Title: The Assassin’s Blade

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Page Count: 448

Series: Throne of Glass, 0.1-0.5

Publishing Date/Publisher: March 4, 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens

Format: Paperback

Review: Truly my only regret in picking up this collection of novellas is that I didn’t do so sooner.  This collection is broken into five short stories that provide more context for Celaena’s backstory.  Maas artfully interweaves storylines and characters that later appear in the Throne of Glass series into heart-pounding and thrilling adventures.  The only novella that really had me struggling to get through it was the last one, and that was simply because I knew what devastating outcome awaited Celaena.

Maas is very formulaic in how she builds her romances – two people formerly at odds become passionate lovers – and the romance that ties together these short stories is no different.  I found this to be slightly annoying at first, however, Sam was just so lovable as a character that I couldn’t help but fall for him.  To be frank, the rest of Celaena’s romantic history really lost some of its sparkle after reading this because, well, I still wanted her to be with Sam.  Because he is not actually present in any of the Throne of Glass books, I did not realize how influential he was in shaping Celaena’s later decisions.  Celaena’s character has a certain naivety in these stories that no longer exists after the events that transpire in these novellas.

Now that I have picked up back where I left off in the Throne of Glass series, characters and events that are mentioned in passing suddenly make more sense and I am provided subtle clarity as I comb back through my memories of what has happened so far.  I look forward to seeing more connections as I continue forward with the series.

Reader: Bekah

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