Name: The Assassin’s Blade
Series: Throne of Glass #0.5
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Kindle
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Noted Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Hidden Agendas, Rebellion
Steam or Spice: None
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin’s Guild, Celaena yields to no-one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam.
When Celaena’s scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes—and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn’s orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn’s clutches—and if they fail, they’ll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives…
A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers listeners a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling—and deadly—world.
Review:
The Assassin’s Blade is actually a collection of prequel novella’s that were released around the same time as Heir of Fire. And I almost wish I hadn’t read them…
If I had read them first I am not exactly sure if I would have then picked up Throne of Glass as I feel like the stories there don’t really hit unless you’ve already got the knowledge of what happens in Throne of Glass.
There are five novellas and my individual ratings for them
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord 2 Stars
The Assassin and the Healer 2 Stars
The Assassin and the Desert 3 Stars
The Assassin and the Underworld 3.5 Stars
The Assassin and the Empire 4 Stars
They are all connected, with each other and they provide an insight into Celaena’s life before Throne of Glass. And they aren’t terrible novella’s! I just don’t think they’re a completely necessary read. And that’s why I ultimately settled on the 3 / 5 star rating.
Onto my point of they aren’t terrible novella’s…
When you look at them individually Empire was my favourite novella, and this makes sense because it sets up Throne of Glass really well… But I do believe that without the other novella’s Empire by itself wouldn’t really stand alone. That was done really well – but it does have me questioning whether or not they should have been novella’s in the first place? I think if it had been edited differently as one novel rather than 5 novella’s then if I had picked it up first I may have actually gone on to pick up Throne of Glass…
I am glad I read them as there are some cool characters in them that I am hoping make a come back in the later books in the series, but I do not think they’re necessary to read. Which I’ve been told is a bit of a controversial opinion! But there we have it folks! 3 Stars to The Assassin’s Blade.
“If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it- to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger.”
Reading With Tyler 
Leave a comment