Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas, Bloomsbury, 2012, 404 pp
Recently I have connected with a few bloggers who are quite a bit younger than I am. It has been fortuitous because I like to read Young Adult books but I need guidance. Both Carrie at The Butterfly Reader and Esther at Bite Into Books steered me to Sarah J Maas.
Throne of Glass is the first book in Maas's 7 book YA fantasy tale and I loved it. It hits many of my requirements for fantasy: a tough heroine (in this case, an assassin--move over Gabriel Allon!), a vicious King who has suppressed any sort of magic, affairs of the heart for our heroine Celaena, and a dark mystery. Epic!
Celaena is a fascinating character with her supreme ability to kill, her audacity when it comes to any kind of betrayal, and her literate, secretly kind heart. She reminded me of Killishandra from my favorite Anne McCaffrey series, the Crystal Singer trilogy.
While I have no business adding another series to my reading life, I got attached to Celaena and since there are another six books to go, I can be all in suspense for her but don't have to worry about her dying, at least for a while. I am dying to find out!
This sounds like it includes some very imaginative world building. I wonder if the series will hold up through all seven books. Have fun with it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brian. If you have any teen girls in your life, they would like it I'm sure.
DeleteI agree with Brian. "Imaginative world building" indeed!
ReplyDeleteYes, and that is half the game with fantasy.
DeleteI'm so happy to hear you loved this!!!! That just makes my whole week!
ReplyDeleteYou are the reason I read it. Thanks for the perfect advice!!
DeleteSuch a good series and I hope you'll make it all the way through!
ReplyDeleteI plan to! To answer your question from your comment on my comment on your blog: I tried Assassin's Blade first and could not get it! But now that I have read Throne of Glass I want to go back because I see that it may tell how she became an assassin. Is that so?
DeleteIt surely did, and the final book also tells more about her lovelife.
ReplyDeleteOk, I will read it next and look forward to the final book!
DeleteWhen I sent the last comment I knew that I wasn't very clear, The Assassin's Blade contains 5 separate "stories" and the final story is about her lovelife.
DeleteI do really hope you'll get through it, because I've never ugly-cried harder over a book!
Thanks for clarifying. I could use a good ugly-cry brought on by a book!
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