Kingdom of Ash
KoA cover, main.png

Sarah J. Maas

Cover artist

Alessandro Taini (Talexi)

Release Date October 23, 2018

Bloomsbury USA


Aelin Galathynius

Throne of Glass
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7
Preceded by
Empire of Storms
Followed by
Release order
Released after
Tower of Dawn
Released before


Official synopsis





As the threads of fate weave together at last, all our heroes must fight together, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow ever deeper, while others will be severed forever in the fiery finish to the epic Throne of Glass series.[1]



The Prince

Rowan Whitethorn has been hunting his wife Aelin for two months with the aid of his companions, Elide, Gavriel and Lorcan. He is barely eating or sleeping.

The Princess

Trapped and forgotten in an iron box on a sliver of island in the heart of a mist-veiled river, Aelin has been forced to endure months of torture. With her flame smothered Aelin can't defend herself against her captors, Maeve and Cairn. She refuses to reveal any information about Terrasen and the Wyrdkeys.

Part One: Armies & Allies

In the mountains, Manon Blackbeak, her Thirteen and Dorian Havilliard continue their search for the Crochan Witches. Dorian secretly summons Gavin Havilliard using Wyrdmarks to find out where the last Wyrdkey is. Gavin reveals it to be in Morath, and says that Damaris can guide him.

Some time later, Manon is attacked by a bear which turns out to be a stygian spider, the same one Manon tricked out of its spidersilk and who encountered Falkan Ennar three years earlier. The spider agrees to help and leads them a Crochan camp led by Glennis Crochan, Manon's great-grandmother. The Crochans do not trust Manon and her coven, but she gains their support after killing two Ironteeth scouts; Dorian realizes she deliberately attracted the scouts. He also discovers that the stygian spiders are Valg.

Manon is still not considered a leader by the Crochans. Glennis tells her that only a Crochan Queen can summon them to war, and Manon has not been accepted. The Crochans make plans to travel to Eyllwe to assist their own; they arrive too late to save anyone. Manon and her Thirteen bury the dead, earning them some respect. Only four Crochan covens have made it to the King and Queen of Eyllwe and are now aiding them. Eyllwe is still fighting against Morath's army.

Dorian receives confirmation from a dead Kaltain Rompier that the third Wyrdkey is in Morath. He's been practicing shape-shifting; Manon sees him transform into a raven and deduces what he plans to do. They fight. She poses him a challenge to scout the Ferian Gap. They all go. He discovers that the Ironteeth horde is gone; only Petrah Blueblood and 300 Ironteeth remain. Manon and the Thirteen meet with her and reveal that her grandmother, the Blackbeak Matron, plans to rule all the Ironteeth and disband the separate clans. She asks for their help and leaves.

Back at the Crochan Hearth, the three Ironteeth matrons arrive and attack. Manon kills the Yellowlegs Matron and spares the Blueblood Matron, Petrah's mother. Manon's grandmother flees on her wyvern. Glennis then crowns Manon, and names her Queen of Witches.

Manon and Dorian make up and he decides to go to Morath the next day. They sleep together and fall asleep, when Manon wakes up, Dorian has left with the two Wyrdkeys. Manon and the Crochans go to answer Terrasen's call.

Back in the north, in Terrasen, Aedion Ashryver has been organizing the various armies and moving the troops to the Bane's camp in the Plain of Theralis. Winter has fallen, and Aedion is worried about the foreign armies, who have no experience with cold weather. Even so, he is grateful that the cold and snow might hinder Erawan's army.

In the meantime, no one has noticed in the two months since Aelin's capture that Lysandra is pretending to be her, though the troops are troubled that Aelin—Lysandra—has not displayed her fire magic. Her relationship with Aedion has grown strained, with him refusing to talk to her unless necessary to keep up appearances. He remains upset that she kept things from him.

Camped in the Staghorn Mountains, Aedion's scouting party manages to find six Valg soldiers in the mountain pass. The party kills five and capture one to interrogate for information. Aedion's group travels to Allsbrook castle and reunites with Evangeline, who was left behind for her safety. While in Allsbrook, Aedion receives a letter from Kyllian, one of his Bane commanders, telling him that Morath's troops have made landfall in a city called Eldrys and destroyed it.

Lysandra and a force go to meet the army that destroyed Eldrys and manage to defeat the 5,000 soldiers. They receive a message from Lord Darrow requesting their presence the next day. At their meeting he tells them they're moving the army to Orynth. A Valg soldier attacks them in the tent, and determines from Lysandra's blood that she is not Aelin. He relays the message to other Valg through a silent bond and Aedion kills him before he can expose Lysandra to the troops. Aedion decides to ignore Darrow's orders and take the army to Terrasen's border. With help from Nox Owen, revealed to be a rebel even during the King's Champion Tournament, the Lords and their men are drugged to sleep and awaken to find the army gone.

Aedion and his armies travel to Perranth. Morath's soldiers finally reach them. Aedion's army is losing; in an attempt to inspire the troops Lysandra shifts into Aelin and enters the battlefield. She is injured by an ilken and the army is forced to retreat after Ironteeth witches arrive with witch towers and destroy 4,000 of Aedion's soldiers.

Lysandra wakes up two days later and learns from Aedion that Perranth has been conquered and the army is on the run. Her secret has also been revealed as she shifted back while unconscious. They are making for Orynth. Aedion apologizes for his behavior but she rebukes him.

Ren and Darrow have reached them. Darrow strips Aedion of his rank and threatens to execute Lysandra if she shifts into Aelin again. He demands the Sword of Orynth back.

Aedion sends out messages calling for aid and the army battles Morath's forces. They are losing. Rolfe arrives with his Mycenians and buys them time to run to Orynth on their boats.

Manon and the Crochans receive the call for aid.

In a city near Doranelle, Elide, Gavriel, Rowan and Lorcan find one of Maeve's commanders and Rowan brutally tortures him for information. They continue in this manner, gaining information from several other Fae commanders as well, but they are receiving conflicting reports of Maeve's location, frustrating them.

Meanwhile, in Doranelle, Aelin feels her mother is with her, telling her to be brave and not to yield. Despite undergoing horrible experiences Aelin fights back, cracking the iron box enough for Rowan to feel her presence through their mating bond. He realizes Aelin is in Doranelle and determines that they need to lure Maeve away from the city long enough for them to rescue Aelin.

Maeve summons Aelin and Fenrys, where Aelin is forced to kneel on a shattered crown. Connall, Fenrys' twin brother, is also summoned who is then forced to kill himself by Maeve through the blood oath.

Maeve tries to trick Aelin with false memories, and tells her story. She states that she wants the Wyrdkeys in order to protect the world from the Valg. When Aelin proves unresponsive, Maeve mentions that a Valg collar has been found and she is going to retrieve it for Aelin.

However, Rowan knew Maeve would want a collar and had Elide travel to a tavern to spread fake rumours of a captured Valg Prince. There she finds Fae soldiers and asks after Cairn; nothing is forthcoming until a Fae female named Essar follows her and mentions that Maeve has left and where Cairn is stationed. She deduces that Elide is with Rowan and Lorcan, and tells her she is helping because she met Aelin before.

Aelin attempts to goad Cairn into killing her before he uses fire to torture her. He releases her to fight her and Fenrys, who has been forced to watch Aelin's torture by his blood oath to Maeve, breaks free of it and attacks Cairn. Rowan, who heard a voice telling him to attack earlier than planned, enters the camp and finds Aelin running through it, killing any who try to stop her. They reunite and Rowan sends Aelin ahead so he can get his revenge on Cairn. Fenrys is saved by swearing the oath to Aelin.

Aelin is traumatized by her months in Maeve's captivity and has a slight breakdown while Rowan removes her chains and mask; he sees that her skin has been completely replaced, removing her scars and tattoos. She remains distant and quiet while the group follow a few of the Little Folk away from the camp, into a cave where they give her the crown of Mab.

They eventually reach the coast through the caves. Aelin makes Lorcan swear the blood oath. Rowan begins training her and she slowly regains some of her old self.

Aelin's group eventually arrives in Anielle, where Chaol and the Khagan's army have been defending his homeland against Erawan's forces for five days. Aelin and Chaol reunite, and Aelin sees Yrene for the first time in three years.

The battle continues. Aelin still hasn't used her power. Morath's forces move to break Anielle's dam and flood the field. Elide steals Farasha, Chaol's horse, and rides onto the battlefield to search for Lorcan, who is on the brink of death from wounds he received in battle. She finds him and the two try to race back to avoid being killed by the inevitable tidal wave. The dam breaks, and Aelin saves the army by vaporizing the water.

Afterwards, Yrene uses her healing to remove Valg from their hosts. Aelin reveals that she has sent letters to Maeve's army exposing her as Valg and asking them to join her.

Kashin and his forces arrives. It is decided that Hasar, Kashin, and Sartaq will take their armies to Terrasen with Aelin.

Chaol yields a portion of his lands to the Wild Men in the mountains of Anielle to get their help in guiding the armies.

Part Two: Gods & Gates

Dorian arrives in Morath and sneaks in as a mouse. He discovers that Maeve has arrived to join forces with Erawan, and witnesses a conversation between them where Maeve reveals her true identity and offers the use of her handmaids, the kharankui, as hosts for the remainder of the Valg princesses. Aelin's letter to Doranelle had the desired effect; Maeve's armies have abandoned her. She is no longer Queen of Doranelle. Erawan plans to bring his brothers back.

Dorian follows Maeve back to her chambers and is captured by her. She was not fooled by his disguise. He convinces her to help find the Wyrdkey. In exchange for the banishment of the Valg, Dorian will marry her and give her Adarlan as a new kingdom to rule. His search begins.

A few days later Dorian discovers the third Wyrdkey inside another woman in Erawan's tower. Maeve helps distract Erawan while Dorian disguises himself as the Valg King and sneaks in and removes it. Maeve appears and betrays him, attempting to take over his mind. However, Dorian has spent time mastering her abilities and turns the control on her. He blocks her ability to make portals and leaves with all three Wyrdkeys, destroying Morath behind him.

In Orynth, Aedion and his forces set a trap for Morath's fleet and manage to destroy two of the three witch towers, crippling the third. Morath still outnumbers his force with 100,000 soldiers.

Aelin learns of the siege in Orynth from Vernon Lochan, who is discovered wandering the mountains. She leaves him in a dark room to starve.

Orynth readies for battle as the Ironteeth aerial force approaches, 1,000 strong. Fortunately Manon arrives at the same time with the Thirteen and 5,000 Crochan witches. Aedion is injured in the ensuing battle. Dorian reaches Aelin's group with all the Wyrdkeys.

Manon fights the enemy Ironteeth witches. She battles against Iskra Yellowlegs and almost dies but is saved by Petrah. Abraxos is injured and has to return to their base to heal. At the same time, Morath has managed to repair the third witch tower and it is being set on Orynth's walls. Manon is grounded and cannot help. Asterin and the Thirteen attack the tower by themselves and manage to destroy it, the Blackbeak Matron, and a good size of Morath's army by making the Yielding. This kills them all.

While marching to Orynth, Aelin and Dorian reunite. They make the choice to forge the Lock together in the hopes that the shared burden will spare them. Aelin inserts the slivers of Wyrdkey into her arm and the forging begins. Aelin and Dorian's magic is being drained away. Dorian's father appears and offers to forge the Lock himself; because Erawan took his name, he is essentially Nameless as well. Aelin releases Dorian and her and the deceased King of Adarlan forge the Lock themselves. The gods appear. Aelin tries to make a deal with them; take Erawan away and let Elena have peace. Deanna destroys Elena instead and the gods cross through a Wyrdgate to their world, intending to leave Erawan behind. Mala gives Aelin a bit of her magic back, to say thank you for trying to save her daughter.

At the last moment, Aelin changes the gods' destination to the hellscape she encountered while still working as the King's Champion. She leaves the gods to battle the creatures within and closes the gate. The Lock is forged, and Aelin is left with only a drop of water magic. The Wyrdmarks woven into the new tattoo Rowan gave her bring her back to her world; she passes through an unknown world and sees a Fae couple, presumably Rhysand and Feyre. Rhysand slows her fall down and she returns safely to her world. She is now an immortal Fae, her mortality burned away. Their journey to Orynth continues.

The allied forces in Orynth are faltering. Aedion is still hurt. The army is running out of supplies and weapons. They estimate four days until they are destroyed. Darrow, manipulated by Evangeline, gives Aedion back the Sword of Orynth and recognizes Lysandra as Lady of Caraverre. Hours before their defeat, Aelin arrives and her forces attack. The gates of Orynth are closed; Gavriel reunites with Aedion and is killed shortly after. Maeve and Erawan arrive with the six kharankui hybrids. Erawan leaves Maeve to go find Yrene. She kills him with her healing magic.

Maeve fights Aelin at the southern gate. She initially overwhelms them all since Aelin has no magic. Fenrys is gravely injured. Maeve messes with all their minds, showing them horrible events. Aelin gets through to Fenrys using a code they established during her months of torture. He stabs Maeve through the heart with Goldryn. Incapacitated, Maeve tries to bargain with Aelin. Aelin slips Athril's ring, a gift from Silba, onto Maeve's finger. It burns her and Aelin beheads her, killing her.

The Valg forces drop dead upon Erawan and Maeve's deaths. Aelin enters Orynth in triumph. She is crowned Queen. Everyone begins working to repair. Manon travels to the Wastes to rebuild the Witch Kingdom. Elide and Lorcan get married. Dorian is King of Adarlan.

A Better World

Aelin wakes up next to Rowan and looks outside at her kingdom. It is spring, and the kingsflame is blooming.


Kingdom of Ash contains 121 chapters, two prologues and an epilogue. It is split into two parts, Armies & Allies and Gods & Gates. Kingdom of Ash is the largest book in the Throne of Glass series containing 984 pages (including acknowledgments.)







Exclusive Artwork

Special content


Special content

Kingdom of Ash was released in four special editions, each with their own exclusive content.

  • B&N Exclusive Edition: The Barnes & Noble hardcover edition contains a poster on the back of the book jacket by artist Charlie Bowater, pages from Sarah’s writing notebook, and Sarah’s signature on the book cover (under the jacket).
  • Indigo/Books-A-Million Exclusive Edition: This hardcover edition features art from Gabriella Bujdoso on the endpapers and Sarah’s signature on the book cover (under the jacket).
  • Waterstones Exclusive Edition: This paperback edition features art from Gabriella Bujdoso inside the book.
  • Target: This edition features a removable character card and Sarah’s signature on the book cover (under the jacket).


  • When Aelin passes through worlds, she sees two Fae—a winged male and a very pregnant female. The male lifts his hand and sends a gust of magic to slow her down. This is assumed to be Rhysand and Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses.


  1. 'Kingdom of Ash Synopsis' — Bloomsbury Publishing
Companion books Throne of Glass Coloring BookThe World of Throne of Glass
Online short stories The Assassin and the PrincessThe Assassin and the CaptainThe Captain and the Prince
Exclusive content Empire of Storms Exclusive (Barnes & Noble)Empire of Storms Exclusive (Target)Empire of Storms Exclusive (WHSmith)
Adaptions Queen of Shadows (television series)Embers of Memory: A Throne of Glass Game