Scarlett St. Clair talks ahead of A Touch of Chaos + Reading Order

Hades x Persephone is a tale as old as time yet Scarlett St. Clair tweaked it and made it her own with A Touch of Darkness. Eventually, that gave way to the entire series including the exciting Hades Saga.

Most of the time, we rarely see Hades’ perspective in these Hades x Persephone stories yet St. Clair changed that. I actually began my journey with the first Hades x Persephone book which is A Touch of Darkness and then moved onto the first Hades book and then repeated that cycle.

While it was a lot of reading, I will say that I really enjoyed seeing Hades’ journey in the first two books. I won’t get into A Game of Gods since it’s a new release, but I enjoy how Scarlett St. Clair writes Hades and seeing how Persephone sees things versus how they are from Hades’ POV.

The series begins with A Game of Fate and then A Game of Retribution before finally wrapping with the upcoming release which is A Game of Gods. To get even more hype around the series concluding, we were able to talk to Scarlett St. Clair and she talked about the importance of reading order and A Touch of Chaos.

Scarlett St. Clair talked about the importance of reading order in our interview!

Firstly, I’d like to thank Scarlett St. Clair for talking to us and sharing her thoughts with us. I’d also like to thank Bloom Books for setting this up so let’s get into the juicy details.

Culturess: Did you always intend for the Hades Saga and the Hades x Persephone series to overlap in the end?

Scarlett St. Clair: When I started A Touch of Darkness, I never intended to even write the Hades Saga. (I had a few ideas about what Hades was up to when he wasn’t on the page with Persephone.) I decided to write A Game of Fate because so many readers asked for it, and I knew I could make the plot stand apart, so that it wouldn’t feel like reading the same book.

Then, I let my readers vote on which book they wanted first—A Game of Fate or A Touch of Malice and they voted for Fate.

Culturess: For fans who aren’t caught up on the series, do you think it’s best to do a chapter-by-chapter breakdown or read the two series in tandem?

St. Clair: Long time readers say the best experience is reading them in the following order: A Touch of Darkness, A Game of Fate, A Touch of Ruin, A Game of Retribution, A Touch of Malice, A Game of Gods, and then A Touch of Chaos.

They all seem to also agree that the tandem read is a fun way to reread the series. I never considered creating a tandem reading guide but when people started to ask for it, Rachel Feinstein, a long-time reader, saw the demand and created guides for the books. (https://bit.ly/SSCreadingguide)

To me, the most amazing part about this series is how dedicated my readers are to experiencing it multiple times. I’m so grateful for their excitement and their willingness to help each other.

Culturess: A Touch of Chaos is coming out in March 2024. How was it, balancing the Hades Saga with the Hades x Persephone series knowing they were going to interconnect?

St. Clair: I didn’t think about this at all until I started writing Chaos. I realized just how connected everything was and how different the two points of view are.

I knew Chaos was going to include both Hades and Persephone’s POVs before I even understood how integral Hades’s side of the story was to its execution. I think back on that, and I wonder how I thought I was going to write this series without Hades’ side of the Saga.

A lot of people ask me why the whole series wasn’t dual POV to begin. I set out to write a series about how Persephone came to be known as “dread Persephone.” How did this naive woman become a morally grey queen? Obviously, Hades had a role in that. The other reason is that combining these two POVs would have made the story so complicated. I think each of these characters had a lot to say and a lot to do — and it only comes together in the final book. It’s a metaphor for the journey towards ruling as equals.

Culturess: Speaking of A Touch of Chaos, can you give us any juicy details or will we have to wait until closer to the release date?

St Clair: I think the detail I will give you is that there are two additional points of view in this novel. Not only do we have Hades and Persephone, but also Dionysus and Theseus. Dionysus is introduced in Retribution, has a point of view in Gods, and fills an integral role in Chaos. Theseus makes his appearance throughout the series but has a point of view in Gods and in Chaos. We already knew that he was a threat to the Olympians, but I felt it was important for readers to see his reasoning and actions from his own perspective.

Whether you’re caught up on the series or now, you’ve got time to check it out before the series wraps up. Even though we’re waiting a few months longer, there is a lot of time to get caught up on Scarlett St. Clair’s other books or just dwindle your TBR in time with the release of A Touch of Chaos.

Speaking of that, we also have a quote from Pamela Jaffee who is a senior director of publicity and marketing for Bloom Books: “Hera has bound the Muses in shackles (so typical). Persephone is masterminding their rescue, but like all sagas, it’s going to take a minute. The Bloom Books team is giving Scarlett time to be creative and make A TOUCH OF CHAOS exactly what she wants it to be (and what you need it to be) – our new on-sale date is 3.12.24. It’s going to be mythically worth the wait, we promise!” If that doesn’t get you excited about A Touch of Chaos, then I don’t know what else will.

A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair will be released on March 12th, 2024. You can now buy A Game of Gods at your favorite bookstore. 

What do you think, romantsy readers? Are you waiting on bated breath for A Touch of Chaos or are you planning  a re-read in this series?