An assassin. A prince. A guard.
Throne of Glass is the first book in an epic fantasy series written by Sarah J. Maas that was published back in 2012. Its popularity with readers has grown tenfold in the last four years and doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. The series consists of six books, five of which are currently published, plus a bind up of novellas that follow the main character’s life before the series really starts. While the novellas (The Assassin’s Blade) don’t necessarily need to be read before you start the series, it is recommended.
The books go in this order: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, and Empire of Storms. The sixth book in the series is untitled and is not going to be published until September 2017.
The first book, Throne of Glass, follows the Caelena Sardothien, the best assassin in her kingdom of Adarlan. In the beginning we find our heroine in the depths of a salt mine who is broken on the inside and looks just as dead on the outside. There is (seemingly) no hope for her at the beginning of the novel until a chain of events leads her to meet the King’s son Dorian.
Dorian has a message for Caelena and it is this: become the King’s champion or rot in the salt mine for the rest of her life.
Did I mention Caelena hates the King? He is her least favorite person in the world. But at this point Caelena is desperate to escape her sentence in the salt mines and earn back her freedom. The only catch in this deal is that she must participate in a deadly competition in order to earn her spot as the King’s champion. This means killing people. But that shouldn’t be a problem, right? After all she is the greatest assassin in Adarlan (oh, and the other inconvenient thing is that magic is against the law).
First, let’s delve into the genre. If someone is a first time reader of fantasy, this is seriously the best way to go. The writing is engaging and easy to keep up with even though there are a lot of characters. The plot is easy to follow and, even though the main character can be problematic, the story is a giant puzzle the reader is trying to figure out on the way. Reading this book series is quite a fun experience.
Caelena makes mistakes just like the rest of us. She is by no means a perfect character. While this may rub some people the wrong way, who really knows what they’re doing in life? Caelena is just finds herself in an incredibly unfortunate situation.The only really annoying aspect of this novel is that ever present love triangle that young adult novels seem to feature.
Sarah J. Maas writes strong characters; however, the plot can drag sometimes. Most notably where the plot drags is the beginning of the novel. Readers are trying to figure out why they’re supposed to care for this murderous girl. What makes her so special? Throne of Glass is by no means a perfect book but it is entirely entertaining if you’re looking for a book to get lost in over the holidays. Plus, it’s nearly the length of the Harry Potter series, so if you’re craving something with length I recommend this series.
Overall this series would be great for anybody to read. It has the potential to capture even the shortest of attention spans. Caelena, for all of her flaws, is very fun to follow as she narrates this series. Fantasy lovers, old and new, are bound to fall for this series.
