Entertainment

Sarah J Maas’s New Acotar Book Sets UK Adult Fantasy Record

By Emma Loffhagen

Sarah J Maas’s return to her A Court of Thorns and Roses series has set a new UK record for adult fantasy sales. The sixth book in the series, A Court of Splintered Harmony, sold 188,914 copies in the UK between its publication day, 27 October, and 31 October, according to NielsenIQ BookData. This makes it the fastest‑selling adult fantasy novel since records began in 1998 and the fastest‑selling hardback since Dan Brown’s Inferno in 2013. Philip Stone of NielsenIQ noted that Harry Potter holds the overall fantasy record, but A Court of Splintered Harmony is the biggest adult fantasy sale since 1998. The previous record was held by Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm, which sold 155,141 copies in its opening week in January 2025. Bloomsbury, Maas’s publisher, said the book achieved the largest single‑week sales for any adult fiction title in the UK since Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman in 2015. The novel debuted at No. 1 in the UK overall book chart, marking Maas’s third chart‑topper. In January 2024, her Crescent City title House of Flame and Shadow reached No. 1 with 44,761 opening‑week sales. Globally, A Court of Splintered Harmony sold 1.7 million copies in pre‑orders and first‑day sales, covering English‑language print and ebook editions in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, but excluding audiobooks and translations. Maas’s total English‑language sales across all series now exceed 100 million copies. Bookstores across the UK celebrated the release with midnight launches and early openings; Waterstones alone hosted 60 midnight events and 80 release‑day parties. Lucy Jakes, Waterstones’ science fiction and fantasy buyer, said the book’s pre‑orders had “fever pitch” excitement, and the first‑week sales reflected that enthusiasm. The Acotar series, which began with a 2015 reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, follows the character Feyre through the faerie realm of Prythian. A Court of Splintered Harmony is the first of a four‑part story, with the next two parts in A Court of Forgotten Melody, scheduled for 12 January.}