Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. MaasSeries: Throne of Glass, #1
Published: 7 August 2012 by Bloomsbury
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Format: Hardback
Source: Purchased
Links: Goodreads
Synopsis:
When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King's Champion and be released from prison.
Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.
And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she'd have again: a friend.
But something evil dwells in the castle—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival—and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys her world.
Rating:
Review and Discussion:
I now feel that I can rate this book four stars with much more conviction than when I read it the first time around. Then, I had forced myself to love it because of the hype. Now, I feel like I am able to honestly express my appreciation for this book and rate it the four stars it deserves. I now feel much better about the characters and this fantasy world, and am now legitimately excited to dive into the rest of this series.
Reading The Assassin's Blade is what allowed me to enjoy Throne of Glass to its full potential. The prequel novellas allowed me to get to know Celaena Sardothian as Adarlan's Assassin. I was able to know who she was as herself before she became the Crown Prince's Champion. I feel that Throne of Glass, on its own, does not adequately explore Celaena's character. It alludes to her past, but doesn't give any details, yet uses her past as a significant driving force for her actions, her morals and her ambitions. The first time around, it was incredibly frustrating to not have enough information given about Celaena's character. After reading The Assassin's Blade, however, I feel that I was able to appreciate and understand her character on a whole new level.
Admittedly, this is a negative critique of Throne of Glass and its feasibility to serve as an adequate first novel in a high fantasy series. It falls short in a lot of ways, but it presents the reader with so much potential for what the rest of the series could be. Readers shouldn't have to read The Assassin's Blade before reading Throne of Glass, but in my experiences, if they want to get as clear a picture of the characters and the world of this fantasy series, it is an absolute requirement. Which is hugely disappointing, because the prequel novellas should not be required reading to enjoy the actual series.
Another shortfall of Throne of Glass is its lack of world exploration. The world building is excellent, but I found that the book itself didn't explore enough of the world to enhance the building that took place. We hear of all these places in Erilea—Bellhaven, Skull's Bay, Terrasen, the Red Desert, Eyllwe, etc—but none of them are explored. We are restricted to the castle at Rifthold, and very briefly, the death camp in Endovier. With so much of the world alluded to, it was disappointing that we explored so very little of it. The Assassin's Blade definitely compensates for this, and it allowed me to better appreciate the world when reading Throne of Glass.
Thus, without having read The Assassin's Blade, I know I would not have enjoyed Throne of Glass to its full potential. Given a full appreciation of the world and Celaena's incredible character, Throne of Glass becomes a fantastic read. It is epic, thrilling, mysterious, intelligent, witty, hilarious, wholesome and inspiring.
I definitely enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the second half, mostly because the love triangle really starts to emerge and I have no time for the ridiculous love triangle forming. I also found that the double plot was almost too much for this one novel, and could have been explored a bit more than what was allowed. I was definitely more interested in the competition story line than the mysterious murders story line, but alas, they were both entertaining enough to keep me hooked.
Celaena's character was definitely the highlight for me, and her character development is what has me keen to continue on with Crown of Midnight. Her love interests, the plot, the motivations of other characters are all the least of my worries; I am invested in Celaena's character, and she is my first interest in reading these books. Everything else now is just an added bonus.
I'm hoping the rest of the series won't now disappoint me, as I've worked so hard to finally enjoy this first book. Having heard tidbits over the years of the intense shipping rivalries, I'm nervous as to how that will impact the story, Celaena's character, and my enjoyment overall. I've also heard of some pretty significant backlash against Sarah J. Maas herself recently for her poor interactions with readers, which makes me nervous about investing my time in the series. Alas, I am keen as a bean to read Crown of Midnight, and I'll be sure to share my thoughts with you on that when I'm finished.
“She stood not ten feet from the King of Ardalan. Freedom or death lay at his table. Her past and future were seated on a glass throne.”
Reading The Assassin's Blade is what allowed me to enjoy Throne of Glass to its full potential. The prequel novellas allowed me to get to know Celaena Sardothian as Adarlan's Assassin. I was able to know who she was as herself before she became the Crown Prince's Champion. I feel that Throne of Glass, on its own, does not adequately explore Celaena's character. It alludes to her past, but doesn't give any details, yet uses her past as a significant driving force for her actions, her morals and her ambitions. The first time around, it was incredibly frustrating to not have enough information given about Celaena's character. After reading The Assassin's Blade, however, I feel that I was able to appreciate and understand her character on a whole new level.
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| U.K. Edition |
Admittedly, this is a negative critique of Throne of Glass and its feasibility to serve as an adequate first novel in a high fantasy series. It falls short in a lot of ways, but it presents the reader with so much potential for what the rest of the series could be. Readers shouldn't have to read The Assassin's Blade before reading Throne of Glass, but in my experiences, if they want to get as clear a picture of the characters and the world of this fantasy series, it is an absolute requirement. Which is hugely disappointing, because the prequel novellas should not be required reading to enjoy the actual series.
Another shortfall of Throne of Glass is its lack of world exploration. The world building is excellent, but I found that the book itself didn't explore enough of the world to enhance the building that took place. We hear of all these places in Erilea—Bellhaven, Skull's Bay, Terrasen, the Red Desert, Eyllwe, etc—but none of them are explored. We are restricted to the castle at Rifthold, and very briefly, the death camp in Endovier. With so much of the world alluded to, it was disappointing that we explored so very little of it. The Assassin's Blade definitely compensates for this, and it allowed me to better appreciate the world when reading Throne of Glass.
Thus, without having read The Assassin's Blade, I know I would not have enjoyed Throne of Glass to its full potential. Given a full appreciation of the world and Celaena's incredible character, Throne of Glass becomes a fantastic read. It is epic, thrilling, mysterious, intelligent, witty, hilarious, wholesome and inspiring.
I definitely enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the second half, mostly because the love triangle really starts to emerge and I have no time for the ridiculous love triangle forming. I also found that the double plot was almost too much for this one novel, and could have been explored a bit more than what was allowed. I was definitely more interested in the competition story line than the mysterious murders story line, but alas, they were both entertaining enough to keep me hooked.
Celaena's character was definitely the highlight for me, and her character development is what has me keen to continue on with Crown of Midnight. Her love interests, the plot, the motivations of other characters are all the least of my worries; I am invested in Celaena's character, and she is my first interest in reading these books. Everything else now is just an added bonus.
I'm hoping the rest of the series won't now disappoint me, as I've worked so hard to finally enjoy this first book. Having heard tidbits over the years of the intense shipping rivalries, I'm nervous as to how that will impact the story, Celaena's character, and my enjoyment overall. I've also heard of some pretty significant backlash against Sarah J. Maas herself recently for her poor interactions with readers, which makes me nervous about investing my time in the series. Alas, I am keen as a bean to read Crown of Midnight, and I'll be sure to share my thoughts with you on that when I'm finished.
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