The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas Paperback – 14 Feb. 2023

This book contains all 5 of the novellas that preceded the events of Throne of Glass: 1 including The Assassin and The Healer which at the time of writing this review was not available to read separately as an ebook as the other 4 novellas are. This collection of novellas was absolutely amazing and completely unputdownable and when read together are effectively a book in their own right with only very brief gaps between each story. I absolutely recommend this collection to any fan of the Throne of Glass series and if you haven't read Throne of Glass thoroughly recommend the series too. The reading order of the novellas if you want to read them individually instead is:-1. The Assassin and The Pirate Lord2. The Assassin and The Healer (please note this is only available in the paperback format at the time of writing this review)3. The Assassin and The Desert4. The Assassin and The Underworld5. The Assassin and The EmpireAlthough these are a prequel to Throne of Glass I have actually read them after reading the first three main books of the series (Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire) and I think that because of this I have enjoyed them so much more than some of the other reviewers. I would actually suggest reading these prequel novellas after reading Throne of Glass as then the character Celeana Sardothien will be much more lovable as I think if reading these novellas without knowing her character she may come across as a bit annoying and full or herself. I have been a fan of the series since reading Throne of Glass and I absolutely adore the characters in the series but most of all Celeana herself and I can't recommend the whole series enough.If you haven't read Throne of Glass and the novellas are the first time you have ventured into the world of Celeana Sardothian then stop reading here as there are spoilers next. For anyone who has read Throne of Glass then you already know the fate of a certain character and so my review as below should offer no further spoilers than what you already know.This collection of prequel stories basically tells the events of Celeana Sardothian and Sam Cortland before he met his fateful end and she was sent off to Endovier and fills in the gaps in her story that we have only had snippets of in the three books so far. I couldn't put the book down with the five novellas in from start to finish and despite already knowing the outcome of Celeana and Sam, the story's were brilliant and I can't recommend them enough to fans of the series. An absolutely fantastic read that despite knowing the ending left me felling very sad for Celeana and Sam.1. In The Assassin and The Pirate Lord Celeana and Sam (at this point Celeana has no feelings for Sam and doesn't really like him) are sent to Skulls Bay in the Dead Islands by Arobynn Hamel, King of the Assassins to meet with Captain Rolfe, Lord of the Pirates. Celeana and Sam think that this is to collect gold from the Pirate Lord in payment for some of his Pirates having murdered some of Arobynn's Assassins but they are horrified to discover that this was not in fact the reason and that they are actually there to collect a ship full of slaves. Both Celeana and Sam are horrified at this news and Celeana after seeing the conditions these prisoners of war are in decides to do something she has not done before and be selfless and formulates a plan to free them and the other ship full of slaves waiting to sail out somewhere else. Sam works out she has a plan and offers to help. This is where the spark of something more than being acquaintances begins and also develops to real feelings for each other.2. In The Assassin and The Healer, Celeana has been sent to train with the Silent Assassins in The Red Desert by Arobynn Hamel, King of the Assassins as punishment for her part in freeing the slaves during the first novella; The Assassin and The Pirate Lord. She is in a small town called Innish which is just across the Gulf of Oro whilst waiting for the boat that will take her over to Xandria and then from there she will make her way across the desert to train with the Silent Assassins. Whilst in Innish she is staying in The White Pig Inn and it is here that those who haven't read Throne of Glass will start to see the kind person in Celeana beneath the cold assassin persona. The local serving girl Yrene has fled her from her home town when her Mother the town's healer was murdered by the kings men and it is here that Celeana and Yrene meet under difficult circumstances and we see what a heart of gold Celeana truly has.3. In The Assassin and the Desert, we hear the tale of how Celeana trained with the Silent Assassins and the story she told Chaol about how she got her very own Asterion Horse (which was on of the tales I really did want to hear more about when I read about it in the main books). She has been sent to train with the Silent Assassins by Arobynn Hamel, King of the Assassins (well king of the ones in Rifthold and the north) with the instruction that she must return with the Mute Masters respect and a letter of approval from him within a month. After the grueling trek across the desert to the Silent Assassins base she first of all has to impress the Mute Master enough to win a place training there and once she does she meets Ansel who becomes her very first female friend. Things are not all as they seem here though and it soon becomes apparent that there is a traitor within the Silent Assassins who is helping the Lord of Xandria, Lord Berick with his attacks against the Silent Assassins and Celeana inevitably gets involved with results that she wasn't expecting. We also hear of how Arobynn beat Celeana until she passed out after freeing the slaves and how Sam was held back and screaming something at Arobynn at the time.....4. In The Assassin and the Underworld, Celeana is just returning to Rifthold after her training has been completed with the Mute Master and the Silent Assassins. This story shows Celeana's every day life and how she lives at the Assassins keep and scouts jobs etc. Celeana hasn't forgiven Arobynn Hamel, King of the Assassins for beating her unconscious and sending her off to the desert for a month but he appears truly upset and remorseful for what he did and so she decides to not immediately tell him she is moving out. Following the Mute Master's gift of the trunks of gold she now has more than enough to buy her freedom and pay Arobynn back what she owes him but she decides to wait a while before doing so. Arobynn showers her with her normal extravagant gifts from him and truly appears to be trying to make amends for him beating her. Arobynn also gives her a new target and explains that this man is slave trading and going to reveal the locations of safe houses to an unidentified man within the next few days and ultimately the king which makes the job even more appealing to Celeana. But is all as it seems?......5. In The Assassin and the Empire we travel along the road to the inescapable conclusion of Celeana and Sam's relationship and lives and despite knowing the outcome it was absolutely heartbreaking. If you don't know what the inexorable conclusion is then stop reading now as I am not revealing any spoilers to anyone who has already read Throne of Glass. Celeana and Sam have paid off their debt and have moved out of the Assassins Keep however know if they are to make a new life elsewhere that they will need more money to do so as Arobynn has basically cleaned Celeana's account out having somehow known how much she had in there. They agree to do a last job but an incredibly dangerous one where they are to kill both the leader of the underworld and his absolutely insane and sadistic second in command. There is no easing around the conclusion and reading it when you have identified with Celeana and Sam over three main books and the previous four novellas was horrible for me and I kept wishing for a different ending which of course was not to happen. By far one of the best novellas out of the five and it tells the events right up to Endovier but as I said above absolutely heartbreaking for the two very lovable characters of Celeana and Sam.The main books in reading order are as follows and the author Sarah J Maas has just announced that the 4th book will be called Queen of Shadows and will be released in September this year and I absolutely cannot wait to read it!1. Throne of Glass: 12. Crown of Midnight: 2 (Throne of Glass)3. Heir of Fire: 3 (Throne of Glass 3)4. Queen of Shadows

“My name is Celaena Sardothien,” she whispered, “and I will not be afraid.”Fantasy superstar Sarah J Maas is one of my favourite authors; her writing is gripping, her plots are complex and have so many twists and turns, and she is Queen of the emotional rollercoaster. She started off with YA fantasy series Throne of Glass, and kick-ass assassin Celaena Sardothien.The Assassin's Blade is made up of five prequel novellas, coming in at around 450 pages, and is a must for any Throne of Glass reader. It really made me understand Celaena much more and what drives her. I found it fascinating exploring her history in the capital city, Rifthold, her relationship with the King of the Assassin's, Arobynn Hamel, and her changing relationship with her rival assassin Sam Cortland. And some things happened quite differently than I had expected! The novellas created a story arc that had a real emotional impact, especially with experiences of grief.SJM fans differ as to what point in the seven book series you are best to read The Assassin's Blade. I was advised to read it after Heir of Fire (Book Three), which was great advice. You can read it at anytime, but I would recommend reading it before Queen of Shadows (Book 4). It makes certain events much more poignant, you better understand their significance, and you have a deeper level of understanding of what is happening.The Assassin's Blade is entertaining, emotionally impactful, and gives answers that all TOG fans want!

’She was fire, she was darkness, she was dust and blood and shadow.’If anyone looking at this review has already read the ‘Throne Of Glass’ books and wonders if this novella collection is worth reading then the answer is undoubtedly ‘yes’. Alternatively if you’re curious about the series and don’t know whether you should start with ‘The Assassin’s Blade’ or ‘Throne Of Glass’ then you honestly can begin with either, although personally I’d recommend checking out these short stories first as I did. They don’t ruin anything with spoilers for the future but instead give you a lot of wonderful background information as to how Celaena finds herself in the situation that she’s in at the start of book one.There are five stories contained within this book and I truly did adore each and every one of them. Picking out favourites is hard as I loved them all and each adds to the journey that Celaena is on. Together the novellas not only help you get to know the central character of the ‘Throne Of Glass’ series in a lot of detail but also let you explore some of the world that’s further away from most of the events of book one and meet other fascinating individuals that I seriously hope will feature at some point in the series.Not only is there never a dull moment in this collection but I also truly don’t feel as if any of the stories were ‘filler’ moments either. They all show the train of events that lead to Celaena’s ordeals at the start of the series and help give readers a fascinating insight as to what makes her tick too. Everyone introduced in these tales left me fascinated and longing for more. Every venture into new surroundings made the settings leap off of the pages. Every turn of a page made me long for more and kept me riveted.As I said previously picking out a favourite of this collection is impossible but I will share a few of the elements that enticed me most. Firstly there’s the healer’s tale that left me crossing my fingers over the possibility of her character appearing later on in the series, and gave some key insights into the fate of magic in the land too. There’s also an assassin’s school within a desert land that was fascinating to learn about. There’s a brief mention of witches within one of these tales that chilled me to my core. And there’s a tale that utterly shattered my heart and I so want to scream about.So yes, naturally I recommend this book both to those who are familiar with the ‘Throne Of Glass’ series and to anyone whose picking up these books for the first time. They’re the perfect opening to a rich and enticing fantasy realm for new readers and a glorious treasure of background information and nostalgia for those who have already fallen in love with this world.