Sarah J. Maas is an American New York Times bestselling author of young adult, science fiction, and fantasy. She is the author of three fantasy series: Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City, as well as a stand-alone book called Catwoman: Soulstealer.
Maas has sold over twelve million copies of her books, and her work has been translated into 37 languages. She was ranked the fifth most popular author between 2016 and 2021 on Goodreads.
Sarah Janet Maas was born in New York City and grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. According to her, as a child, she enjoyed creating stories based on popular tales or myths. She also used to write Sailor Moon fanfiction in her youth.
In 2008, Maas graduated magna cum laude from Hamilton College in Clinton, Oneida County, where she majored in creative writing and minored in religious studies.
Maas began writing her debut novel, Throne of Glass, when she was sixteen. After writing several chapters of the book, then titled Queen of Glass, Maas posted them on FictionPress.com, where it was one of the most popular stories on the site.
The storyline is based on the tale of Cinderella. The premise of the series is, what if Cinderella was not the maid but the murderer? And what if she didn't attend the ball to meet the prince but to kill him instead?
In 2009, Maas signed with Tamar Rydzinski of The Laura Dial Literary Agency. Throne of Glass was purchased in March 2010 by Bloomsbury, who later published two additional books in the series. Now the series is available in 15 countries and 37 languages.
While several prequel novellas were set two years before the first novel was also published, these were later condensed into one book, The Assassin's Blade. The second book of the series, Crown of Midnight was a New York Times young adult best-seller. The final book in the series, Kingdom of Ash, was released in 2018. The finished series is now complete, comprising seven books, and will be re-released with new covers in 2023.
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Maas' second fantasy series, is a loose retelling of the traditional Beauty and the Beast. The first part of the trilogy was written in 2009 but first published in 2015. Due to the success of the original series, it was extended. Book fourth in the series and the first of the spin-offs, A Court of Silver Flames, was published in 2021. The series is an ongoing project.
In 2018, Maas announced her third fantasy series, which is also her first adult fantasy series, Crescent City. The first book, House of Earth and Blood, was released by Bloomsbury two years later. It was ranked one of the top twenty Science Fiction & Fantasy books of 2020 on Kobo.
The sequel, House of Sky and Breath, was released in 2022.
In 2021, Hulu announced that they are adapting the A Court of Thorns and Roses series into a television series. In an interview with The NY Times, Maas confirmed that she was developing the project as executive producer with the screenwriters and the showrunners.
Sarah J. Maas currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog.
Photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan / sarahjmaas.com
