The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas Paperback – February 14, 2023

Overall rating : 5 starsWitness Celaena’s rise and downfall as Adarlan’s Assassin in this collection of five prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series…Assassin’s Blade is a collection of novellas, served as a backstory to the Throne of Glass series. These novellas follows Celaena Sardothien’s life, all the way up to the Salt Mines of Endovier. Celaena Sardothien was brought up in Rifthold, and trained to become Adarlan’s Assassin. Celaena is duty-bound to Arobynn Hamel, He is the one who provided her with a home at the Assassin’s Guild and taught her the deadly skills she needed to survive. And yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only one person. The person she trusts is her fellow killer for hire, Sam.The Assassin and the Pirate Lord is the first novella. Celaena and her rival, Sam Cortland, are sent on a mission to seal a deal in the slave trade with the pirate lord, Captain Rolfe, Lord of the Pirates. Refusing to seal the deal, Celaena and Sam must find a way to free the two hundred slaves without attracting attention from Rolfe or have word reach Arobynn.The Assassin and The Healer follows on from The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. After being beaten by Arobynn for disobedience, Celaena is sent to the Deserted Land to train with the Mute Master and his Silent Assassins for a month. While waiting for the ship to take her to the Deserted Land, Celaena meets Yrene Towers — a healer, working as a barmaid, and wishing to seek further education for her abilities. After an attempted attack, Celaena teaches Yrene how to defend herself for when she decides to leave for a better life.The Assassin and The Desert follows on from The Assassin and the Healer. After their stunt with Captain Rolfe of Skulls Bay Celaena and Sam returned to the Assassins’s keep and are severely punished by their master, the King of the assassins Arobynn Hamel . Celaena, after being beaten prutalmente was forced to train in the red desert together with the master mute. Among the hot sun and the sand dunes Celaena holds a friendship that leave more than a few broken bones.The Assassin and The Underworld continues on from The Assassin and the Desert. Returning to Rifthold and her life at the Assassin’s Keep, Celaena finally runs into Sam, only to find that he’s been spending time with Lysandra, a courtesan whom Celaena has despised since she was ten. Celaena and Sam are sent to assassinate Doneval and his business partner for attempting to arrange a way to improve the slave trade. Following a staggering deception from one she trusts the most, Celaena must gather courage to fulfil her wish to move out of the Guild and begin againThe Assassin and The Empire follows from The Assassin and the Underworld. After paying off her debt to Arobynn, Celaena moves out and brings Sam with her. In order to escape the hold that Arobynn has on her, Celaena must complete one more mission: to assassinate Ioan Jayne and his sadistic guard, Rourke Farran. Aware of the disturbing and deadly consequences of being caught, Celaena and Sam decide to work together to accomplish the mission. Celaena will receive the ultimate betrayal and lose what she holds most dear.Events from these Novellas do come into play in later books. I am glad I read it right after I read the first one, Throne Of Glass. I like how these five novellas all connected. You would have to read the novellas in order. Cause I don’t think they are stand alone books. The plot was good and engrossing. The pace was good too. There was no scenes to slow the pace down. The characters were all lovely and well-develop too. I did have a favorite character in The Assassin and The Desert. But I was in a surprise towards the end. I could relate to Celaena about that too.This book gives you the background story of Celaena and what happened before she got caught. Some novella will show you some of her personality and others will be lessons.The Assassin and Desert novella was one of my favorite ones. My least favorite novella was The Assassin and The Underworld. My least favorite scene was when Celaena killed someone. Yes, it is a spoiler but I won’t say which novella is it in.

Reading order tip:If you plan on reading the entire series whether you like the first book or not, then do yourself a favor and read Assassin's Blade FIRST. I loved ACOTAR and I knew I would love TOG too so regardless of my feelings of the first book I knew I would continue on.I read Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight first as that was SJM's 'recommended order' and I really wish I listened to the entire internet saying NOT to but I assumed the author must know best.Assassin's Blade is the prequal. It's her back story, it's everything that happened before, it chronologically makes sense to read it first and in my humble opinion...... SJM's recommended reading order is stupid.It was hard to pull myself away from the story to go back in time because I was so invested with the first two books. It was a distraction to jump backwards in time and I find myself needing a recap of the first two books before I can continue on. I would have much rather read it first.I did not like Celeana in this book, she was bratty, cocky and insufferable and had I been the type of person where this book would determine if I would read the rest of the series I may not have continued simply because of her character. Since I had already read the other two books, I know that her character has developed, been humbled and changed a quite bit and I LOVE her but Assassin's Blade had me wanting to slap her a few times.With that being said, I enjoyed the book. The story/stories were fantastic and exciting and heartbreaking and everything I love in a fantasy read and I'm excited to get back to the 'current' timeline now that I have some insight to her past.

~The Assassin and the Pirate Lord~First, I think it's important to recognize that one of--if not the--main purposes of these novellas to grow Celaena from an intolerably insolent and arrogant adolescent into a world-wiser (but still cocky) young adult.The #1 complaint about this series is that readers don't like Celaena.Personally, I love her, but I understand why others might not. She's a superlative character who some people can't handle her extremes, and that's only one of a dozen legitimate issues.BUT.There are several loudly voiced complaints that, as far as I'm concerned, don't hold water. I've already addressed my feelings in regards to the claim that she is too girly to make a believable assassin in my Throne of Glass review.The other assertion I cannot abide is that Celaena "never does anything," or "never kills anyone."That she's basically all talk.Maybe I'm confused, but I've never supposed that assassins are meant to go around killing EVERYONE indiscriminately. And she's not just an assassin. She's the King of Assassins' heir. Adarlan's Assassin.At least half of her identity is reputation, and it wouldn't behoove that reputation (or be good for business) to run around like a maniac slitting throats and eviserating passersby.In this novella, she's a sixteen-year-old girl who single-handedly disarms and disables the entire crew of a pirate ship. She easily defeats the Pirate Lord in combat, using his own weapons to do it.How is that nothing? How is that all talk? *mind is boggled*Beyond establishing herself as a seriously kick-ass heroine, the foundation for something that will shred your heart into teeny, tiny pieces is also laid. <------*WAILS*And, you know . . . there are pirates.Everything is better with pirates.SO. Not my favorite of the bunch, but a close(ish) second.~The Assassin and the Healer~This novella wasn't part of the original four. I chased down pieces of it on various blogs, over the course of several days before CROWN OF MIDNIGHT was released.Anyway, I liked this one a lot, too.So should anyone who thinks Celaena doesn't kill often enough. How about six or eight mercs in a dark alley after they try to rob and attack a barmaid?All I'm saying is that's an awful lot of bodies piling up for an assassin who allegedly doesn't assassin.Moving on.We also learn some Celaena background: that her country was destroyed by war, and she feels a kinship with others who have suffered similar fates. That as a child she had dreams that are in complete contradiction to her current status.Aaaannddd we (once again) get to observe the softer side of Celaena. The side that compels her to intervene on behalf of others when she can. many reasons I'm able to overlook her more abrasive qualities.Bottom line: a worthy addition to the canon.~The Assassin and the Desert~Oh, my FEELS. They hurrrrrrt *sobs*So what does is say about me that this is my favorite of the group? Hmm . . .In the inevitable aftermath of her actions in Pirateville, Celaena is sent into the blistering, unforgiving heat of the desert to train with the Mute Master, Arobynn's (infinitely more benevolent) Southern counterpart.She has one month to train with the Silent Assasssins. One month to earn the Mute Master's respect in the form of a letter to Hamel on Celaena's behalf, commending her efforts and abilities.One. Month.This is the novella that makes me determinedly profess that readers' NEED to read the prequels.There are people and places and events that have already begun to play a greater role in the main books, with half a dozen foreshadowings of things to come.You. NEED. To. Read. It.And it won't make sense, if you haven't read the first one, and after that . . . Well, why not just read them all?Besides . . . Don't you want to see Celaena fumble her way through her first friendship? And not just her first friendship, but her first friendship with a GIRL?Of course you do.And who could blame you?~The Assassin and the Underworld~This novella should have been called THE ASSASSIN AND THE TANGLED WEB OF AROBYNN HAMEL, but I guess it doesn't rollllll of the tongue the same way.I really wish I could give you an accounting of the events that take place here unhindered by the knowledge of what's to come.But I can't.I read it too many times and it broke my heart too completely.THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD is about what happens when Celaena returns to the Assassin's Keep after Arobynn beat her into unconsciousness and sent her to the desert.Celaena arrives full of confidence and more than a little bit of self-satisfaction.She succeeded in accomplishing her nearly-impossible-to-complete task. More than succeeded. Was sent home from the Red Desert with a fortune great enough to purchase her freedom.When she struts into Arobynn's office, she has every intention of telling him, and leaving him.Unfortunately . . . It doesn't work out that way.Instead, she allows herself to fall back under his spell. Not fully, she's been made too wary for that, but enough that she becomes an unwilling accomplice in his nefarious plans one last time.This is where we first see the depth of Arobynn's treachery.My thoughts on Celaena's lack of immediate response to said treachery upon her return to Rifthold in ToG: [Many think Celaena is being willfully obtuse about the role her mentor played in the events that led to Sam's horrific death and her imprisonment at Endovier, but this is something I understand: [for spoiler see Goodreads or blog reveiw]~The Assassin and the Realm~THE ASSASSIN AND THE REALM starts at the end. Celaena is suddenly a prisoner of we-don't-know-whom/we-don't-know-why.All we know is that she's shattered. She does not care that she's caged like an animal. She does not care that she's in chains. Cold, hunger, thirst, all things beyond her concern.And then . . . in the dark . . . she remembers.Maas is an expert at cultivating DREAD. It may not be as stealthy here, what with us already knowing that Celaena---in some context---has failed, but that doesn't negate the fear, the roil in your belly, as you push yourself to keep reading, to find out what happened, what went wrong, so that at least then . . . it will be over.As I said earlier, I read these before reading THRONE OF GLASS, so I can't state from experience that if you're having issues with Celaena, reading THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE will fix them. BUT. I can say that I've never had any issues with her character development, and the majority of readers who have taken my advice have found themselves understanding her better than they had previously. Beyond that, you need the background from Celaena's time in the Red Desert to fully appreciate what's happening in the main series (my favorite YA series, incidentally). <------FYI.SO. Read it. I'm so far passed "recommending" it that I'm brandishing it wildly.“My name is Celaena Sardothien,” she whispered, “and I will not be afraid.”