House of Flame and Shadow

The Crescent City series is set on planet Midgard, originally a human-inhabited world. Midgard was conquered by the Asteri—a race of near-immortal beings who vampirically feed off the magic and life energy of those they rule. At the same time, an ancient relic known as the Luna Horn opened a portal to Midgard for magical creatures called Vanir—fairies, shape shifters, witches, angels, and others. Finally, the demons of Hel, another planet formerly enslaved by the Asteri, also entered Midgard. Centuries later, at the time of the books in the series, angels govern the world on behalf of the Asteri and humans are at the bottom of the hierarchy, though a rebellion is brewing. Lunathion, which is nicknamed Crescent City, is the most important population center on Midgard.

In the first novel in the series, House of Earth and Blood (HOEAB), Bryce Quinlan is introduced. Bryce is a young half-human, half-Fae woman who is the daughter of the Autumn King—the Fae who rules over a part of Lunathion. The governing archangel of Lunathion, Micah Domitus, assigns Bryce and enslaved fallen angel Hunt Athalar to solve the murder of Bryce’s best friend—a wolf-shifter named Danika. As they investigate Danika’s killing and new murders committed in similar ways, Bryce and Hunt develop romantic feelings. Meanwhile, Bryce’s full-Fae half-brother, Ruhn Danaan, is tasked by their father to search for the lost Luna Horn. Eventually, Bryce discovers that she is the Horn: Danika ground the Horn to powder and tattooed it onto Bryce’s back before her death. Micah is revealed to be the villain; he orchestrated the murders and calls a demon army to permanently quash the human rebellion. To save Lunathion, Bryce is forced to perform by herself the ritual of the Drop—a dangerous practice that allows Vanir to claim their full magical powers but risks death. Bryce survives and emerges with a staggering amount of power that she uses to defeat the demons. The Asteri free Hunt Athalar from slavery to the archangels as a reward for Bryce’s heroic actions.

The second novel in the series, House of Sky and Breath (HOSAB), follows the activities of anti-Asteri factions. Following Micah’s death, Lunathion is ruled by several new archangels, including the sadistic Sandriel and her lieutenants (called Triarii). To resist them, Bryce, Hunt, Ruhn, and former spymaster Tharion, a mer on the run from the River Queen, are on a mission to find siblings rumored to be Thunderbirds—Vanir beings created to oppose the Asteri. Their search entangles them with a rebel group known as Ophion. Although the surviving sibling is not a Thunderbird after all, the quest allows Ruhn to become a secret agent for Ophion and to make contact with another group resisting the Asteri. Ruhn’s counterpart turns out to be Lidia Cervos, or the Hind—one of the Triarii, who has turned to Bryce’s side. Also allying with Brice is another Triarii—the Helhound, revealed to be Baxian Argos, Danika’s former mate. During her adventures, Bryce learns the secrets of the Asteri: The Asteri feed on firstlight—the raw magic produced by Vanir during the Drop—to survive. The novel ends on a cliff hanger as Ruhn, Hunt, and Baxian are taken prisoner, and Bryce enters a portal to Prythian, the realm of the Fae, where she meets the Night Court.

The world of the Crescent City series is connected to Sarah J. Maas’s other works, all of which are part of what Mass has dubbed the “Maas-Verse.” Several of her novels that are not part of this series reference events, settings, and characters that take place there. Finding the clues that link these disparate works together, which are often small and subtle allusions, is part of the appeal of Maas’s work for her fans.