The Assassin's Blade

Sarah J. Maas is a popular American author whose three fantasy series—Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City—have been published over 38 million times and translated into 38 different languages. She has won seven Goodreads’ Choice Awards, and her books have been featured on numerous “Best Of” years and decades lists. Her writing falls into the newly coined romantasy genre, an amalgamation of traditional romance tropes in fantasy worlds. The rise in romantasy has coincided with the rise of the BookTok community, or content centered on books and reading on the TikTok social media platform, which currently has over 220 billion views in total. Maas in particular is popular on TikTok, as the hashtag #ACOTAR, the acronym for the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, has 8.5 billion views alone. 

It is not only TikTok that has skyrocketed Maas to fame; she publishes books prolifically, building an engaged and passionate fanbase. Between 2012, the year the first Throne of Glass book came out, and 2022, Maas published 15 books, averaging 1.5 books per year over a decade. The volume of her work appeals to her fans, who want constant engagement with her characters.