Looking for the A Touch of Darkness series order? Scarlett St. Clair’s Hades and Persephone books can get confusing fast because the story is split between Persephone’s books, Hades’s books, a combined reading order, and a holiday novella.
The simplest path is to start with A Touch of Darkness. After that, you can either read each side of the story by series, or use the combined reading order if you want Persephone’s perspective and Hades’s perspective closer together.
Jump to:
- A Touch of Darkness Books in Order by Series
- Recommended A Touch of Darkness Series Reading Order
- Scarlett St. Clair Bonus Content
- What Is A Touch of Darkness About?
A Touch of Darkness Books in Order by Series
There are two main sides to the Hades and Persephone saga. The Hades x Persephone books follow Persephone’s point of view, while the Hades Saga gives Hades’s side of the story.
This is the easiest way to see which books belong to which series before you decide how you want to read them.
Hades x Persephone Books
These are Persephone’s books. You can read them straight through if you don’t want to switch between narrators.
- A Touch of Darkness (2019)
- A Touch of Ruin (2020)
- A Touch of Malice (2021)
- A Touch of Chaos (2024)
- A Christmas of Chaos (Novella) (2025)
Hades Saga Books
These books retell and expand parts of the story from Hades’s point of view. They add his bargains, his enemies, his relationships with the gods, and more of the Underworld politics happening around the romance.
- A Game of Fate (2020)
- A Game of Retribution (2022)
- A Game of Gods (2023)
Recommended A Touch of Darkness Series Reading Order
My preferred reading order is the combined Hades and Persephone order. It keeps the two perspectives close together, so you can read Persephone’s side, then Hades’s side, without waiting until the end to circle back.
This is the order I’d use if you want the fullest version of the story. There is some overlap between books, but Hades’s chapters usually add enough context, politics, and Underworld drama to make the repeated events feel different.
- A Touch of Darkness (2019)
- A Game of Fate (2020)
- A Touch of Ruin (2020)
- A Game of Retribution (2022)
- A Touch of Malice (2021)
- A Game of Gods (2023)
- A Touch of Chaos (2024)
- A Christmas of Chaos (Novella) (2025)
Tandem Reading Order for Hades and Persephone
Scarlett St. Clair has an official tandem reading guide for the first six books, but she frames it as a better fit for hardcore readers and second reads. That tracks. The tandem order can be fun, but it’s more work than most first-time readers need.
For most readers, the combined list above gives you the cleaner version of the same idea: Persephone’s book, then Hades’s book, then the next major piece of the story.
Where Does A Christmas of Chaos Fit?
A Christmas of Chaos belongs after A Touch of Chaos. St. Clair lists it as Hades x Persephone Book 7.5, so treat it as a bonus holiday follow-up instead of part of the main conflict.
The novella returns to the world of Hades and Persephone during Yuletide, with the Underworld preparing for the holiday while Hecate tries to protect everyone from a Kallikantzaroi invasion. It’s connected, but I wouldn’t read it before finishing the main saga.
Do You Need to Read the Hades POV Books?
You don’t have to read the Hades books to follow Persephone’s story, but I think the series works better with them. Hades’s books add his motives, his bargains, his relationships with the gods, and more of the Underworld politics happening around the romance.
The trade-off is repetition. A Game of Fate and A Game of Retribution overlap with Persephone’s books, so readers who hate repeated events may prefer to read all of Persephone’s books first. Readers who want every emotional beat should use the combined order.
Is A Touch of Darkness Spicy?
Yes. A Touch of Darkness is adult fantasy romance. It is not YA, even though some readers first find it after reading younger mythology-inspired fantasy.
Expect explicit romance, adult relationships, jealousy, grief, violence, power imbalance, and darker emotional moments as the series goes on. The Greek mythology setup may feel familiar, but the content is written for adult romance readers.
Scarlett St. Clair Bonus Content
St. Clair also has bonus content on her website, including Hades and Persephone scenes, interviews, and extra moments from the world. I wouldn’t count those as books, and I wouldn’t mix them into the main reading order.
Treat the bonus scenes as extras after you’ve read the books they connect to. Some are clearly meant for readers who already know the major relationship turns, so they can spoil more than you might expect.
What Is A Touch of Darkness About?
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair is a modern Hades and Persephone retelling set in New Athens, where the gods are famous, powerful, and very public. Persephone is trying to live as a mortal journalist, even though she’s secretly the Goddess of Spring.
There’s one problem. Flowers wither at her touch, which makes her divine title feel like a joke.
Then Persephone meets Hades, God of the Dead, and enters into a contract with him after a night at Nevernight. He gives her an impossible task: create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom. The longer she spends around him, the harder it gets to separate the bargain from the attraction between them.
The series is best for readers who want adult fantasy romance, Greek mythology, messy gods, power struggles, and a central relationship that gets complicated quickly.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more fantasy authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Fantasy Books in Order index.