Summary
- A Court of Frost and Starlight is a shorter, lighter installment in the ACOTAR series, serving as a bridge to the spinoff novels.
- The novella offers closure for Feyre and Rhysand, but is not a direct sequel or part of the original trilogy.
- ACOFAS leads into A Court of Silver Flames, which sets the stage for the rest of the ACOTAR spinoffs.
Sarah J. Maas' books are typically lengthy, but Court of Thorns & Roses novels; there's a reason it tells a quicker, lower-stakes story than its predecessors.
A Court of Frost and Starlight follows Feyre and the Inner Circle as they rebuild from the events of the earlier books. It's set during the Winter Solstice and Feyre's birthday celebrations, taking on a merrier tone than previous installments. There's no major conflict, and the book clocks in at just under 300 pages — a rarity for Maas, whose novels typically span 400+ pages. There's a reason ACOFAS is so much shorter than her other books, but this may not be immediately obvious to every reader.
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The First 3 ACOTAR Books Are A Trilogy
Feyre & Rhysand's Story Ends In A Court Of Wings And Ruin
Although A Court of Frost and Starlight gives closure to Feyre and Rhysand's narrative in the first three ACOTAR books, it's not technically a direct sequel. The first three installments — A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury, and A Court of Wings and Ruin — make up their own trilogy, with a narrative that concludes in ACOWAR. While many readers lump all of Maas' ACOTAR books together, there are actually divisions within the overall series. The trilogy following Feyre and Rhysand sets up what comes after, but it has its own beginning, middle, and end separate from Maas' other stories.
ACOFAS is meant to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the later ACOTAR novels.
ACOFAS' place in all this gets confusing, as the book continues to primarily follow Feyre and Rhysand. It occasionally offers other characters' perspectives, but it doesn't fully jump into a different narrative, like A Court of Silver Flames. That's because ACOFAS is meant to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the later ACOTAR novels. And the 2018 release itself isn't technically a novel.
A Court Of Frost And Starlight Is Technically A Prequel Novella Setting Up The Spinoff Books
This Is Why It's Shorter & Has Lower Stakes
A Court of Frost and Starlight is shorter than the other ACOTAR books because it's technically a novella. This is why it's less than 300 pages and doesn't have a high-stakes plot on par with the rest of the ACOTAR books. It serves as a prequel of sorts to the spinoff novels, which begin with A Court of Silver Flames. Feyre and Rhysand's story ends with ACOWAR, and ACOFAS catches readers up with the couple and gives them a long-overdue happy ending. A Court of Silver Flames returns readers to a full-length novel with Nesta and Cassian's love story, which is set up in ACOFAS as well.
Although some refer to A Court of Frost and Starlight as the fourth novel in the ACOTAR series, it's technically not. It's not the first time Maas has experimented with a new format in her fantasy series, either. The author also published a short story collection for her Throne of Glass series, fleshing out moments from Aelin's backstory that were mentioned in the official books. Like Throne of Glass' short stories, ACOFAS adds context to the surrounding books without being a full-blown sequel.
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The Latest Book (And Ones) Are Part Of The Spinoff Novels
A Court Of Silver Flames Starts The Next Set Of Books
The book sets the stage for future ACOTAR stories, and Maas has already confirmed that she's working on the next one.
A Court of Silver Flames is the first of the ACOTAR spinoff novels, following Feyre's sister, Nesta, and Cassian after the events of the trilogy. The book sets the stage for future ACOTAR stories, and Maas has already confirmed that she's working on the next one (via TODAY.com). There's no telling whether it will be another novel from Nesta's perspective or one exploring Elaine's point of view. Either way, the second set of ACOTAR books builds on the first, further fleshing out the ing characters from Feyre and Rhysand's story.
Given ACOTAR's overlap with Maas' Crescent City books, it seems like the author is building to an Avengers-level team-up as well. With that in mind, A Court of Frost and Starlight is just a stepping stone to get to the future of her fantasy universe. It does offer a nice break from all the action and drama of her other stories, but it's nowhere near as drawn out or ambitious.