Welcome to ACOTAR Explained! This is a completely spoiler free ACOTAR world guide that will help you understand this fantasy series so much better.
You could use ACOTAR Wiki or an ACOTAR map to look up character names and places, but that opens up a HUGE risk for major spoilers.
Googling ANYTHING (no matter how harmless it may seem) can lead to major spoilers. This is my way of saving you from making the same mistakes I did when reading the Sarah J Maas books for the first time.
As far as world building goes, ACOTAR is probably the easiest and most straight forward of all the Sarah J Maas series’. So if you’re a beginner into the fantasy universe I think this would be a great start for you. Let’s begin!
ACOTAR Explained
1. ACOTAR Geography
This is definitely the easiest world to follow the geography of out of all the SJM books since the story takes place mostly on one continent.
Most of the beginning of the ACOTAR book takes place in the Human Realm which is south of a wall that separates the Human Realm from Prythian, which is a prominent Faerie territory. Prythian is divided into 7 territories known as Courts which are each ruled by a High Lord.
To the west of the continent that Prythian is on, there is another faerie realm called Hybern ruled by a very wicked and evil king.
And to the east of the Human Realm is The Continent, ruled by 6 human queens, and another unnamed faerie realm.
2. Courts of ACTOAR
There are 7 courts in Prythian. 4 are seasonal courts: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and 3 are Solar Courts: Day, Dawn, and Night.
The seasonal courts remain perpetually in whatever season they depict, whereas the solar courts go through the normal 4 seasons. The courts are each run by a High Lord and the High Lords are the most powerful faeries in all of Prythian, and each high lord has a signature power.
Within the courts reside different kinds of faeries and creatures. High Fae are more powerful and high ranking fae nobility, and everyone else is lesser fae.
3) Politics in Prythian
Regardless of what having Lords alludes to, there is no High King or Queen of Prythian. The High Lords remain in charge of the continent. There is a small spoiler in this section that is revealed in Chapter 14. If you haven't read chapter 14 come back to this section once you do! The High Lords of the Courts are:
- Tarquin: Summer Court (control of water)
- Beron: Autumn Court (control of fire)
- Kallias: Winter Court (control of ice)
- Thesan: Dawn Court (healing powers)
- Helion: Day Court (spell/curse breaking)
- Rhysand: Night Court (mind control, shadow wielding)
- Tamlin: Spring Court (Can shape shift himself as well as other people)
Succession of a High Lord is not solely determined by the oldest male heir of a family. The High Lord status passes to the next most powerful person in a family line, so there have often been disputes between ruling families, with siblings often trying to kill another sibling when it starts to become apparent that they are going to become High Lord.
The magic of the land chooses who is going to be High Lord, and as a faerie matures, it will become more apparent who the land has chosen as the High Lord (regardless of line of succession).
As soon as a High Lord dies, the successor automatically becomes High Lord whether they want to or not.
Each High Lord has their own special power (listed in parenthesis above), but they all have a beast form which is a unique ability that only High Lords have.
4. ACOTAR History
In this world, the humans and Faerie territories are separated by a magical wall. Faeries used to rule over the humans which has caused a strained relationship (at best) between humans and Fae.
Hundreds of years before the start of A Court of Thorns and Roses, six mortal queens stood against the Fae. This resulted in a signed treaty and a division of the land into the human realm south of the wall, and Prythian (the Faerie realm) north of the wall.
Humans have a particularly extreme distrust/hate for Fae, believing them to be monsters who would destroy humans given the chance. At the start of the story, we learn that instances of Fae crossing the wall into human territory have been on the rise.
5. Magic/gods in ACOTAR
Magic works differently in all of the Sarah J Mass series’. In Crescent City, until the Drop is made, full Fae powers do not develop. In Throne of Glass, magic once existed but has been completely wiped from the world.
In ACOTAR, there is a blight on the land that is draining the powers of the Fae. The Fae magic comes from the land itself, so the blight is weakening even the strongest of Fae and has been for decades. As readers, we don’t know exactly what the blight is, but we know it’s causing major concern for those whose powers it is draining.
A notable Fae power that is mentioned in ACOTAR is glamouring. It may sound like getting ready for a red carpet event, but it’s actually Fae magic that uses illusions to trick humans and other Fae.
Calanmai
Calanmai is a ceremony also known as Fire Night. Giant bonfires are lit and the magic created from the rituals helps regenerate the land for the year ahead. The Great Rite is performed by each of the 7 High Lords (a “coupling” with a maiden) every year which causes their magic to be released and spread to the earth.
The Cauldron
The Cauldron is the creator of the Faerie world. The Fae refer to the Cauldron as if it is a god.
6. Mates/Children in ACOTAR
In the ACOTAR world (this works similarly in other SJM series as well) a mate is described as a Faeries equal “their match in every way”. It is like the bond between soul mates, but even deeper. Finding a mate is very rare and most Fae do not end up with mates and choose marry for love instead.
The mating bond can snap into place immediately upon meeting your mate, or it could develop over time. It isn’t known if Fae can have a mate of a different species (i.e. humans). Mating is not necessarily a sign of compatibility as it is pre-destined by fate. Fate can choose mates based on strengths/powers/breeding potential over love.
This is partially due to how difficult it is for Fae to produce offspring. It’s fairly rare for a Faerie to successfully have children since they only have their cycle twice/year.
7. Notable Characters/Creatures
Feyre Archeron: main character, human. Sisters are Elain and Nesta.
Tamlin: Spring Court High Fae
Lucien: Trusted advisor of Tamlin
Alis: Handmaiden to Feyre
Bogge: A lesser fae creature. The appearance of the Bogge is unknown, as it only manifests itself once looked upon.
Suriel: Creatures that are bound to answer truthfully any questions asked of them by those who catch them.
Attor: An evil creature with large, leathery wings, clawed hands, and sharp silver fangs.
Amarantha: a general of the King of Hybern
I hope you enjoyed ACOTAR explained, and I’m excited for you to continue to learn more about the world as you read the rest of the books!
This first book is really only a peek into the entire ACOTAR universe, but this is all I can share for now since this is a spoiler free guide. The world continues to get larger, explore new places, and more magic in subsequent books, and the series only continues to get better because of it!
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