ACOTAR 6 and 7: Titles, Release Dates, Covers, and Blurbs (Updated August 2026)

Last updated: August 17, 2026, the day the titles dropped.

The titles are here. On August 17, 2026, Sarah J. Maas revealed that ACOTAR 6 is A Court of Splintered Harmony, out October 27, 2026, and ACOTAR 7 is A Court of Forgotten Melody, out January 12, 2027. Both books carry a sub-cycle label nobody saw coming. The Valkyrie Cycle.

Bloomsbury released full official blurbs alongside the covers, and they answer a question the fandom has been circling for five years. This page is our running record of everything announced, everything reported, and everything still unconfirmed. We update it every time news drops.

For the full series reading order including all novellas and bonus chapters, start with our Complete ACOTAR Reading Order. If you want something to read between now and October, we have a full guide for that too.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Ink & Imaginings may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

ACOTAR 6 and 7: Titles and Release Dates

Here is the confirmed information in one place.

Both books come from Bloomsbury. Eleven weeks separate them, which is an unusually tight turnaround for a fantasy series of this size and tells you the two halves were written as one thing.

The release dates themselves are not new. Maas confirmed October 27 and January 12 on Call Her Daddy back on March 4, 2026. What changed on August 17 is everything else: titles, covers, blurbs, and the cycle name.

What Is The Valkyrie Cycle?

This is the genuinely new piece of information, and it is the one worth sitting with.

Both books are labeled as part of The Valkyrie Cycle. A Court of Splintered Harmony is Movement I. A Court of Forgotten Melody is Movements II and III. That structure lines up exactly with what Maas described on Call Her Daddy in March, when she said the next books were "meant to be read as one massive, massive story" split into parts, with Book 6 covering part one, Book 7 covering parts two and three, and a fourth part still to come in Book 8.

So the "movements" language is not decorative. It is Maas telling you how to read the sub-series: as one symphony in four movements, published across three books.

Why "Valkyrie" matters. In ACOTAR, the Valkyries are the ancient warrior order Nesta Archeron resurrects in A Court of Silver Flames alongside Gwyneth Berdara and Emerie. Naming the entire sub-cycle after them is the single strongest signal we have about whose story this is. Maas did not name it the Archeron Cycle or the Night Court Cycle. She named it after three women who trained in a library basement and won the Blood Rite.

The musical layer. "Splintered harmony," "forgotten melody," and "movements" are all music vocabulary, and the classical framing has drawn comparisons to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, whose second opera is Die Walküre, literally The Valkyrie. Wagner's cycle runs on Norse mythology, fated bonds, and a slow build toward catastrophe and rebirth. Whether Maas intended a direct nod or simply reached for the same well of Norse imagery, the parallel is doing real work in how readers are reading these titles. Treat it as an observation, not a confirmed source.

There is also a character-level reason the music matters. Gwyneth Berdara sings. Her voice is described as a weapon and a form of prayer in A Court of Silver Flames, and a sub-cycle titled around melody and harmony pointing at a character defined by song is not a coincidence anyone in the fandom is willing to call a coincidence.

A Court of Splintered Harmony: The Official Blurb

Bloomsbury's official description for ACOTAR 6:

"What was broken will be remade. Deep in the heart of the continent, Koschei the Deathless is stirring. Though he's been bound to a mountain lake for millennia, the insidious threat of his return now spreads across the Fae territories, attracting powerful allies hell-bent on reclaiming what was once theirs: the human lands. The Night Court will not stand idly by while innocents are attacked. But with Prythian still piecing itself together in the wake of the devastating Hybern War, the task of uniting is proving more difficult by the day. To make matters worse, those who rule and protect the Night Court are reeling from recent betrayals and revealed truths. The rifts dividing them seem insurmountable. But to defeat Koschei's creeping shadow, they must find a way back to each other and resurrect their former alliances. To survive, they must find a way to repair the splintered harmony all around them."

What this confirms:

Koschei is the antagonist. Not a subplot, not a tease. He is named in the first three sentences. The threat established in A Court of Silver Flames and threaded through House of Flame and Shadow is now the engine of the plot.

The human lands are the battleground. "Reclaiming what was once theirs: the human lands" reframes the stakes. This is not a Prythian court squabble. It is a war over mortal territory, which drags Vassa, Jurian, and the human queens back to center stage.

The Inner Circle is fractured. "Reeling from recent betrayals and revealed truths" and "the rifts dividing them seem insurmountable" is the blurb telling you, in publisher language, that the Rhys and Feyre pregnancy secret, Nesta's exile, Elain's silence, and whatever Azriel has been doing in the dark all have consequences that have not been paid yet.

What this does not confirm: a single named point-of-view character. The blurb is written entirely at the level of "the Night Court" and "those who rule and protect it." That is deliberate, and we will come back to it.

A Court of Forgotten Melody: The Official Blurb

Bloomsbury's official description for ACOTAR 7:

"What was lost will be reclaimed. Prythian might never be the same again. Traditional alliances are crumbling, and no amount of diplomacy seems sufficient to repair them. With the continued threat of Koschei the Deathless on the horizon, a united front is crucial, and farther out of reach than it has ever been before. Bonds will be tested. Power will shift. And old enemies will emerge from nightmares of the past. As the Night Court's Inner Circle disperses far and wide, desperate for any advantage against Koschei and his mighty allies, peace hangs by a fragile thread. But hope can be spun from the darkest of shadows, and the Night Court has its own part to play in the looming crescendo."

What this confirms:

The Inner Circle splits up. "Disperses far and wide" is the structural key. Book 7 looks like a multi-thread book with characters in different places, which is exactly the shape that lets Maas run several points of view at once and finally service the storylines she has been holding back.

"Bonds will be tested." In a series where "bond" is a technical term, this is not filler. Mating bonds, the Inner Circle's chosen-family bond, and the Made bonds from Silver Flames are all live.

"Old enemies will emerge from nightmares of the past." Plural enemies, and "nightmares of the past" points backward: Hybern remnants, Amarantha's surviving allies, the Bone Carver's kin, or Koschei's fellow Made beings.

"The looming crescendo." More music vocabulary, and a fairly direct signal that Book 7 does not resolve the cycle. The crescendo is still looming at the end of Movements II and III, which is what you would expect if Movement IV is Book 8.

The ACOTAR 6 and 7 Covers

Both covers were revealed on Instagram on August 17 alongside the titles, and they are a visible departure from the ACOTAR house style. Where the previous covers used flat single-color backgrounds behind a central motif, the new ones use a blended ombre treatment. Coverage of the reveal has described the ACOTAR 6 art as centering bones set alight, with teeth visible in the flames, which reads as a nod to the older, grimmer death-omen version of the Valkyrie myth rather than the polished winged-warrior version.

The redesign matters for a practical reason: a visual break usually signals a publisher treating a sub-series as its own shelf unit. That is consistent with the Valkyrie Cycle branding.

How the Announcement Happened

The rollout was staged, and it worked.

In the days before August 17, readers noticed that Maas's Instagram grid had gone dark, with previous posts archived or removed. The fandom read it correctly as a clearing of the decks. On Monday afternoon, around 1 p.m. Eastern, the title and cover posts went live, one for each book, each captioned with its tagline. At the same time, digital billboards in Los Angeles, Denver, and New York City carried the announcement.

Wiping a feed to zero before a reveal is a playbook borrowed from music marketing, and the comparisons to a certain album rollout were immediate. It also explains why the sub-cycle is framed in movements. Bloomsbury is selling these two books as a record, not a sequel.

Who Is the Main Character of ACOTAR 6?

Still unconfirmed, and the blurbs were carefully written to keep it that way. But the announcement moved the odds significantly, and it moved them away from where most of us had them in March.

The case for Gwyneth Berdara. This is the theory that gained the most ground on August 17. The sub-cycle is named for the Valkyries, an order that exists in the present-day story because of Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie. Of those three, Nesta already had her book. Emerie has the least developed interiority. Gwyn is the one Maas has been quietly building: a priestess with a traumatic history, a voice used as a weapon, an unexplained affinity during the Blood Rite, and a friendship with Azriel that the fandom has been reading as something else since 2021. Layer on the fact that both titles are built from music vocabulary and Gwyn is the character defined by singing, and the pattern is hard to unsee.

The case for Elain Archeron. Elain remains the last Archeron sister without her own book, and the series has moved sister to sister so far: Feyre for Books 1 through 3, Nesta for Book 5. Her Seer powers are the most obviously underused ability on the board, and against an enemy like Koschei, who works through bargains, illusions, and long-range manipulation, a Seer is exactly the counter you need. The Azriel bonus chapter from A Court of Silver Flames was clearly planting something. If you have not read it, we break down what actually happens and why it matters in The Azriel Bonus Chapter Explained.

The case for an ensemble. Both blurbs are written from the Night Court's collective perspective, with no individual named. ACOTAR 7's "the Inner Circle disperses far and wide" is a structure that practically requires multiple points of view. The most likely answer may not be one protagonist at all but a rotating cast, with Book 6 anchored by one character and Book 7 opening up.

Where we land: the Valkyrie Cycle name is the loudest signal in the announcement, and it points at Gwyn. But "Elain gets Book 7" is fully compatible with everything Bloomsbury released, and "what was lost will be reclaimed" is a very Elain sentence. Our read is that this cycle belongs to both of them, in that order.

For the full breakdown of Elain's powers, her arc, and where the ship debate actually stands, see our Elain Archeron guide.

What the Blurbs Tell Us About Koschei

Koschei the Deathless is the through-line of both books, and readers who skipped Crescent City should know what they are walking into.

Koschei is a Made being, bound to a lake on the continent, who has spent centuries working through proxies and bargains rather than direct force. He holds Vassa under a curse. He was involved with the human queens. He is connected to the Trove and to Made objects generally, and his existence ties the ACOTAR world into the wider Maasverse.

The ACOTAR 6 blurb says his return is "attracting powerful allies hell-bent on reclaiming what was once theirs: the human lands." That is a coalition, not a lone villain. Expect the human queens, surviving Hybern loyalists, and at least one court we currently think of as neutral to end up on the wrong side of the map.

The ACOTAR 7 blurb escalates it: "old enemies will emerge from nightmares of the past." If you want to be ready, the two things worth rereading are Koschei's scenes in A Court of Silver Flames and the Made-object mechanics around the Dread Trove.

Preorder Information for A Court of Splintered Harmony

Preorders for ACOTAR 6 are live and have been since March, though listings are now updating to reflect the real title and cover. As of August 2026, hardcover is the confirmed format. Kindle and audiobook editions have not been formally announced for launch day, though both are expected.

Where to preorder: the hardcover through Bookshop.org, which splits proceeds with independent bookstores, or on Kindle, or the audiobook through Libro.fm.

Preorder details at a glance

Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and independent bookstores are all taking preorders. Many indies are planning midnight release events for October 27. If you preordered before today, your order should update automatically to the titled edition, but it is worth checking that the listing now reads A Court of Splintered Harmony rather than an untitled placeholder.

A Court of Splintered Harmony

ACOTAR 6. The Valkyrie Cycle: Movement I. Out October 27, 2026.

Pre-Order on Amazon

Planning your ACOTAR listen? Libro.fm is offering two free audiobooks when you sign up with the code SWITCH, which means you can preorder the ACOTAR 6 and 7 audiobooks the moment they are available and support an independent bookstore while you do it. If you are already a member, your monthly credits work for preorders too. Sign up for Libro.fm and get two free audiobooks.

A Court of Forgotten Melody

ACOTAR 7. The Valkyrie Cycle: Movements II and III. Out January 12, 2027.

Pre-Order on Amazon

What About the Elriel vs. Elucien Debate?

The blurbs did not settle it, but they changed the terms of the argument.

Elucien has canon on its side: Lucien is Elain's mate, the bond is textual, and Maas does not usually introduce a mating bond to discard it. Elriel has the Azriel bonus chapter, years of shadow-and-flower imagery, and the fact that the bond is unwanted by the person it happened to, which is itself a story.

Here is what shifted. If the Valkyrie Cycle is Gwyn's, then Azriel's arc is more likely to run through Gwyn than through Elain, which strengthens Elucien by removing the competition. If instead Elain anchors A Court of Forgotten Melody, "what was lost will be reclaimed" starts sounding like a rejected bond being reclaimed, or a Seer reclaiming a self she gave up in Book 1.

Both readings are alive. Anyone telling you the announcement settled it is reading their own ship into the ombre.

Updated Theories and Predictions for ACOTAR 6

1. Gwyneth Berdara carries Movement I. The strongest post-announcement theory. Sub-cycle named for the Valkyries, titles built from music vocabulary, and the one Valkyrie whose power expresses as song. If Maas wanted to hide a protagonist reveal in plain sight, this is how you would do it.

2. "Splintered harmony" is the Inner Circle, not the courts. The blurb spells it out: "those who rule and protect the Night Court are reeling from recent betrayals and revealed truths." The thing that has to be repaired is the found family. That means the fallout from Rhys's secret, Nesta's exile, and Azriel's late-night decisions is finally being paid off on the page.

3. Koschei's coalition includes at least one court we trust. "Attracting powerful allies" is doing a lot of work. Watch Spring, watch the human queens, and watch whoever has been suspiciously quiet since the Hybern War.

4. The Dread Trove comes back as the counter-weapon. Koschei is a Made being. The Trove is Made. Nesta gave up her power but the objects still exist and the mechanics are established. This is the most load-bearing loose thread in the series.

5. Elain's Seer gift is the plot device that makes the war winnable. Against an enemy who fights through bargains and long games, foresight is the only real advantage. Whether or not Elain is the point-of-view character, her ability is likely to be central.

6. Vassa and the human lands drive the mortal half of the plot. The blurb names the human lands as the prize. Vassa is cursed by Koschei. That is not a coincidence.

7. Book 7 ends on the crescendo, not the resolution. "The looming crescendo" plus a confirmed fourth part means January 2027 is very likely to end on something devastating and unresolved. Prepare accordingly.

Do You Need to Read Crescent City Before ACOTAR 6?

Not required. Strongly recommended, and more so now than it was in March.

House of Flame and Shadow, the third Crescent City book, connects directly to Prythian, and its ending has implications for how the ACOTAR world understands its own magic. With Koschei confirmed as the antagonist and Made objects likely to matter, the crossover material stops being an easter egg and starts being context.

Bloomsbury's own recommendation is to read ACOTAR before Crescent City. If you are starting Crescent City now, the order is House of Earth and Blood, House of Sky and Breath, then House of Flame and Shadow. Our full Crescent City deep dive series covers each one.

Throne of Glass remains optional. It enriches the Maasverse connections but is not needed to follow ACOTAR 6.

The ACOTAR TV Adaptation: Where Does It Stand?

The Hulu adaptation announced in 2021 with Ronald D. Moore is no longer in development. Maas has bought back the rights to her novels and has said she intends to maintain creative control over any future adaptation. No new network or streaming partner has been announced.

Nothing in the August 17 announcement touched the adaptation. Realistically, with a sub-cycle mid-publication, a screen version is unlikely to move until the books are finished.

What to Expect Next

Late summer and early fall 2026: excerpt reveals, chapter-one drops, and special-edition announcements. Bloomsbury typically releases a first-chapter excerpt four to eight weeks before publication.

September and October 2026: retailer exclusive editions with sprayed edges and bonus content. Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and indie exclusives are all likely.

October 27, 2026: A Court of Splintered Harmony publishes. Hardcover confirmed. Midnight release events at participating indies.

November and December 2026: ACOTAR 7 marketing ramps up, with the possibility of a bonus chapter tied to preorders.

January 12, 2027: A Court of Forgotten Melody publishes.

To be announced: ACOTAR 8, the fourth part of the story, confirmed in development with no date.

How to Prepare for ACOTAR 6

With ten weeks to go, a full reread is realistic if you start now. Read in publication order, not chronological order, since the emotional beats are built for publication order. Our Complete ACOTAR Reading Order lays out where the novellas and bonus chapters fit.

Given what the blurbs confirm, three things are worth reading closely rather than skimming: every Koschei scene in A Court of Silver Flames, the Blood Rite sequence and everything it establishes about Gwyn and Emerie, and the Azriel bonus chapter.

If a full reread is not happening, our books like ACOTAR list will keep you fed in the meantime.

Where to Find the Azriel Bonus Chapter

The Azriel bonus chapter from A Court of Silver Flames takes place at Winter Solstice and follows Azriel's point of view. It is short, and it recontextualizes several relationships at once. It is the single most-discussed piece of ACOTAR writing outside the main novels, and it is the reason the Elriel theory has the traction it does.

It was originally exclusive to the Barnes & Noble edition of A Court of Silver Flames, and has since appeared in some international editions and special printings. Check the copyright page and the back matter of your edition. We do not reproduce the text, but we do break down what happens and why it matters in The Azriel Bonus Chapter Explained, including what it plants for ACOTAR 6.

For a fuller picture of the character it most affects, read our Elain Archeron guide.

ACOTAR 6 and 7 FAQ

What is the title of ACOTAR 6? A Court of Splintered Harmony. Sarah J. Maas announced it on August 17, 2026, along with the sub-cycle label "The Valkyrie Cycle: Movement I."

What is the title of ACOTAR 7? A Court of Forgotten Melody, labeled "The Valkyrie Cycle: Movements II and III."

When does ACOTAR 6 come out? October 27, 2026, from Bloomsbury. The date was first confirmed by Maas on Call Her Daddy on March 4, 2026.

When does ACOTAR 7 come out? January 12, 2027. Only eleven weeks separate the two books.

What is The Valkyrie Cycle? It is the sub-series name covering ACOTAR 6 and 7, structured as musical movements. Book 6 is Movement I, Book 7 contains Movements II and III, and Book 8 is expected to complete the cycle. The name refers to the Valkyries, the warrior order Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie rebuild in A Court of Silver Flames.

What is A Court of Splintered Harmony about? Koschei the Deathless is stirring, drawing allies who want to reclaim the human lands. Prythian is still rebuilding after the Hybern War, and the Night Court's Inner Circle is fractured by recent betrayals and revealed truths. They have to repair those rifts to stand against him.

Who is the main character of ACOTAR 6? Not officially confirmed. Both blurbs are written from the Night Court's collective perspective. The Valkyrie Cycle naming has made Gwyneth Berdara the leading fan theory, with Elain Archeron still the strongest candidate for a major arc across the cycle.

Will there be an ACOTAR 8? Yes. Maas confirmed it is in development and represents the fourth part of the story that begins in Book 6. No title or release date has been announced.

Can I preorder ACOTAR 6? Yes. Preorders are live through Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and independent bookstores. Hardcover is the confirmed format. Existing preorders should update automatically to the titled edition.

Have the ACOTAR 6 and 7 covers been revealed? Yes, on August 17, 2026, via Instagram and digital billboards in Los Angeles, Denver, and New York City. Both use a blended ombre treatment that departs from the flat single-color backgrounds of the earlier ACOTAR covers.

Do I need to read Crescent City before ACOTAR 6? Not required, but strongly recommended. House of Flame and Shadow connects directly to the ACOTAR world, and Koschei's role makes that crossover material more relevant than it was.

What happened to the ACOTAR TV show? The Hulu adaptation is no longer in development. Maas bought back the rights to her novels and plans to keep creative control over any future adaptation. No new partner has been announced.

What should I read before ACOTAR 6? At minimum, ACOTAR Books 1 through 5 plus the Azriel bonus chapter. The Crescent City trilogy is recommended. Throne of Glass is optional.

This page is updated every time new information is announced. Bookmark it and check back when news drops. Next expected update: first-chapter excerpt and special edition details, estimated September 2026.