OK, I’m going in. It’s time to start the epic eight-book fantasy series, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. And I don’t know if this is a controversial move or not, but I started with The Assassin’s Blade, the set of five short stories or prequel novellas that detail the earlier days and adventures of the series’ heroine, assassin Celaena Sardothien.
Five deep-dive novellas
BookTok says you can either kick off the series with The Assassin’s Blade or read it in its published order (which is after book three) but as it’s chronologically first, I started with it.
I think this was a good option for me, as The Assassin’s Blade follows Celaena on a series of missions and establishes her character in bitesize stories that actually cover a lot of ground in setting up her morals and motivations.
Celaena may only be a 17-year old girl, but she has been trained by the King of the Assassins since she was a child, so is the best of the best. Her parents were murdered when she was 8 years old, leaving her alone in the world, so while this isn’t the life she chose, its the one that has embraced her.
The stories included are:
- The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
- The Assassin and the Healer
- The Assassin and the Desert
- The Assassin and the Underworld
- The Assassin and the Empire
I’m fully in the Sarah J. Maas universe now
I decided to listen to The Assassin’s Blade on audiobook in an attempt to get through it at a quicker speed and it defintiely worked. I flew through it, mainly because the stories were really engaging, so it was easy to listen but also because the narrator was very good. Elizabeth Evans embodies Celaena so well, and subtly (but not annoyingly) alters her voice for all the other key players too.
Having previously read ACOTAR and Crescent City, Throne of Glass is the final Sarah J. Maas series I need to read. And according to everyone who has completed the books, you do need to have read ALL of them before the upcoming ACOTAR 6 release on October 27th 2026 due to the overlapping elements in the worlds and stories.
So, this is my mission and timeline. One book down, seven to go, let’s see if I can do it…
- Get your copy of The Assassin’s Blade here;
- Audiobook narrated by Elizabeth Evans;
- Running time:12 hours 52 minutes;
- Published by Bloomsbury 2014;
- 451 pages;
- My rating:
Books on the 7:47 