Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (Throne of Glass #1)

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)




After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.


Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. 


Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: Out Now.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL REFERENCE THE SERIES AS A WHOLE

Celaena Sardothien is the best and most fiercest assassin in the Kingdom, also something to bare in mind is that she is eighteen when this book begins and with a lack of childhood die to her past and training, she is a bratty and a largely self service pig. A year in the slave camp Endovier has left her rather conceited, safe in her own knowledge that she can push the barriers all she wants as she really has nothing to care for. 

I'll admit on the first reading of this book, I struggled a lot. Yet I managed to finish it but then only got part of the way into book two before deciding that no, Celaena was really just a little bit too annoying for me to deal with. Revisiting the series a few years later I powered through the first book, then the second. The story telling got a lot better in the latter half of this book, it was if S J Mass had decided on where to take the plot, iron out the bratty insufferable behaviour of Celaena and build into the other characters that will be of note as the series progresses. We get to see into Dorian and Choal's thoughts as her reckless behaviour turns up more and more dangerous finds that can lead them, and their kingdom into ruin. As the series goes further, we are introduced to more characters that will ultimately feature in each others stories, as they are split up we see how the dynamic changes and who really is the special one. 

Celaena as a character is bratty and annoying yet she possesses this vulnerability behind the façade of someone who is always right, sassy and wilful. It is this vulnerability that will be explored in the books that will intrigue and carry the bones of this story forward as the King's dark ways become more and more evident. She grows though, so if you are suffering with the whining brat, bear with it. She will get better and be more like you would first imagine a world renowned assassin. Calculating and manipulative.

Prince Dorian is a bit of a soft touch, he is well trained, smart and a leader but has personal flaws that are easily exploited. For example his love of women.  However his verbal sparring with his father shows that there is a King in him which inspires his best friend and leader of the palace guard Choal to trust him and look to him in times of need. They as a pair understand each other very well and S J Mass has made the friendship strong, where jealousy is not enough to rip it to shreds but merely, separate their paths. This is seen throughout the series and important plot elements are interlaced with this intrinsic friendship. 

The series as a whole (so far) is entertaining and easy to read. There are times of heartbreak and sadness as nuggets of a characters story is cracked open allowing the reader an insight into what is there. The plot is interlaced with so many characters that you can understand why the books are so large to accommodate all that there is with these characters and as each bombshell is revealed there are little barbs of the past in each which had been hinted at before. 

Overall this series is good, once given the chance to move past the initial book. It is entertaining, kick-ass and with the subtle romance it isn't the Young Adult nightmare that becomes of love triangles. If you are looking for high-fantasy with a strong(ish) female lead this is for you. Even if you aren't sure about this series to read I would definitely implore you to give it a try.

A series worth 4.5 stars.




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