Sarah J. Maas’ Crescent City Book Series
The Crescent City Series by Sarah J. Maas, in its simplest terms, is about a half-Fae-half-human heroine who seeks revenge for her best friend’s death. Really, though, the series is so much more than that. Set in a contemporary fantasy world, this series has all the markers of the Sarah J. Maas book universe with the inclusion of modern technology. With three books currently available, the Crescent City books promise to be one of the most monumental series in the Sarah J. Maas universe.
What You’ll Find in This Crescent City Reading Guide:
Looking for more great fantasy reads from Sarah J. Maas?
Check out my reading guide to her ACOTAR series here!
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Crescent City Book Characters & Plot
Please note: These sections have some light spoilers for the series.
And while I’m here, this series is rather mature – definitely adult in themes – so bear that in mind.
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
In the simplest of terms, the Crescent City series is about Bryce Quinlan, a half-Fae human twenty-something who just lost her closest friend. Despite her biological father being a Fae king, Bryce leads a relatively normal life in the uniquely-contemporary fantasy world of Lunathion, also known as Crescent City. She is friends with magical creatures called Vanir (supernatural beings in the world of Midgard who are divided into different Houses based on their corresponding species). Despite this, Bryce believes herself to be human without natural magical abilities.
However, all this changes when she is enlisted to help solve the murder of her best friend alongside Hunt Athalar, the notorious Fallen angel who is forced to serve Lunathion’s Archangel governor, Micah Domitus. From here, Bryce’s world is thrown for a loop as she navigates high level conspiracies in Lunathion and a growing attachment to Hunt.
Lunathion Crescent City Map & Locations from the Series
Image Credit: Sarah J. Maas books originally, graphic from here.
Characters in the Crescent City Book Series
Like all of Sarah J. Maas’ books, there is an overwhelmingly large cast of characters in this series. Here, I’m sharing the handful of main characters you’ll see the most throughout the available books. If you want more details than I listed here (which I keep limited due to possible spoilers), this website has a huge database of the Crescent City characters.
- Bryce Quinlan – half-fae, half-human protagonist and Heir to the Starboard Fae. She is the illegitimate daughter of the Autumn King (Einar Danaan) and Ember Quinlan, a human woman.
- Hunt Athalar – infamous fallen angel who works as the personal assassin of the Archangels, particularly Micah Domitus. Also known as Orion Athalar or “Umbra Mortis.”
- Ruhn Danaan – crown prince of the Valbaran Fae and half-brother to Bryce Quinlan.
- Danika Fendyr – Bryce’s best friend and Alpha of the Pack of Devils wolf Shifters. Her death is the catalyst for the entire series.
- The Autumn King (AKA: Einar Danaan) – one of seven Heads of Lunathion who controls the Five Roses (FiRo) territory of Crescent City. Father to Bryce and Ruhn.
- Jesiba Roga – sorceress and art dealer who owns Griffin Antiquities, where Bryce works.
- Micah Domitus – a Malakh Archangel governor of Lunathion who bought Hunt Athalar from Sandriel.
- Sandriel – Archangel and governor of northwestern Pangera (one of the continents of Midgard, home to the Eternal City and relatively close Crescent City) and former master to Hunt Athalar.
- Sabine Fendyr – Danika’s mother and current Prime Apparent to the Valbaran wolves. She is also the Alpha wolf Shifter of the Scythe Moon Pack in Crescent City.
- The Viper Queen – one of the seven Heads of Lunathion (like the Autumn King) and rule of the Meet Market in Crescent City. She is a snake Shifter, a feared poison expert and known as the “mistress of the underworld.”
- Fury Aztar – a friend of Bryce’s, Fury is a Vanir of unknown affiliations and an infamous and mysterious assassin. Not much is known about her (yet!).
- Juniper Andromeda – Bryce’s close friend who is a soloist at the Crescent City Ballet and a faun Vanir.
- Tharion Ketos – a Mer (mermaid) and Captain of Intelligence for the River Queen. He is a friend/acquaintance of Hunt who becomes a part of their investigations.
- Ember Quinlan – Bryce’s human mother. Married to Randall Silago, Bryce’s step-father.
- Lehabah – a Fire Sprite guardian at Jesiba Roga’s Griffin Antiquities and friend of Bryce’s.
- Syrinx – Bryce’s pet chimera, a small animal that can pick locks and teleport; looks a bit like a dog and griffon mixed together.
- The Asteri – God-like parasitic conquerors of Midgard who rule the world from the Eternal City in Pangera. There are individual characters in this group, of course, but are generally discussed as a whole.
Books in the Crescent City Series
Currently, there are three books in the series, with the latest released in January 2024.
In order, the Crescent City books are:
My Thoughts on the Crescent City Books
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Book 1) by Sarah J. Maas
For a book over 800+ pages, I devoured House of Earth and Blood in record time. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t been particularly drawn to this SJM series — maybe because it’s decidedly more modern than the others. However, that feeling of disinterest fell away almost immediately.
There’s a lot of world building in this book, which turns a lot of readers off the series, but I found the introduction to this world to be appropriately detailed. Having now read both this and the second book in the series, I want to go back and re-read this book to catch the world building details I may have missed.
Anyway, all that is to say that, if you’re a SJM fan and you’ve been procrastinating on this shorter series of hers, you’re going to need to start it ASAP. And definitely before book three comes out in January!
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Book 1) by Sarah J. Maas is available from Amazon.
House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City Book 2) by Sarah J. Maas
If I read the first Crescent City book quickly, it was nothing compared to House of Sky and Breath. How SJM keeps all the characters and storylines together is absolutely mind boggling.
House of Sky and Breath kept me on the edge of my seat from pretty much page one. I loved getting to know all the characters more, especially as Bryce comes into her power.
And the cliff hanger that this book ends on…I mean, good Lord. I need more people to talk to about it!
House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City Book 2) by Sarah J. Maas is available from Amazon.
House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City Book 3) by Sarah J. Maas
I truly enjoyed House of Flame and Shadow! It’s a behemoth of a book at almost 850 pages, and it is action packed from start to finish. The entire book takes place over a matter of days, basically, which adds to the chaotic nature of the plot (more on that below), but SJM managed to do each of the main storylines justice.
All that is to say, do I think the book was perfect? No. There was a lot of jumping around amongst different sub-plots that was a bit disorienting at times, and a lot of time spent building up storylines for future books. However, if you accept that this book is just different than the first two in the series, then it’s greatness stands out
House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City Book 3) by Sarah J. Maas is available from Amazon.
Crescent City FAQ
- Who wrote the Crescent City series? – Sarah J. Maas wrote the series, along with a number of other adult fantasy novels, including the popular Throne of Glass series and ACOTAR series.
- How many books are in the Crescent City series? – As of writing this (2/2024), there are three books in the series: House of Earth and Blood, House of Sky and Breath, and House of Flame and Shadow. The latest of which was released in January 2024.
- Is Crescent City in the same universe as ACOTAR? – As we see in the end of House of Sky and Breath, Crescent City and ACOTAR are within the same universe. We will learn more about how connected these two worlds are in book three, House of Flame and Shadow.
- When were these books published? – House of Earth and Blood came out in 2020 and House of Sky and Breath was published in 2022. House of Flame and Shadow, book three in the Crescent City series, was published in January of 2024.
Shop Crescent City Themed Finds
This post is a part of my What to Read series, where I share themed reading lists and book guides based on genre, time period, theme, or author.
You can peruse more of my What to Read reading guides here!
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*This post was originally published on October 22, 2023. It was most recently updated on February 15, 2024.
I have heard of the series but never got a close look at it, and I am delighted I ran across your article.
I like it and thank you for describing the characters, which made me hooked.
This will be my Christmas present from me to me.
Fantastic! I hope you enjoy the series!! They’re really great reads.