A Major House of Flame and Shadow Promo Spoiler Provokes Fan Debate

The following article, fittingly about spoilers, contains spoilers for Sarah J. Maas’ House of Sky and Breath.

A social media post promoting House of Shadow and Flame, the next novel in Sarah J. Maas’ bestselling Crescent City fantasy saga, has provoked major spoiler debate among readers and fans.

A snippet from the upcoming novel, shared by Maas and Bloomsbury Publishing on social media, teased the upcoming crossover between Crescent City and A Court of Thorns and Roses, first introduced at the end of House of Sky and Breath. While Maas’ readers largely adored the jaw-dropping final moments of the 2022 book, which saw Crescent City’s Bryce Quinlan enter the world of ACOTAR, they’ve also remained vigilant about avoiding spoiling said crossover for new readers. Now, many feel that the promotional material for House of Flame and Shadow has done the spoiling for them.

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The excerpt confirms the Crescent City protagonist’s traversal to the world of ACOTAR, naming her alongside Nesta and Azriel of the latter series. While the comment section of the post certainly saw up-to-date readers sharing their excitement for the next installment, this promotion sparked a larger debate about spoiler culture. For the fans who had not read House of Sky and Breath, responses ranged from outrage to disappointment, though a select few ACOTAR fans registered a newfound excitement to read Crescent City because of the spoiler.

However, plenty of readers took the stance that the House of Flame and Shadow post did not constitute the status of spoiler that many were hoisting upon it. This side of the argument posited that the social media post was an expected style of promotional material akin to a movie trailer. A conversation arose about how long after a release something can be considered a spoiler – a frequent topic of discussion in nearly every type of fan community – with many commenters pointing out that it has been nearly two years since House of Sky and Breath’s release.

Though the spoiler and non-spoiler camps continue to debate in Maas and Bloomsbury’s comment section, one topic not up for argument is that House of Flame and Shadow ranks among the most anticipated new releases of 2024. The third book in the Crescent City series hits bookstore and digital shelves on Jan. 30.