Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lament | 2008 | Maggie Stiefvater | Buy |
| 2 | Ballad | 2009 | Maggie Stiefvater | Buy |
The Gathering of Faerie duology was Maggie Stiefvater’s debut work, published in 2008 and 2009. Lament introduces Deirdre Monaghan, a teenage harpist whose musical talent draws the attention of the faerie world, including a centuries-old assassin who was sent to kill her. Ballad shifts the perspective to her friend James and his dangerous relationship with the faerie queen.
The books established Stiefvater’s interest in music, Irish mythology, and the idea that beauty and danger are often the same thing. They are earlier and rougher than her later series but contain the atmospheric writing and morally complicated supernatural figures that would define her career.