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Gather close darling readers, because we have things to discuss, Maas-iverse, Maas Adventure things, from where it all began, not for us, but for her, for the universe.  We’re discussing the Throne of Glass Series because it started first, and is technically complete (although please, ma’am, an extended epilogue or additional novella would be a delight).  As the series opens, Celaena Sardothien is imprisoned in a slave camp and is visited by the Crown Prince of Adarlan.  She is the prince’s pick to defeat all of the other assassins in a competition to become the king’s champion.  She’ll win her freedom from prison, but instead of being an assassin for hire again, she’ll be the king’s assassin, and she is not his biggest fan, by far.  Because she’s our main character and this is a seven book series, readers will not be surprised to find she wins the competition, but it’s definitely not easy, and plenty of side drama ensues.  As the series progresses, we have a hero’s journey as Celaena becomes the king’s champion/assassin (Crown of Midnight) and is sent on a grand adventure to remember who and what she was before she became an assassin and determine what that means for her and her world (Heir of Fire), and then figure out how she’s going to defeat the evil that’s infiltrated every continent  and who is willing to help her (Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, Kingdom of Ash).  Yes, there is a side of romance, but there’s really only a couple of spicy scenes in the whole series (and yes I have strong feelings about “So [he] did” not being one of them, #iykyk).  Truly, the tale is about the journey Celaena and the ensemble that joins her go through, both physically through their world, and also in overcoming their pasts, at least enough to come together and fight the good fight.  

Readers should go in knowing the origins of the Throne of Glass Series start with 16 year old Sarah J. Maas.  That’s right, she first drafted this story at 16. Years. Old.  And y’all, that explains some things, as does the fact that the titular first book was her first published work.  Throne of Glass was first published in 2012 (although I didn’t find it until 2017, when I consumed the series, as it was then, during that glorious week between Christmas and New Year’s), and the last in 2018.  Yes friends, she published a book a year, plus four prequel novellas for the whole series.  The story gets more depth, the writing shines brighter, and I appreciate and adore these complex characters more as I progress through the series (both the first time, and with each reread).  The first book is good, but I think Maas really hits her stride with Queen of Shadows both in her writing and in where she is in the story.  This is quite a complex, encompassing tale to weave, and she does it masterfully, but getting all the players on the board (#iykyk) and in the correct places takes some pages.  That’s not to say books 1-3 aren’t a really fun hang, because they 100% are that!

While Queen of Shadows is where Maas settles in as a writer and a storyteller (and incidentally was published the same year as A Court of Thorns and Roses), Tower of Dawn might be my favorite in the series, and many readers think this is a spicy take.  Minimizing spoilers, in Tower of Dawn, Chaol (who we meet in Throne of Glass) has to go on an adventure in pursuit of some goals, separately from the rest of our merry band, on another continent, which wasn’t conquered by the King of Adarlan. There is a whole different culture to set up, irking some folks (especially as Empire of Storms ends in a cliffhanger #sorrynotsorry).  Folks (me included, as Kingdom of Ash wasn’t yet published when I read the rest of the series) have strong feelings about being left on a cliff, especially when that isn’t how the first four titles in the series leave us and then we’re on a whole other continent for the whole next book, which actually takes place at the same time as the last book! [The Struggle.]  Some also feel Tower of Dawn starts slow.  They’re sort of right, but it’s the world building on the new-to-us continent, that’s all.  Personally, I really enjoyed the slower pace to take a breath after the push to the end of Empire of Storms.  Since my first read, I have done the tandem read (TOD and EOS back and forth) and generally like it.  I do have concerns for first time readers as it is a lot of story to keep track of at once (at times it’s five storylines at once – and more than five points of view! – concurrent stories across the two books).  

Truly, if readers go in expecting to see the writing and the storytelling grow, they won’t be disappointed.  Celaena is worth it, Elide and Manon are worth it, Sartaq is worth it, and so are the rest of the amazing ensemble Maas grants to the readers.  I do truly love an ensemble story, and when we have an adventure featuring a teenage girl and her friends saving the world slowly unfolding before my eyes, as they find themselves in the process, it just makes it even more fun, as do her sass and antics along the way.  I’m working on my fourth reread through the Throne of Glass Series, and if that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.  

If you’ve read this, please let us know in the comments.  If you’d like more info, trigger warnings, or have questions, you’re invited to slide into our DMs.

Happy reading Maassassins!

~Nikki 

P.S. The original covers (above) are far superior to the current covers (below or here).

AND THIS IS WHERE THE SPOILERS HAPPEN…

Gird your loins, dear readers, because I am not going to hold it back like our darling Nikki. So if you want real, and potentially emotional commentary on the Throne of Glass series – as I am finishing up reading Kingdom of Ash for the third time, buckle up. (Goodreads says it’s the 2nd, but Goodreads is incorrect – I distinctly remember reading it twice in a row in 2018 – before I was really into logging my reading life on Goodreads, TBH.) Nikki is the reason that I got into the worlds of Sarah J. Maas. [Nikki here – we’ll dig into that next time.] She’s ridiculously unapologetic and probably deeply self-satisfied about the whole situation [confirmed]. I don’t blame her for any of those feelings. I’m grateful for this reading journey that she and these books have put us on. The blog wouldn’t be here without it. I’m going to write a little blurb about the things I love the most about each book as I have been rereading the series. I know that some purists say to read the books in published order, which has readers reading the prequel novellas of The Assassin’s Blade as the third installment in the eight-book series. Yes, I know that even the Queen herself says this is also her preferred reading order. Queen Maas already controls the majority of my reading life and her words and characters ARE my Roman Empire but she doesn’t have to control THIS part. I get to be the main character of my own reading life, damn it! And I like to read chronologically. On to the books!

The Assassin’s Blade is integral to the entire story of our heroine Celaena, Adarlan’s Assassin. The teenager with gifts honed to deadly precision in social situations, in stealth missions, and against all comers. The weird father/brother/potential lover relationship she has with her master Arobynn Hammel is fully explained to the reader. But, where Arobynn only has desire for money and power, Celaena forges deep relationships while she forges her skills and her luxury habit. She is the bougiest assassin you ever did meet, my friends. And that’s how I truly fell in love with this badass youth, who can swagger through a sewer and almost die, and yet admit it took multiple baths and she still didn’t feel clean once she was out, even with her best bath tonics. We contain multitudes, as does our heroine. The Assassin’s Blade takes us to so many locations within Rifthold, the capital city of Adarlan, as well as other locations on the continent of Erilea before we get settled into Celaena’s story.

As Nikki so kindly gave the overview of how we’re introduced to Celaena in Throne of Glass, I want to talk about how we start meeting more players and characters, all within the setting of the glass castle, home of the King of Adarlan in Rifthold, during the competition to become the king’s champion. We meet the king, of course, and Crown Prince Dorian. Captain of the King’s Guard, Chaol Westfall, is Dorian’s best friend and Celaena’s new trainer as she prepares for the feats of strength and agility during the competition. We know these young men are placed for romance and as foils against each other, but the lowkey MVP of this book is Nehemia Ytger, Princess of Eyllwe, a country conquered by Adarlan. The friendship that blossoms between Nehemia and Celaena is so understated in its simplicity. It’s two young women placed inside the home of their conqueror, who have all the reasons to become allies, and yet they surpass that to form a bond of true friendship. 

Crown of Midnight returns us to Rifthold, where Celaena is acting on orders of the King of Adarlan to hunt down and assassinate rebels to the crown while living in the castle. Our cast of main characters, but we’re introduced to a witch, a male courtesan, and rebels fighting to find Aelin Galathynius, the lost Princess of Terrasen. Chaol and Celaena’s relationship blossoms into more than friendship and Dorian is relegated to the friendzone. This happiness is fleeting because of the way Nehemia orchestrates her own death with help of the rebels, which tears a rip inside Celaena that nothing and no one can repair. Her trust in any relationship is shattered because of the manipulations of both Nehemia and Chaol, and their lack of trust in her. She still has no room in her heart for forgiveness even when Chaol negotiates to have her sent on an assassination mission across the sea to save her from the king finding out she’s a magic wielding Fae. Celaena, child of conquered Terrasen, trained from the age of eleven to be a deadly assassin, had never been chosen by another person over their duty. Not Chaol who hides the threats to Nehemia, not Nehemia herself who hid her covert relationships with the Adarlanian rebel network. No one chose Celaena, and she is broken. Chaol is still self-serving when sending Celaena across the sea because it saves him from having to inform the king that his Champion breaks the law with her innate magic. The clincher is that Celaena gives Chaol a riddle as she boards the boat for Wendlyn… a riddle that proves to him that she is Aelin, the lost Princess of Terrasen.

Heir of Fire opens up the world of Erilea and does a whole lot of heavy lifting. We get more characters like Manon, Heir to the Blackbeak witch clan, and Aedion Ashryver, General of Terrasen, cousin to Aelin, and secret rebel against the crown. Plus all the major players Aelin meets in Wendlyn, Prince Rowan Whitethorn, sworn general to Queen Maeve of Doranelle, that same Queen who is Aelin’s great-aunt, and Maeve’s cadre of blood-oath bound, powerful Fae warriors. What I love about Heir is that we’re introduced to all these players, who they are, what motivates them, and the wider world outside of Rifthold. Now, by this point, no matter which order you have incorporated The Assassin’s Blade into your series read, every reader is on the same trajectory (for now!). We’re also finally getting into the nitty gritty about why magic disappeared and is outlawed in Adarlan at the same time Celaena/Aelin is mastering her fire-magic in Wendlyn under the tutelage of Rowan, the greatest annoyance of her life. Manon and the witches, however, are the highlight of the book because we as readers are rooting for the leader of the aerial calvary of the King of Adarlan, our heroine’s sworn enemy. What’s a reader to do?!

When Nikki says that Maas hits her stride in Queen of Shadows, she’s not kidding. The plot we think is happening, Aelin saving Aedion from public execution is only one part of a ridiculous plan to save her cousin, end the king’s hold on magic, gather her allies, kill her former master Arobynn Hammel, save her friend Dorian from being controlled by a demon, and create a kingdom’s wealth for Terrasen. All of which happens in the span of just a few weeks. Not only do we have this fast moving story of Aelin in Rifthold, we’re still following the adventures of Manon and the witches. And then, when the punches don’t stop coming, we don’t stop pushing, and we’re (re)introduced to more players, Lysandra, a courtesan and loathsome frienemy of Aelin’s against Arobynn, and Nesryn, a city guard working with Chaol and the rebels against the king’s demon hoards. With the witches, we meet Elide, Lady of Perranth, and favorite personal spy to Manon Blackbeak. Can the action and characters slow down? Not on your life, since the climax of Queen is a triple explosion: collapsing the clocktower that stifles magic, the destruction of Morath where Manon has been training the witches and their wyverns, and the fall of the glass castle in Rifthold and the death of the king. Aelin publicly claims the crown of Terrasen and heads home with her court of Rowan, Aedion, and Lysandra. Bonus plot point, the destruction of the glass castle not only kills the king, but paralyzes Chaol from the waist down. He’s sent to the Southern Continent with Nesryn to negotiate aid in the coming war and heal his broken body.

Finally, by the time we as readers get to Empire of Storms, we’re thinking, “no more characters!” Nothing new, let’s just handle all the crap we need to handle. We’re reunited with some old faces from the novellas – like the Pirate Lord Rolfe and Ansel of Briarcliff. Adventures happen, we’ve got three story lines and more points of view that that, but by the time we get to the end of the book we still have no idea what the heck happened to Chaol in the Southern Continent, and maybe we didn’t miss him, because we didn’t like him by the end of Queen of Shadows anyway. Who did miss him… Sarah J. Maas. Missed him SO MUCH she gave him HIS OWN BOOK with Tower of Dawn. Where we meet even MORE characters. Nikki and I love the book focused on Nesryn’s adventures in the Southern Continent. We’ve grown to adore Sartaq and Borte, and the rest of the ruk riders (giant birds that roost like chickens and carry warriors) and we really appreciate Yrene Towers and the Healers of the Torre Cesme. I’ve done the tandem read of Empire and Tower the last two re-reads. But, I have a theory as to why Nikki didn’t hate Tower of Dawn from the very beginning like many other readers. Yes, it completely ignores Aelin and her court the entire time and that’s against a lot of the point of a series like Throne of Glass. Tower of Dawn, however, is a classic enemies to lovers and forced proximity romance novel. We even have two couples to follow who get their Happily Ever After. Yrene is a refugee from Adarlan occupied Fenharrow who is studying at the Torre and is the most powerful magical healer of her class. When she is assigned to heal Chaol’s wounds, the former Captain of the Guard and current Hand of the King of Adarlan, she feels like she is being forced to aid her enemy. Chaol thinks she’s out of line asking him to discuss his life outside of her job to heal his back and legs. Cue enemies to lovers. Secondly, Nesryn is assigned to help Chaol broker an alliance with the khagan of the Southern Continent while Chaol is busy healing. She spys on the son of the khagan, Sartaq, and ends up volunteering herself for a long mission with him, a man who she doesn’t know is friend or enemy. Cue forced proximity trope. All the things happen, danger, sexy times, and everyone is either married or betrothed when the armies of the Southern Continent and a healed Chaol head north to aid Terrasen in the war. The End.  And yet! We can’t forget that Aelin got stuck in an iron box at the end of Empire. Which is why it’s imperative as readers to do some chronological reading and read these two books in tandem. It’s a delight. Just not the first time. Be gentle with yourself the first time, darling readers. 😉

And finally, that brings us to the final installment Kingdom of Ash. Because I’m not currently finished with this newest reread, I’m just going to hit some high notes. 1) We’re STILL meeting more DING DANG CHARACTERS. Specifically, the Crochan witches, a clan separate from the ironteeth that Manon leads. You thought we were done since we were in the final book, but NO, surprise! 2) We still have four major storylines and eleven points of view (by my quick count) that need to converge into one by the end of the book. How is it going to happen? Well, there’s 988 pages, so buckle up. 3) Everyone is battling the same enemy, even if it doesn’t feel like it could remotely be possible that there are 4 ‘endless hoards.’ The Valg are everywhere and overcoming the world, what’s a Fire-Breathing Bitch Queen to do?! 4) As much as we complain about the lack of sexytimes with Lorcan’s ‘So Lorcan did’ situation with Elide… there are several sexy time scenes. Dorian and Manon can not keep their phantom hands off each other. Rowan and Aelin have a reunion that’s pretty solid. [all the puns intended] So, it’s not ‘less sexy’ than Empire of Storms or Tower of Dawn, it’s just less sexy than Maas’ other series. Regardless, ‘So Lorcan did’ is still a bullshit copout and we all know it. 5) We really do get a super big beautiful flowery bow at the end and it’s amazingly satisfying.

There you have it, darling readers, a spoilery filled, novel of a review of this 8 book series by the Queen of Modern Fantasy, Sarah Janet Maas. The fact we find out this series is INTERCONNECTED with her OTHER SERIES by the end of Kingdom of Ash is why we’re re-reading all the things before the newest book in the Crescent City series arrives on January 30th.

You’re Welcome.

~Ashley

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