Throne of Glass is the series that taught a generation of readers that YA fantasy could be eight books long, get dramatically more complex with each entry, and still keep them reading. Celaena Sardothien — assassin, slave, queen, witch — is one of the most ambitious character arcs in the genre. If you've finished the series and want that same experience of a heroine whose identity and power keep escalating, these are the picks: series that get bigger and darker the further you go, with romance that earns its keep alongside the action.
New to the series? Start with the first book. For reading order across all Maas's worlds, see our Sarah J. Maas author guide.
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Pick 01
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas • 2015
Maas's other major series is the obvious first stop after Throne of Glass. The world is completely different — fae rather than assassins, spring courts rather than glass castles — but the author's instincts are the same: a heroine who keeps discovering she's more than she knew, a morally complex love interest, and a series that expands dramatically in scope with each book. ACOTAR starts slower than Throne of Glass, but A Court of Mist and Fury is arguably the best book in either series. Essential.
A military empire, a forbidden connection between a slave girl and a soldier of the elite, and a series that grows more complex and more brutal with each book. Tahir's world-building is denser than Maas's and the moral stakes are more consistently dark — she doesn't let her characters off easily. If Throne of Glass worked for you specifically because Celaena's enemies eventually became the entire system, Ember in the Ashes operates the same way. The dual POV also parallels ToG's structure in later books.
If the element of Throne of Glass you loved most was the competence — Celaena being genuinely skilled at what she does, planning things out, using intelligence rather than just power — Six of Crows is the series. Kaz Brekker assembles a team of misfits to pull off an impossible heist in a beautifully constructed fantasy world. The multi-POV structure allows Bardugo to show several different kinds of excellence simultaneously. The Kaz-Inej slow burn is also one of the best in the genre.
A girl born with Silver powers that shouldn't exist, raised as a Red, thrown into the Silver court's political games. The class system critique is more overt than in ToG and the love triangle is structurally similar to Throne of Glass's romantic complications. Red Queen has some of the best betrayal moments in YA fantasy. If you powered through Throne of Glass in the early books partly because of the palace politics and the "who can you trust" dynamic, Red Queen delivers that at high intensity from book one.
A mortal girl in the fae court, despised, who decides to take power rather than submit. Cardan is everything Dorian and Chaol are early in Throne of Glass — beautiful, cruel, impossible to read — and the enemies-to-lovers arc in The Cruel Prince is more immediately explosive. Holly Black invented much of the dark fae romantasy vocabulary that Maas built on, and Jude Duarte is one of the best heroines in modern fantasy: genuinely strategic, genuinely angry, genuinely compelling.
The Grishaverse origin story: a girl who discovers a rare power, thrown into a magical military that immediately becomes complicated. The Darkling is one of the most compelling antagonist-love-interests in YA fantasy, and Bardugo uses him the same way Maas uses some of her morally grey characters — the reader and the protagonist both keep wanting to believe in him past the point the evidence supports. Shadow and Bone is more contained than Throne of Glass, but the world rewards the investment.
The adult romantasy that has the closest energy to early Throne of Glass: a heroine who's underestimated by the institution she's in, a love interest who is technically the enemy, and a world that keeps revealing that what she was told was true isn't. Yarros's pacing is faster than Maas's and the romance is more immediate, but the dragon-rider world rewards commitment the way ToG's does. If you want the ToG feel in an adult fantasy setting, Fourth Wing is where to start.
The forbidden romance and gradually revealed mythology of the Blood and Ash series parallels what ToG builds toward in the later books. Poppy is a Chosen who turns out to be more than anyone admitted, and the revelations about the world's true nature reframe everything earlier — just like Celaena's identity reframes the entire Throne of Glass series. If you loved the slow mythology reveals and the sense that the world is fundamentally different from what it appeared to be, Armentrout delivers that.
A quest fantasy rooted in Chinese mythology with a heroine on a journey that keeps expanding in scope. What makes this work for Throne of Glass readers is the same sense of a protagonist who keeps discovering capabilities she didn't know she had, in a world whose mythology gradually becomes more complex. Tan's prose is more lyrical than Maas's and the tone more elegiac, but the essential structure — a heroine's expanding arc through a richly built mythological world — is the same.
The adult equivalent of what Throne of Glass does politically: a protagonist embedded in the system that oppresses his people, fighting from inside it while building toward a revolution. Red Rising has less romance and significantly more brutality than ToG, but the same sense of a hero whose identity is constructed and whose true nature keeps being revealed through impossible tests. If the political complexity and the sense of Celaena carrying secrets that keep mattering is what kept you reading, Red Rising will consume you.
What order should I read the Throne of Glass series?
Start with Throne of Glass (book 1), then Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn (concurrent with Empire of Storms or after), Kingdom of the Golden Cage (prequel novella — optional), and finally Kingdom of Ash. The Assassin's Blade prequel novellas are best read after Crown of Midnight.
Should I read Throne of Glass or ACOTAR first?
Most readers recommend starting with ACOTAR for its more contained entry point, then reading Throne of Glass. However, if you prefer assassin-action energy over fae-romance energy, start with ToG. Both series are better read in publication order within the series. See our Sarah J. Maas reading order for the full recommended sequence.
Does Throne of Glass get better after book one?
Most fans agree that the series dramatically improves from Heir of Fire (book 3) onward. Books one and two are more contained YA fantasy; book three is where Maas's ambition for the series becomes clear and the world expands significantly. If you bounced off the first book, reading a summary of book two and starting with Heir of Fire is a common recommendation.
Is Throne of Glass appropriate for adults?
Yes, though the early books have a YA tone. The series becomes progressively more adult — later books contain more explicit violence and romance. Kingdom of Ash is significantly darker and more complex than Throne of Glass. Most adult readers of romantasy enjoy the full series without reservations, particularly from Heir of Fire onward.