From Blood and Ash Series Reading Order – May 2025 Update

From Blood and Ash is a popular new-adult fantasy series by Blue Box Press that’s a staple recommendation for romantasy readers. However it might be hard to figure out how to get started in this meager 12 book commitment, so this is your official From Blood and Ash, Flesh and Fire and The Awakening reading guide.

The world of Poppy, Casteel and Kieran From Blood and Ash has expanded so much that JLA has created two more connected series including a prequel series. It’s exciting to jump into such a large universe, but it can get overwhelming fast with three series to juggle.

As of right now, the universe consists of three series:

1. From Blood and Ash Series (5 books, with at least 2 more on the way)
2. Flesh and Fire Series (4 books, complete)
3. Awakening Series (1 book, with at least one more on the way)

This post contains no spoilers!

If you just want the reading order guide, here you go! Feel free to save this and share it. If you want to know more about what each series is about, continue reading!

May 2025 Update

Originally the 6th book for From Blood and Ash, The Primal of Blood and Bone was scheduled to come out in June. However, Jennifer L. Armentrout just shared an instagram post explaining that although she intended this book to be one book, the story of certain reveals need characters to process the information for longer. So, The Primal of Blood and Bone is now split into two books.

• The Primal of Blood and Bone comes out on September 23, 2025.
• The follow up book, which is now the official last book of Poppy, Kieran and Casteel is going to be released sometime in Spring 2025.
• No updates on the Millie POV.
• No updates on the Awakening Book 2.

What are the three series about?

From Blood and Ash Series

From Blood and Ash series is a new adult, romantasy series. It’s the “current timeline” story of the universe. The story is told by Poppy’s POV in first person, but in later books some chapters are from Hawke’s perspective.

The series follows Poppy, a woman who is chosen by the gods as the Maiden and to undergo the Ascension. She lives a solitary existence among the Ascended, never to be touched or spoken to. Waiting for the day for her Ascension, Poppy carries the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders preparing to be found worthy of the gods.

When she is assigned a new bodyguard, Hawke Flynn, Poppy’s World break wide open with new feelings, urges and questions she finds herself compelled finding answers to. As she draws closer to her Ascension, she starts discovering her desire for autonomy and begins uncovering secrets of her world is not as it seems.

This series is incomplete with 5 books out. The next novel of this universe is coming out on September 23rd as sixth book From Blood and Ash Book.

1. From Blood and Ash
2. A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
3. The Crown of Gilded Bones
4. The War of Two Queens
5. A Soul of Ash and Blood
6. The Primal of Blood and Bone (Comes out on September 23 2025)
7. Unnamed FBAA Book 7, Last Poppy, Casteel, Kieran book (Spring 2026)
8. Unnamed Novella

Flesh and Fire Series

The Flesh and Fire series is the story of the first Maiden, taking place thousands of years before From Blood and Ash. Seraphena Mierel is the First Maiden promised by the Fates, a beacon of hope for her kingdom to cure the rot that threatens her kingdom’s existence. Chosen before her birth to uphold a deal her ancestors struck, Sera is destined to be the bride of the Nyktos, the Primal of Death as his consort.

Sera’s true mission is to assassinate the Primal of Death after making him fall in love with her, however fate has other plans even though the realm depends on her succeeding in her mission. As an Assassin, Sera’s mission becomes more challenging when she meets her future husband, and their feelings for each other set off a series of events with repercussions that span eons.

The first book of the series is published after the third book of From Blood and Ash. You should read A Shadow in the Ember first which makes understanding The War of Two Queens easier.

The Flesh and Fire series is a complete series, which means we know everything we need to before the last installment of the current timeline.

The books in Flesh and Fire are as follows. 

1. A Shadow in the Ember
2. A Light in the Flame
3. A Fire in the Flesh
4. Born of Blood and Ash

Awakening Series

This is Jennifer L. Armentrout latest series in this universe with only one book out.

After the world is destroyed by the gods, each of the remaining nine cities is ruled by a guardian who feeds on mortal pleasure. Calista is born with intuition making her talents valuable in exchange for protection. When her intuition leads her to save a prince, it also tells her this prince will bring her endless pleasure, but also be her doom. Calista becomes the prince’s companion but as the city simmers with rebellion, her intuition may not be enough to save her – and her kingdom. 

1. Fall of Ruin and Wrath

We’re not completely sure where in the timeline this book fits other than they’re all connected. I recommend reading this before The Primal of Blood and Bone if you want to be fully informed before the series ends.

Visions of Flesh and Blood: A Blood and Ash/Flesh and Fire Compendium

The universe got so intertwined that JLA published a compendium. This book contains background, history, information, art and reference materials. Told by Miss Willa Collins’s perspective, there is some new information in this book.

There is no critical information in this book, but there are some fun easter eggs that makes it fun to read.

FAQ

I don’t want to split the series in half, do I need to read it in this order?

No. You don’t. During my first read, I read The Crown of Gilded Bones and it ended in such a huge cliffhanger that I had to get to The War of Two Queens. But I should warn you, I kind of regretted it. There is a massive lore dump at the end of The War of Two Queens that went right over my head. I would’ve been better off if had had the backing information from A Shadow in the Ember.

A Shadow in the Ember also has a cliffhanger ending. Actually most of these books do, and it’s up to you how much of this you can wait patiently. Based on my experience, I recommend the order above for the best experience.

Do I need to read A Soul of Ash and Blood? I heard it’s the events of From Blood and Ash from the MMC’s perspective?

I’m a bit biased here, but yes, yes you do. And that’s not because I’m a sucker for the MMC perspective. Not only A Soul of Ash and Blood fills quite a few gaps of why the MMC behaved the way he did in the first book, it also contains PRESENT timeline chapters. 

There are twelve chapters sprinkled in between the flashback scenes moving the story between book 5 and 6 of the current series forward. If you still don’t want to read the whole thing you can read my summary of the present chapters soon.

Do I need to read Fall of Ruin and Wrath?

Not necessarily. If you don’t want to stretch yourself across three series, it’s fine to read Fall of Ruin and Wrath after you finish the current timeline and prequels. It’s as loosely connected to the current events as it can be, but it still leaves a lot of room for speculation about what’s going to happen in FBAA#6.

What’s the FBAA#7 is about?

We’re not sure. We know the 6th book of FBAA is going to be the last book told from Poppy’s perspective. We know the book is going to be told by Millie’s perspective but not much else. We’re not sure if it’s going to be about the aftermath of FBAA#6 or another retelling of the current timeline.

Should I read From Blood and Ash?

Yes! If you’ve enjoyed other romantasy series like A Court of Thorns and Roses, Fourth Wing and The Serpent and The Wings of The night, you’ll definitely enjoy this. The tone is much different, however the story is fun, it brings old time favorites of vampires, werewolves gods, and other magical creatures. Give this a go and let me know what you think!

I personally really love fantasy series with prequel series expanding the universe, so if you like when different series overlap and enjoy a reading experience that requires you to resolve multliple timelines than this one’s for you.

Before you go

There you have it! That’s my recommended order for how to read this amazing universe. I’ll update this guide as we learn more, but until then enjoy reading and let me know if this order worked for you!