Throne of Glass
Throne of Glass, Book #1
By Sarah J. Maas
ISBN# 9781619630345
Author’s Website: https://sarahjmaas.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Celaena Sardothien was orphaned at eight years old, and then taken in by the King of the Assassins. She was trained to be the perfect killer, and she lived up to that training, becoming the most feared assassin in the land. However, Celaena was betrayed and captured. She has now lived a year in the salt mines of Endovier. Most people there only survive a handful of months, at the most.
The Crown Prince of Adarlan, Dorian Havilliard, has traveled all the way to Endovier to make Celaena an offer he hopes she can’t refuse. The King is having a competition to name a King’s Champion that will be the king’s personal assassin and do his bidding. Each Nobel is selecting a champion of their own to compete. And, Prince Dorian is hoping that Celaena will be his. If she wins the competition, she will serve the king for four years, but after that, she would be free for the first time in her life. If she fails, she will be returned to Endovier to finish out her life at the death camp. She takes a chance and goes with the prince to the glass castle to train and compete. She is watched over by the Captain of the Guard, Chaol Westfall, who doubles as her trainer. Chaol doesn’t trust her and makes her well aware of that fact.
Celaena quickly starts enjoying life in the castle, even if she is still a prisoner. And, she soon garners the attention of the prince himself. Much to the dislike of the ladies of the castle who would like nothing more than to ensnare the prince into marriage.
“I’m not married,” he said softly, “because I can’t stomach the idea of marrying a woman inferior to me in mind and spirit. It would mean the death of my soul.”
Meanwhile, Champions are dying. They are being killed in a gruesome fashion, being torn to ribbons by some unknown vicious animal. Celaena must find out what is going on and try to stop the killings before it’s too late.
I will start this review out by admitting that I don’t read a lot of fantasy novels. The genre typically just doesn’t appeal to me as a whole. And, I can’t say that this book blew my socks off, but I didn’t hate it. That is high praise coming from me. I never found myself bored like I typically do with most magic/fantasy books. And, I honestly enjoyed the characters, despite me hating their names that were hard to pronounce and spell.
I actually really adored Prince Dorian. He didn’t act like a haughty royal as you’d expect. And, I even enjoyed him picking Celaena as his Champion just to get under his father’s skin! He had morals that his father sure doesn’t possess and I do look forward to seeing what happens with him in the later novels of the series. I did get a sense of déjà vu with some of the scenes with him and Celaena though, especially with the kennels and the puppy. It felt as if I had read it before, elsewhere. I enjoyed his playfulness with Celaena and his devotion to her.
“Dorian walked slowly back to his rooms, his heart racing. He could still feel her lips on his, smell the scent of her hair, and see the gold in her eyes flickering in the candlelight.
Consequences be damned. He’d find a way to make it work; he’d find a way to be with her. He had to.
He had leapt from the cliff. He could only wait for the net.”
Chaol was a decent character as well, but I didn’t enjoy him nearly as much as I did Dorian.
The King and the Duke were diabolical though and I can’t wait to see them get their just desserts.
I found the ending of this novel to be a bit odd. It didn’t feel like an ending at all. And, honestly it doesn’t make me want to rush to read the next novel in the series either. I’m sure I will read it eventually. I’m just not a hurry to do so. Especially, after how Celaena has left things with the men in her life. This book didn’t really feel like it had as much of a love triangle as the synopsis implies. However, I feel it will as the series progresses.
