''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' is a
new adult
New adult (NA) fiction is a developing genre of fiction with protagonists in the 18–29 age bracket. St. Martin's Press first coined the term in 2009, when they held a special call for "fiction similar to young adult fiction (YA) that can be publ ...
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
novel series by American author
Sarah J. Maas
Sarah Janet Maas (born March 5, 1986) is an American fantasy author known for her fantasy series '' Throne of Glass'' and '' A Court of Thorns and Roses''. As of 2022, she has sold over twelve million copies of her books and her work has been ...
, beginning with the novel of the same name, released in May 2015. The story follows the journey of mortal Feyre Archeron after she is brought into the faerie lands of Prythian for murdering a faerie, and the epic love story and fierce struggle that follows after she enters the fae lands.
The series is a
''New York Times'' Best Seller and has been optioned by
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
for a television series adaptation by
Ronald D. Moore.
Books
Main
Companions
* ''A Court of Thorns and Roses Coloring Book'' (2017)
Development
Maas initially intended the series as a retelling of the fairy tales ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...
'', ''
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" ( no, Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne) is a Norwegian fairy tale. It was included by Andrew Lang in ''The Blue Fairy Book'' (1890).
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" was collected by Peter Christen A ...
'', and ''
Tam Lin
Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also ...
''. These tales inspired the finished series, though it was not ultimately a dedicated retelling.
She began writing ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' in early 2009, with the first draft taking about five weeks to complete.
''A Court of Mist and Fury''s first draft was written entirely in a split point of view between Feyre and Rhys.
The second book went through multiple name changes, including ''A Court of Wind and Stone'', ''A Court of Calm and Fury'', ''A Court of Stars and Smoke'', ''A Court of Wings and Stars'', ''A Court of Venom and Silver'' and ''A Court of Stars and Frost''.
Like the first novel, the second is based upon multiple fairy tales and myths, including Hades and Persephone, where the Greek mythology inspired characters such as Rhysand and Feyre and their home in the Night Court. Other fairy tale inspirations include Hansel and Gretel, which spawned the character of the Weaver,
and the Book of Exodus, which loosely inspired parts of the backstory for Miryam and Drakon.
The final cover of ''A Court of Wings and Ruin'' was designed by Adrian Dadich, with the dress pictured on the cover originally designed by Charlie Bowater and later adapted by Dadich.
On July 12, 2016, ''Entertainment Weekly'' reported that Maas was writing five new books for the series, which would include two novellas and three further novels which would be set before and after the first trilogy.
In 2020, the series was reprinted and published by Bloomsbury with new illustrated covers. ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' has existed in the gray area between Young Adult and New Adult fiction since the publication of the first book.
At the time ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' was published, the New Adult categorization hadn’t caught on the way publishers hoped it would. Maas agreed to publish the book as YA so long as her editor didn't censor any of the sexual content.
The ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' series is now firmly classified as New Adult.
Awards and nominations
Accolades
Adaptations
''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' was optioned by
Jo Bamford
Jo Bamford (born Joseph Cyril Edward Bamford in December 1977) is a British businessman and heir to the multi-billion pound JCB family fortune. After working in the family-owned JCB (company), JCB company, he founded a green hydrogen investment fu ...
's and Piers Tempest's Tempo Productions in November 2015. The producers revealed in 2018 they had hired Rachel Hirons to work as the movie's screenwriter.
In March 2021, it was announced that ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' series had been opted for a television adaptation by
20th Television
20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
for
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
. The series is set to be developed by
Ronald D. Moore alongside Maas. In an interview with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Maas confirmed that she was developing the project with the writers and the showrunner as the executive producer of the adaptation.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Court Of Thorns And Roses
Book series introduced in 2012
Fantasy novel series
American fantasy novels
Novels set in fictional countries
Young adult fantasy novels
Censored books