Release date: ‘Chain of Thorns’ is coming November 1, 2022! ETA: January 31, 2023

Please note that the release date has been pushed back to January 31, 2023. You can find more information here.

Yes, the date is correct. Yes, it is a shock to pretty much all of us. Let’s have a look at Cassandra Clare’s newsletter in which she revealed the release date for Chain of Thorns and also explained why the conclusion to The Last Hours trilogy is that late.

Okay, so. *dusts off hands* This kind of announcement is hard to make. As authors, we always want to get our books to readers as soon as possible. I was hoping that Chain of Thorns would be able to match its predecessors with a spring release date in 2022, but it became clear a while ago that that wasn’t going to happen. Working with both my publishers, we’ve finally fixed release dates for my next two books — that’s the good news! Chain of Thorns will be coming out  November 1, 2022. Sword Catcher will follow April 4, 2023. Following books (The Black Volume of the Dead, The Ragpicker King, Wicked Powers) — aren’t yet scheduled.

This is later than we had all hoped, I know! It may seem surprising since Chain of Iron came out this year, but Chain of Thorns is my first book to really be affected by the pandemic. By the time COVID came around, I was already in edits on Chain of Iron — publishing works very far in advance! — and I’ve really struggled, as a lot of us have, to get work done during this last terrible year. On-location research I needed to do went undone due to (totally reasonable) travel restrictions, and all my usual methods of work had to be adjusted. I’m used to working with my assistant, and with my companion writers present; suddenly I was working entirely alone, without any of my usual emotional or practical resources. My publisher’s office had emptied out, no one was there; I was suddenly the caretaker of multiple elderly relatives who could not safely leave their houses. Nothing I know many of you haven’t experienced or also had to adjust to, but we all struggle in our different ways. That pandemic combination of fear and despair wreaked havoc on my work — I tried every day, and some days were better than others, but in the end I had to be honest with myself and my publishers: I was going to need more time.

Publishing itself is also experiencing struggles. At another time, it might be possible to rush CoT to bookstores, but right now everything in every part of publishing, including the printing of books, is backed up and delayed. There’s a great essay by agent Jen Laughran I recommend reading for anyone curious about how the book industry has been affected by the pandemic:

“Now just for background – publishing is already an extremely slow process with a lot of lead time – like, we are currently selling/acquiring books for 2023/24 publication. So that means that when all this hit, there were lots of projects in the pipeline already, things that were in various stages of progress and were delayed in Spring/early Summer 2020. They were delayed at that time bc of the combined factors of: the pandemic shutting down everyone’s office, not to mention schools, libraries and bookstores, which meant no place to SELL books – PLUS there are layoffs – PLUS there are printing/shipping/supply chain issues meaning problematic to make or ship books – NOT TO MENTION, people getting sick and dying all over NYC, which is where most of US publishing is headquartered.
– Jennifer Laughran, Senior Agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency”

I have adjusted, and am back to working with my friends and colleagues (thank you, science!) I am excited to have set publishing dates for my next two books, and looking forward to sharing them with you! The cover for Chain of Thorns is coming along — it will likely be released at the end of this year; I’ve seen sketches and it looks gorgeous! As things crawl back to normal, I can only thank you for being patient. In fact, I’m so grateful — and aware that it’s annoying to wait — that I recently announced a fun project to help tide you guys over until next fall! Introducing . . .

The Secrets of Blackthorn Hall

Click here to read the rest of the newsletter.

There you have it. There is nothing we can do about the release date so let’s stay positive! We’re still waiting for the cover reveal, many more snippets, a playlist, and more! Meanwhile, we can reread the books and maybe save some money for all the special editions that are bound to be released. 😉
And don’t forget, there is also Secrets of Blackthorn Hall to look forward to, a free project that is going to run for a whole year!

Let’s all send some love to Cassie ♥

You can also click here to read the first snippets we got from Chain of Thorns.