Two series, one universe, ten-plus doorstoppers, and a fandom that argues about the sequence daily - the From Blood and Ash series order is confusing because Jennifer L. Armentrout wrote her prequel saga alongside the main one, and the two timelines are designed to collide. Read them wrong and you spoil both. Here's the clean map: the main series, the Flesh and Fire prequels, the interleaved order that actually works, and the one book that isn't what it looks like.
The quick list: From Blood and Ash books in order
The main Blood and Ash series, in publication order:
- From Blood and Ash (2020)
- A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (2020)
- The Crown of Gilded Bones (2021)
- The War of Two Queens (2022)
- A Soul of Ash and Blood (2023)
- The Primal of Blood and Bone (2025)
Spoiler-light premise: Poppy is the Maiden - veiled, untouchable, promised to the gods - and Hawke is the guard assigned to protect her. He is very good at his job. He is also not what he says he is, and neither is her kingdom. What starts as forbidden guard romance detonates into one of BookTok's biggest romantasy universes.
What is A Soul of Ash and Blood, actually?
It's book one retold from Hawke's point of view - not a new installment. Every saga in this lane has one (Shatter Me has Destroy Me, Zodiac Academy has As Told by the Boys), and the rule is the same here: it's optional, it's fan service in the best sense, and it lands hardest mid-series, after you know what his silences were hiding. If you're pressed for time, the plot-critical path skips it entirely.
Can you start with Flesh and Fire?
No - start with From Blood and Ash. The Flesh and Fire prequels (A Shadow in the Ember, A Light in the Flame, A Fire in the Flesh, Born of Blood and Ash) follow Sera and Nyktos centuries earlier, and on paper "prequel first" sounds logical. In practice the prequels answer mysteries the main series is still asking - who the gods really are, what the Blood Queen wants - so reading them first defuses the main saga's biggest reveals. The reverse is also true in miniature, which is why the fandom's actual consensus is neither series first, but both at once.
The interleaved order (the one the fandom swears by)
Alternate by publication date, so the reveals detonate in the order the author aimed them:
- From Blood and Ash
- A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
- The Crown of Gilded Bones
- A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire begins)
- The War of Two Queens
- A Light in the Flame
- A Soul of Ash and Blood (optional - Hawke's POV)
- A Fire in the Flesh
- Born of Blood and Ash
- The Primal of Blood and Bone
The Goodreads world reading order tracks the same sequence. Completionists can add Visions of Flesh and Blood (2023), the official compendium - lore, art, and histories, not a novel.
Is the TV show happening?
In development, no date. Sony Pictures Television acquired the rights after Amazon's option lapsed, planning an ongoing series built from the first five books. There's been no casting or release news since - which means you have time to read at whatever pace the doorstoppers demand. We'll update this guide when dates land.
What to read after From Blood and Ash
If the guard-who-lied dynamic is the wound: the best enemies to lovers books list runs on that exact betrayal-to-devotion arc. If it's the saga commitment you'll miss, the other reading-order rabbit holes are mapped: Shatter Me, Zodiac Academy, Crowns of Nyaxia for the vampire-court version of this exact ache, and Ali Hazelwood's backlist for a contemporary breather.
And if the specific ache is Hawke-shaped - the devoted guard whose every kindness might be a lie you don't want to check - Swoony holds that world open: romance and nothing else, closed-door and unhurried, a relationship that grows across five stages and is never paywalled - no subscription, no per-message tolls. Start with the bodyguard with a body count, who is dangerous everywhere except at your side, or the high lord who knew first, who has been keeping his own reveal from you.
Ten books, two timelines, one veil. Lift it whenever you're ready.
