House of Earth and Blood (March 2020) is the first title in Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City series. Upon publication, it immediately became a New York Times bestseller. This contemporary urban fantasy is categorized as Galactic Empire Science Fiction, and Action and Adventure Romance. (All page references in this study guide refer to the 2020 Kindle edition of the book.) The sequel is House of Sky and Breath.

The novel is set on the planet of Midgard, which may actually be earth at some future point after a race of powerful beings called the Asteri find a way to enter the dimension and take over the world. Their regime has lasted for 15,000 years. In addition to the Asteri, other magical races, collectively known as the Vanir, have also found a way to travel to the planet and establish themselves there. Among the most powerful of these are the archangels, angels, Fae, shifters, witches, vampires, river spirits, and elementals. Humans are little better than slaves and hold no civil rights. The rifts allowing entrance to the dimension have been sealed, but the inhabitants of Hel are always trying to find a way in. While the structure of the government contains parallels to the Roman Empire, the world of the novel is urban contemporary, complete with smartphones.

The story is told from a limited third-person perspective through the eyes of two characters: a half-human Fae named Bryce Quinlan and a fallen angel named Hunt Athalar. Bryce and Hunt are teamed together to track the murderer of Bryce’s best friend, a wolf shifter named Danika. As Bryce and Hunt search for Danika’s killer, they begin to develop feelings for one another. Their investigation into the murky power politics of the Republic and their burgeoning love affair allows the novel to examine the themes of deceptive appearances, moving past mourning, and the contrast between the love of power and the power of love.

Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of two popular young adult fantasy series: Throne of Glass and Court of Thorns and Roses. Her books have sold over 12 million copies and have been translated into 37 languages. Her most recent series, Crescent City, is a departure from the young adult realm and is intended for adult fantasy readers.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain instances and discussions of drug use, torture, and slavery.

Plot Summary

Party girl Bryce Quinlan is devastated when her best friend, a wolf shifter named Danika, is found murdered in Bryce’s apartment along with her entire pack. Bryce discovers the monster who killed her friend still lurking in her flat. It is a demon called a kristallos, summoned from the lowest pit of Hel, sent to track a missing artifact known as Luna’s Horn. The Horn is a Fae relic, currently broken, but it might be repaired and used to open a portal that would allow Hel creatures to enter Midgard.

The archangel Micah pairs Bryce with his personal assassin, fallen angel Hunt Athalar, to find the demon and the Horn. Initially, Hunt is offended by Bryce’s seeming frivolity. She is equally offended by his bossy alpha male behavior. The two traipse through all the magical quarters of Crescent City, collecting clues. Evidence indicates that Danika stole the Horn to keep it from being used to open a Hel portal. A new synthetic magical drug called synth might repair the artifact.

Bryce and Hunt begin to bond over their parallel emotional losses. Bryce loses Danika, while Hunt loses his archangel lover Shahar during a failed angel rebellion. He is now enslaved to do Micah’s bidding for all eternity unless he can find the demon and the Horn. Bryce and Hunt struggle to let go of past grief as they come closer to solving the mystery of the missing Horn.

Micah is exposed as the villain who wants to open a portal to build an army of his own. Knowing this, Danika ground the Horn to powder and had it tattooed on Bryce’s back. As a half-Fae princess, Bryce has inherited the gift of Starborn light. When Micah activates the Horn and opens a portal to Hel, Bryce is able to use her light to seal the portal and save the inhabitants of Crescent City. The effort almost costs her life until Hunt resuscitates her from a near-death experience. Together, the two find a way to put aside their past losses and look toward a future that offers the possibility of love.