Title: Throne Of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Print Length: 433 Pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Genres: Teen & Young Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy
Summary: 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.
Last year I was in a Facebook gathering with another author, Victoria Aveyard. We had just read her book, Red Queen. During our question and answer session I asked her who some of her favorite authors were. She listed off several different authors, Sarah J. Maas being one of them. I began researching the authors from her list and added several new books onto my reading list. At that point I decided to begin with Throne of Glass. Sometimes it can take me a while to get engrossed in a book, but this one kept me engaged right from the start.
I thoroughly enjoy a story with a strong female protagonist. What about a strong female protagonist assassin? Now, I'm not talking about the kiss you and stab you in the back type of assassin. Or the female assassin that slips poison into your drink undetected. What I mean is the stealthy, sneaking around in the shadows like a ninja, scaling walls with your bare hands, dagger wielding assassin. Celaena Sardothien is that assassin in the body of a 18 year old teenage girl. And this girl can kick some butt. She is intelligent, witty, strong-willed, yet still a girl who loves frilly things and hot baths. It is also hard to remember that she is not only a girl, but a teenage girl! I believe that is really important to remember. During this first book you will get to meet other important characters as well. With great character development you will feel like you know each of these characters intimately. There will be mystery, adventure, romance; I didn't want to put the book down.
This book begins with Celaena being offered the chance of freedom from the labor camp where she is currently imprisoned. The only thing that stands in the way of her freedom is for her to take out the rest of the challengers in a competition to be the King's Champion. If she were to win this challenge she would also need to serve as the King's Champion for four years. After which she would be granted her freedom. You will follow her along in her adventures and the mysteries of the challengers that are turning up dead. And of course there is a little bit of romance thrown in there as well. This is a well rounded book that took a little bit to get into, but was a fantastic read. I recommend this book if you enjoy Fantasy.
There are a few things that stand out to me in Sarah J. Maas's writings. First, she has tremendous character development. You feel like you really get to know these people in her stories. You can imagine them being your friends or your enemies; you love them or hate them. Character development is so vital to me when I am reading a story. To me it can make a story great or the lack of it can ruin a story. Another thing that stands out to me is the unpredictability of her writing. You will be so engrossed in the story and you think you know exactly where it is headed and then it doesn't. There is a complete shift from left field and your jaw just drops in shock! I LOVE that! I don't want to know what is going to happen all of the time. I want to be surprised and shocked along the way; it keeps you on your toes! Third, I love the smoothness of her writing. There is a lot of action and a ton of twists in her writing. Even with all of that her writing is smooth and easy to read. I don't even know if that makes sense to anyone except for me, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. Easy reading. It is because of these things that Sarah J. Maas is my favorite author right now.
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