At the end of “Mist and Fury,” Lucien realizes that Elain, Feyre’s sister, is his mate after she is turned High Fae by the Cauldron. Before this, Elain was engaged to a human named Graysen. She mourns their broken engagement and is devastated by the loss of her humanity. So Lucien tries not to force the mating bond on her, and, as of the end of “Silver Flames,” she has yet to accept it. Meanwhile, Azriel seemingly develops feelings for Elain. He often positions himself near her and pays her special attention. When she’s captured by Hybern during the war in “Wings and Ruin,” he insists on rescuing her and entrusts her with his beloved dagger, Truth-Teller. Things come to a head in the Books-A-Million exclusive bonus chapter for “Silver Flames” (which will also be published in all copies of “Splintered Harmony.”) In the chapter, told from Azriel’s POV, he runs into Elain after Winter Solstice and gives her a golden necklace. They almost kiss, until Rhys interrupts via his telepathy. The High Lord orders Azriel to stay away from Elain. After, Azriel goes up to the training ring and runs into Gwyn. They exchange light banter. He returns to the river house and sees Elain gave back the necklace, so he leaves it at the library to give to Gwyn. He imagines how Gwyn may react to the present but buries the thought, calling it “a thing of secret, lovely beauty.” Mori also recommends revisiting the “handful of moments” between Lucien, Elain and Azriel in the novella “A Court of Frost and Starlight.” The dread trove and important weapons The Dread Trove is introduced in “Silver Flames” as a collection of ancient artifacts crafted by the Cauldron. We already know of the Mask, the Harp, the Crown — all of which were in Prythian — and the Horn, which is tattooed on Bryce’s back after being crushed to dust in “Crescent City.” It’s implied there could be more objects. In “House of Flame and Shadow,” Nesta lends Bryce the Mask for the fight against the Asteri (also known as the Daglan in “ACOTAR”) but Bryce returns it to Prythian — and leaves another important object: the Starsword. For Boswell, the “biggest thing” she predicts will come into play is the fact that the two weapons specifically crafted to fight Asteri/Daglan are currently in Prythian. Originally, Azriel had the dagger, Truth-Teller, while Bryce had the Starsword, aka the lost sword Gwydion to the characters from “ACOTAR.” When Bryce leaves the Starsword in Prythian, she tells Nesta: “I think that eight-pointed star was tattooed on you for a reason. Take that sword and go figure out why.” Also of note: When combined, Truth-Teller and the Starsword are also able to open a void, or a portal to “nowhere,” which is how Bryce is able to get back home to Midgard in “House of Flame and Shadow.” “Bryce Quinlan leaves them there. Supposedly the Daglan are no longer a problem on Prythian. Supposedly the Asteri are no longer there. But it feels like, given Bryce left those there, that is not the case,” Boswell says. If you reread one thing... James: The end of “A Court of Silver Flames.” “My biggest thing in all of this is that I’ve been seeing people who are like, ‘You have to re-read every single book. If you haven’t read “Crescent City” you need to read “Crescent City,”’” James says. “I don’t subscribe to that. I think that that is fine if people want to do that. ... But I think as its own series these books will stand on their own without the wider context.” Boswell: Scenes of “House of Flame and Shadow” set in Prythian, chapters 1-27. Flock: Anything that happens in the Prison. And any time the “death-gods” — Koschei, the Bone Carver and the Weaver/Stryga — are mentioned, for the e-readers capable of search and find. Mori: The war chapters in “A Court of Wings and Ruin.” “I think where we left off at that war is something that has not necessarily been resolved,” Mori says.