Sarah J. Maas broke a five-year silence on the Call Her Daddy podcast — and the fandom has not recovered. Here's every confirmed fact, every credible theory, and every delicious rumour.
The Announcement That Broke BookTok
On 4 March 2026, Sarah J. Maas appeared on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast and delivered the news that millions of ACOTAR fans had been waiting for since A Court of Silver Flames dropped in 2021. Not one new book — but two. With confirmed release dates.
BOOK 6 — PART ONE | 27 Oct 2026
BOOK 7 — PARTS TWO & THREE | 12 Jan 2027
BOOK 8 — PART FOUR | TBC
The fandom's reaction was, naturally, completely unhinged — in the best way. Within hours, #ACOTAR6 was trending, BookTok was flooded with reaction videos, and Reddit threads were already numbering in the thousands. The five-year wait is officially ending.
"No amount of glue in any publisher's factory could ever hold this. It's meant to be read as one massive, massive story."
— SARAH J. MAAS ON CALL HER DADDY, MARCH 4 2026
What Sarah J. Maas Actually Said on Call Her Daddy
The episode aired on 4 March 2026 and hosted by Alex Cooper, who — bless her — asked all the questions the fandom needed answered. Here's what Maas confirmed, in her own words:
CONFIRMED ✅
Books 6, 7, and 8 are one continuous story told in four parts — not a trilogy, not standalone novels. "It's not a trilogy," Maas clarified.
CONFIRMED ✅
Book 6 contains Part One, which is already over 400 pages on its own. Book 7 contains Parts Two and Three. Part Four — Book 8 — is yet to be written.
CONFIRMED ✅
On why it took so long: "It's been a long time coming. It took me a while to find the right story and to be in the right headspace. And then what poured out of me was this, and it poured out very quickly."
CONFIRMED ✅
The Hulu TV adaptation was scrapped, but Maas confirmed she has regained the rights. She wants full creative control over any future adaptation.
CONFIRMED ✅
Maas teased that the truth about Mor's powers — and the long-cryptic backstory of the day Eris found her in the woods — will finally be revealed.
NOT CONFIRMED ❌
No title. No cover art. No confirmed POV. No plot details beyond what's above. Maas is keeping the specifics very, very close to her chest.
The Instagram Post That Started It All
Before the podcast, the breadcrumb trail started on 11 July 2025, when Maas posted a reel to Instagram: she gently closed a notebook labelled "ACOTAR 6–8", shut her laptop, and toasted to camera with a glass of sparkling wine. The caption read simply: "First drafts DONE." Note — drafts, plural. BookTok immediately zoomed in, brightened, and sharpened every single frame like an FBI crime lab. The word "drafts" and the "–8" notation sent the fandom into what can only be described as a full-scale frenzy.
The Theories: What the Fandom Believes Is Coming
No confirmed titles. No confirmed POV. No plot synopsis. And yet — the ACOTAR fandom has produced an extraordinary volume of theories, some remarkably well-evidenced, some gloriously chaotic. Here's where the debate stands right now.
The Big One: Whose Book Is This?
Elain Archeron | FAN THEORY
The overwhelming fandom consensus. She's the only Archeron sister without her own POV novel — Feyre led the first trilogy, Nesta had Silver Flames. Following the pattern, Elain is next. Her mysterious seer abilities have barely been explored. Her story is simmering. It's time.
Azriel Dual-POV | FAN THEORY
The Shadowsinger is fan favourite for a reason — mysterious, fiercely loyal, and carrying enough emotional baggage to fill the Sidra River. The Silver Flames bonus chapter gave us a charged, barely-resolved Azriel moment. A dual POV with Elain is the most-requested scenario on BookTok right now.
Lucien vs. Azriel: The Ship War | FAN THEORY
Elain and Lucien are technically mated, but she's avoided him across multiple books. Azriel clearly feels something for her. The question that has split the fandom: does she follow the bond, or choose the brooding Shadowsinger? One TikToker declared Azriel and Elain "the most boring thing ever." Others are ready to riot for it.
Gwyn & the Valkyries | FAN THEORY
Post-Silver Flames, Gwyneth Berdara has a passionate fanbase. Some believe Book 6 could give Gwyn a major arc — possibly a love triangle with Azriel and Elain that forces a genuine choice. Others think Gwyn's story is better served in Book 7 or 8, once the Elain arc settles.
Tamlin's Redemption Arc | FAN THEORY
The fandom's favourite punching bag might surprise us all. Some theorise that the Beauty and the Beast setup from Book 1 was always building to a genuine redemption — and that Elain, rather than ending up in the Night Court, becomes High Lady of Spring. Goodreads would not survive the reviews.
Mor's Long-Overdue Story | PARTLY CONFIRMED
Maas actually teased this one on Call Her Daddy: Mor's mysterious powers and the full story of the day Eris found her in the snow will finally be revealed. Whether this gets a full POV chapter or is woven into another character's story remains to be seen — but it's coming.
The Koschei Theory
The biggest unresolved threat in all of Prythian isn't a court rivalry — it's Koschei, the ancient death-god still lurking after the events of Crescent City. Many fans believe Books 6 through 8 will build toward a Koschei confrontation that crosses the entire Maasverse, potentially bringing back characters from Throne of Glass and Crescent City in one final, devastating conflict. This would also explain why Maas described the three books as "one massive story" rather than individual arcs.
The "Twilight of the Gods" Whisper
Separate from the ACOTAR news — eagle-eyed fans uncovered a now-deleted Pinterest board Maas had titled Twilight of the Gods. Nothing has been confirmed, but speculation is already running wild about a brand-new mythology-inspired series in development. It could be one of the mystery projects she's hinted at having under wraps. Watch your For You page for any updates.
The Wait in Context: How We Got Here
For those who've been in the fandom since the beginning — this five-year gap has been an experience. Here's the full timeline from Silver Flames to now:
FEBRUARY 2021
A Court of Silver Flames releases. Nesta and Cassian finally get their book. The fandom immediately starts asking about Elain.
2022–2023
Maas releases House of Earth and Blood and House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City). Bloomsbury hints ACOTAR 6 could arrive in 2025. Publisher teases ACOTAR hashtags. Fandom: cautiously hopeful.
JULY 11, 2025
The Instagram reel drops. Maas closes her notebook labelled "ACOTAR 6–8", pops sparkling wine. Caption: "First drafts DONE." BookTok loses its collective mind in approximately four minutes.
LATE 2025
Bloomsbury publishes its January–June 2026 catalogue. No ACOTAR. Fandom enters full crisis mode, convinced the book has been delayed indefinitely.
MARCH 4, 2026 | BREAKING NEWS
Maas appears on Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper. Confirms Book 6 on 27 October 2026, Book 7 on 12 January 2027. Both now available to pre-order.
What We Still Don't Know (The Painful List)
In the spirit of full transparency — and to temper the frenzy just slightly — here is everything that remains officially unconfirmed as of today:
No Title
Neither Book 6 nor Book 7 has an official title. The series pattern (A Court of __ and __) gives nothing away.
No Cover Art
Not a single piece of official art yet. The fandom is already designing their own, naturally.
No Confirmed POV
Elain is the overwhelming fan expectation. But Maas has not confirmed a single character's perspective.
No Plot Details
Zero synopsis. Zero chapter previews. Absolutely nothing concrete about what actually happens in either book.
"I know much more about what's happening in this book. It came out of me in a way that surprised me."
— SARAH J. MAAS, MARCH 2026
The Final Word: What This Means for the Fandom
Let's be real: ACOTAR didn't just launch a series. It built a community. It launched a genre — or at least gave romantasy the cultural oxygen it needed to become a mainstream phenomenon. Five years of waiting has only made that community more passionate, more creative, and more vocal than ever.
The back-to-back release of Books 6 and 7 — just eleven weeks apart — is an extraordinary gift to readers. It means October and January are going to feel like BookTok's equivalent of Christmas. Twice.
The theories will get wilder, the TikToks will get more unhinged, and the annotations will be extraordinarily detailed.
We don't have titles. We don't have covers. We don't know whose eyes we're reading through. But we know it's coming. The courts of Prythian are waiting. Velaris is waiting. And this time, we finally have a date to count down to.