My friend and his girlfriend had been talking about a book series that they were both into. They kept talking about how awesome it was and how I should check it out. This went on for maybe a year or so before I finally sat down and read the first one. Now, the first one in the series is called, Throne of Glass but a prequel was written called, The Assassin’s Blade. It was introduced later in the series but is not recommended as an introduction to the series so I started with the Throne of Glass book.

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Throne of Glass is about an infamous assassin named Celaena who was caught and enslaved in a mining camp for her crimes. At just 18 she is considered Adarlan’s greatest and most deadly assassin. She is taken to the king’s palace in Rifthold to enter into a competition to become the king’s champion if she can defeat the other 23 murderous competitors. If she wins then she will be required to do the king’s bidding for four years and then she is promised that her freedom will be restored.

She is taken to Rifthold by the captain of the king’s guard Chaol who is accompanied by the Prince of Adarlan, Dorian, who chose her to compete. As they make their way to Rifthold, to the king’s glass tower, Celaena dreams up ways to escape but decides that it is too risky and she might as well go along with the program for now. Chaol and Dorian, the prince, soon find that Celaena is more than just a cold-hearted assassin and by the end, she captures their loyalty and love despite their best efforts to stay detached. As time goes by Celaena also finds each of these men to be equally difficult to hate.

At Rifthold Celaena starts training and regains her strength as she competes to prove her worthiness as a competitor. She is given a false identity and told not to tell anyone who she really is. They want her to disguise her actual skills so as to not paint a target on her back and last, as long as she can in the competition. As the competition continues a series of brutal murders starts taking out competitors in a way that no one can understand and Celaena starts to discover secrets regarding the castle and its history. She is tempted to escape but worries about what the consequences will be for her new allies Chaol and Dorian.

Will Celaena become the King’s Champion and a chance to win her freedom or will she be defeated and sent back to the slave mines of Edovier? Or will she die before she gets the chance? Will Celaena and Dorian be allowed to pursue their undeniable attraction?

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas was probably the closest thing I have ever read to a romance novel but I wouldn’t call it that exactly. It offers a wonderful balance of action, intrigue, romance, and fun. The characters are developed in a way that brings them to life effortlessly. The pacing of the book might be as perfect as a book can get as I never felt confused or slowed down and it had just enough foreshadowing and cliffhangers to always feel like it was driving to some inevitable climax, which it did, in spades. It also has supernatural and magical elements that reveal that this world has much more to offer than first imagined.

I enjoyed this book and read it in record time which for me is saying something as I am a slow reader. I am excited to see what happens in the next book and continue Celaena’s journey. All of Sara J. Maas’s books are very popular and I understand the appeal. I recommend checking this one out if you like books with a medieval setting and fantasy bent.

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