by Sarah J. Maas
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Published: 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA
Hardback: 416 pages
Rating: 5
Throne of Glass series:
Throne of Glass
Crown of Midnight
Heir of Fire
The Assassin's Blade (5 novellas)
Queen of Shadows
First sentence(s):
After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point.
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.
Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.
Zombie sighting:
Celaena pulled another book toward her and grinned It was as if someone had read her mind. It was a large black volume entitled The Walking Dead in tarnished silver letters.
-chapter 27, page 209
PeekAbook:
My two-bits:
Totally lived up to the hype for me.
Awesome tough female heroine who is more that what she seems and that is exposed in this first book. There are definitely more things to discover about her background and skills that will be fun to learn about.
There is plenty of action with physical challenges and fight scenes that are not overdone or too violent.
The various relationships (especially love oriented) are equally interesting to follow with humorous and romantic adorable scenes. Yes, a love triangle occurs, but not annoying. I'm looking forward to finding out the final coupling.
MUST continue with the rest of this series!
About the author:
Sarah lives in Bucks County, PA, and over the years, she has developed an unhealthy appreciation for Disney movies and bad pop music. She adores fairy tales and ballet, drinks too much tea, and watches an ungodly amount of TV. When she's not busy writing, she can be found exploring the historic and beautiful Pennsylvania countryside with her husband and canine companion.
*image source: quote
