Book review: Throne Of Glass series (so far) by Sarah J Maas

So I am finally doing my first book review and it's a big one, I am going to review the Throne Of Glass books that I have read so far, there are 8 books in total (including 1 prequel of 5 short stories). I have read 5 so far and have the last three on my shelf to read, but they are quite large so will do a review on each after I've read them.
Therefore the books I will be discussing are (in the order I read them);

- Throne Of Glass
- Crown Of Midnight
- Heir Of Fire
- The Assassin's Blade (prequel of 5 short stories)
- Queen Of Shadows

First thing to say is that this will contain spoilers, so if you have not read any of the books and plan to I suggest reading them first.

I will start with a general overview then cover each book individually. I am absolutely loving this series, I would even say it's one of my favourites already, but it will all depend on the last three books to be sure. I'm really enjoying the developing story line with the multiple twists that keep throwing curve balls throughout. The character development is another aspect I really enjoying, we keep finding out something new about the characters constantly, meaning they are not an open book from the start and keeps the overall story even more interesting.
At the beginning of the series I wasn't sure how it was going to last over 8 books, however as the story unfolded and certain things were revealed it became clear that there is lot more to the world of the Throne Of Glass series than I could have predicted. As the story develops we are introduced to a world where magic has been cut off and later freed, the murky underworld of assassins, dark magic and beings from other realms, witches, fae, shapeshifters, magic wielders, wyverns and more, there are Kings, Queens, Princes and nobles galore. There are multiple points of view within each book as the story is told from the point of view of all the lead characters and several others who are equally as important. This makes the books even more interesting as you get to see several parts of the bigger picture and build up what is happening, it also lends an air of intrigue as you see certain things from only one point of view and later the other side is revealed, which makes for interesting twists. The world of Throne Of Glass is set in a fictional country called Erilea, the country is split into several parts, the most important so far are Adarlan (the main location where the King of Adarlan (but ruler of Erilea by force) lives and rules from the capital Rifthold), Terrasen (the northern part of Erilea where the main character is from) and Eyllwe (the southern part of Erilea who are still partly independent).

Now to discuss the books in turn;

Throne Of Glass

As the first book in the series we are introduced to the story and the characters. The main protagonist in the series is Celaena Sardothien who is introduced as an 18 year old assassin. Prince Dorian Havilliard, son to the King of Adarlan, Chaol Westfall the captain of the guard and Princess Nehemia Ytger of Eylwe are the other key protagonists who Celaena befriends during the book. In the antagonist camp we have the King of Adarlan, the tyrant of Erilea, Cain a competitor of Celaena's in the competition to become the Kings champion and Kaltain Rompier a lady of the court who would do anything to marry Prince Dorion and is jealous of Celaena.
Over the course of the book you discover many things about each character as the book is told from the viewpoints of Celaena, Dorian, Chaol and Kaltain. I found this quite interesting as I was gradually finding out what each person was like from two points of view and being able to connect the dots as things unfolded. As the story develops and competitors start getting murdered and Celaena starts investigating she discovers that Cain is the culprit and is able to use magic, even though it has been gone from Erilea for 10 years. Inevitably Celaena and Cain are the last two competitors and have to fight to almost the death, during the battle it is revealed that Kaltain poisoned Celaena which makes her weak and susceptible to the dark magic Cain wields. Ultimately Celaena is successful with some help from Nehemia (who can use Wyrdmarks which is a form of old magic that still works to a degree) and Chaol who kills Cain when he tries to kill Celaena after his defeat.
I was not surprised by Celaena's victoy as she is the main character of the whole series, so she had to win and if i'm honest the book overall was fairly predictable yet still very enjoyable. I enjoyed the character development as more was revealed about each character and they formed new friendships, Chaol went from a very harsh, stand off-ish man at the beginning to being a genuine friend to Celaena. Nehemia went from a seemingly quiet, but formidable woman who (supposedly) couldn't speak the common tongue to Celaena's best friend revealing she could not only speak the common tongue fluently but also read and use Wyrdwarks, also is very outspoken. That's just a couple of examples, I also liked the action sequences both during the competition and outside with Celaena having to use all variety of skills from Archery to poison determination to fighting a demon in a narrow corridor. All put together makes for a very interesting start to the series and it seems quite clear that there are many things still to learn about the characters.
My overall rating for Throne Of Glass is 6/10

Crown Of Midnight

Now we come to the second book in the series and it starts a few months after Celaena became the King's champion and she is fulfilling her role by assassinating the targets given buy the King of Adarlan, or so everyone thinks, she is really faking their deaths and getting the targets somewhere safe. This book builds on the events of the first book and introduces some new characters as part of it, the main new characters are Archer Finn who is a suspected rebel leader and Celaena's next target for the King and Roland Havilliard, Dorian's cousin who is a well know womaniser, he was invited to join the King's council and ends up becoming one of the King's closer councilmen until he gets shipped of to Morath with Kaltain. This book is told from the points of view of Celaena, Dorian and Chaol.
As Celaena knows Archer from her past she initially sets out to do what she has before and fake his death, however things get complicated when she discovers that he is not only part of the rebel group but that the group is looking for the lost Queen of Terrasen Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. Celaena and Chaol's friendship develops into a relationship until Chaol is kidnapped and Celaena goes to rescue him, only to discover that Archer was behind the kidnapping while Nehemia is murdered back at the castle. Chaol know there had been threats to Nehemia's life and the King wanted to question her but did not tell Celaena leading her to blame him in part for Nehemia's death. This leads to a downward spiral where Celaena turns ruthless and does everything she can to cut ties and solve everything (including killing the man who killed Nehemia just as brutally), until Dorian shows her their friendship still means something and they start working together. Dorian discovers that he has magical abilities, to freeze anything, but does not reveal his powers to anyone but Chaol and Celaena. Wanting to get more answers from Nehemia she opens a portal to talk to her and discovers that Archer was behind Nehemia's murder. With the portal still open a creature from another realm steps through and only gets driven back by the combined efforts of Celaena, Chaol and Dorian, following this Celaena kills Archer. During the fight Celaena and Chaol ended up going through the portal and Celaena's true Fae form was revealed, this later led to Celaena telling Chaol the truth about her lineage, this leads Chaol to cut a deal to get Celaena away from the King, sending her to Wendlyn, a rival country, to kill their royal family. On the docks saying goodbye Celaena finally reveals to Chaol (via a cryptic clue) that she is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.
In this book the story line develops a lot more and gives an indication as to what direction the series may go in, I really enjoyed seeing the developments in the characters and the twists that completely changed the dynamics. I had a feeling at the beginning of the book that a key character would get killed off but I was not expecting it to be Nehemia until it was revealed, even then I hoped Celaena could save her, however this lead the book in a different tone and worked really well for what Celaena and the others had to do. I really liked Dorian discovering his powers in this book, the fear of it he has due to his father but also the sheer raw power that he has adds a new level to the character and leaves a lot of potential for him. I also enjoyed that even after everything that had happened Celaena and Chaol are able to be friends and work together, let's hope this continues. All of this shapes perfectly for the next book to follow on with the story and lead us in the direction the story will go.
My overall rating for Crown Of Midnight is 7/10

Heir Of Fire

Book three and all is changed, Celaena/Aelin (I will refer to her as Aelin from now on as she spends more time using her real name) is in a different country while Chaol is holding up his end of the deal he made by preparing to go home and Dorian is trying to get a hold on his powers while keeping them secret from his father. New characters in this book are Rowan Whitethorn, a Fae Prince who trains Aelin and is sworn to Queen Maeve (Queen of the Fae in Wendlyn and another new character). Manon Blackbeak, a member of the Blackbeak clan of Iron Teeth witches. Sorscha, a healer who falls in love with Prince Dorian. Aedion Ashryver, a general for the King of Adarlan, Aelin's cousin and a member of the rebel movement. The points of view this book is told from are Aelin, Chaol, Dorian, Manon and Sorscha, also towards the end there are some bits from Rowan, Aedion and The King of Adarlan.
This book is split into three areas so I will split the summary to make things easier. Soon after Aelin arrives in Wedlyn without hope Rowan finds her and takes her to Queen Maeve, following a discussion Aelin is told to get the answers she wants she must train with Rowan and when he feels she is ready she can travel to the Fae capital and Maeve will give her the answers she wants. Over the course of the book Rowan trains Aelin to control and use her power of fire, with many issues along the way, the two also become friends forming a strong bond. They also start to investigate some murders with they discover are being carried out my members of the King of Adarlan's army who have become host to demonic creatures called the Valg. After a battle with this part of the army, in which Aelin uses her power to destroy 3 powerful Valg Princes, they are successful and Rowan decides she is ready to see Queen Maeve again. Maeve honours the agreement and gives Aelin the answers she wants about Wyrdkeys and how the King may use them, after this Aelin forces Maeve to release Rowan from his blood oath, Rowan then swears the blood oath to Aelin. After this she sails back to Erilea alone to continue her mission, she will send for Rowan when the time is right.
Back in Rifthold while Chaol is making arrangements for his replacement as Captain and to leave for his home, his friendship with Dorian is strained as they keep secrets from each other. Aedion returns from battle and after noticing some suspicious behaviour Chaol follows him and discovers Aedion is a rebel loyal to Aelin. Chaol tells him Aelin is alive and they start working together. Meanwhile Darian is trying to control his powers, which he is being helped with by Sorscha. Between Chaol, Aedion and Dorian the discover that magic is being stifled by three black towers in Erilea, one in Rifthold and the other two forming a triangle covering the whole country. The King summons Dorian, Sorscha, Chaol and Aedion to question them about a spy among them, Aedion confesses and gets dragged to the dungeons to await execution. The King then turns to Sorscha and following her confession beheads her, Chaol draws his sword and an arrow gets shot at him which Dorian freezes. The King and Dorian then fight with there magic as Chaol escapes, this ends with Dorian getting overwhelmed and a black collar getting put on him.
Meanwhile, three witch clans are introduced. They are bitter rivals and have come together for the king of Adarlan. They compete for leadership of the group once they are joined as one to go to battle for him. They are each allowed to pick one wyvern to train with and ride. Manon is the heir to the Blackbeak clan and chooses an unlikely wyvern, Abraxos, a small but cunning creature. At first Manon doesn’t seem to have a conscience at all, but in the final battle she saves one of her rivals and emerges as their wing leader.

This book definitely revealed the direction the series is going in and I very much enjoyed it, even more character development and some brilliant new characters that really add to the story. It was really interesting how Aelin developed her skills gradually under Rowan's tutelage, even though it was challenging at first and the two did not get on everything developed together along with the mystery of the bodies and the Valg. It was also interesting to see how powerful Aelin could be and that makes for an interesting battle and could lead to even more interesting battles in the future. I enjoyed how Dorian learned to control his power more and the final battle with his father showed how powerful he could be as well. The development of the rebel story line with Chaol and Aedion was great with how they set some groundwork for Aelin's return and the continued story line, I think Aedion is a great character and he will be a great ally to Aelin if they meet again. Manon is clearly a force on nature and is a brilliant addition to show us the other side of the story, we get a small insight into what the King is doing and what Aelin and her Court may come up against. This book is definitely the best in the series so far and is setting up even more exciting things to come,

My rating for Heir Of Fire is 8/10

The Assassin's Blade

This is a prequel book of five short stories, I didn't get this until this point in the series however I find it made sense to read now as some of the events relate to the next in the series. As it is a prequel the name in use is Celaena Sardothien. There are several characters introduced in these stories, the main ones are Arobynn Hamel (mentioned in the other books), head of the Assassin's guild and Celana's master, Sam Cortland, a fellow assassin who becomes Celaena's lover and Lysandra, a courtesan in training who has always competed with Celaena for Arobynn's affections.

The Assassin And The Pirate Lord

Celaena and Sam, currently archenemies, are sent to Skull's Bay to finalise a deal between their master Arobynn and the Lord of the pirates Captain Rolfe. When they discover the deal is trading slaves they decide to ruin the deal and redirect Captain Rolfe's slave treatment from trading to harbouring. During this mission Celaena and Sam form an uneasy friendship.

This story is told from Celaena's point of view and is a really good introduction to the character of Sam (as he has been mentioned a few times). This let's us see what Celaena was like before that year in slavery and gives us an insight into what it was like being an assassin for Arobynn Hamel.

The Assassin And The Healer

Following Celaena's betrayal Arobynn has sent her to learn respect with The Silent Assassin's of the Red Dessert, while travelling Celaena stops at an inn to await a ship and saves the life of Yrene Towers, a barmaid who wants to train to become a healer.

This story is mostly told from Yrene's point of view with a few parts told by Celaena, this is an interesting as we get to see Celaena through the eyes of someone who has no idea who she is and gives a very harsh perspective her. However it shows her softer side as Celaena gives Yrene enough money to pay for the training to become a healer.

The Assassin And The Desert

Celaena arrives at The Silent Assassin's keep with the intentions of getting the Mute Master to train her and gain his letter of approval to give to Arobynn. While at the keep Celaena befriends Ansel of Briarcliff, to begin with Celaena trains with Ansel and a few others, they also get up to a bit of mischief, including stealing a couple of Asterion horses (worth a lot of money) from the closest town. After Celaena takes the blame for this incident The Mute Master finally agrees to train her, which causes friction between her and Ansel. After a few days there is an attack on The Silent Assassin's keep and the front door was left open for entry, Celaena discovers that Ansel was responsible just as she is about to kill the Mute Master, they fight and after injuring each other Ansel leaves without killing the Mute Master. Following this event the Mute Master gives Celaena the letter of approval and enough gold to free her of Arobynn.

This story is told from Celaena's point of view and we get to see how she learned some of the skills she has and how a different group of Assassin's operates, giving perspective of how manipulative and violent Arobynn is. It also highlights that Ansel is Celaena's first proper friend and therefore the feelings of loneliness and isolation are evident, which makes Ansel's betrayal all the more painful for her. It's also interesting that throughout the story Celaena keeps thinking about Sam which shows there is a bond that has formed, considering the way they were introduced this is a notable development.

The Assassin And The Underworld

Celaena returns to a very apologetic Arobynn who showers her with gifts, including impressive and expensive new armour. He asks her to take on their new high profile client, a wealthy woman who wants her ex-husband assassinated. Celaena agrees and lets Sam help when he asks to, even after an argument over how close he had become with Lysandra. Celaena later pays off her debt to Arobynn. During some surveillance, she is discovered and taken to the city sewers to die when they’re flooded but Sam rescues her at the last moment. She kills the ex-husband and discovers he was the good guy. But the deed is already done, and afterwards Celaena decides to tell Arobynn about moving out to the apartment she has bought. She sells her Asterion Horse to buy Sam’s freedom. Sam tells her he’s been in love with her for a long time, and she realises she has similar feelings for him.

This story is told from Celaena's point of view and it is really interesting to see Celaena in her natural habitat and tackling a fairly normal mission. Meanwhile  Celaena comes to the realisation that she is in love with Sam and discovers that he always has been, which explains why they have always butted heads. I also liked the introduction of the rivalry between Celaena and Lysandra as there are no female assassins to compete with, this added another aspect to the story as they have grown up together fighting for Arobynn's approval.

The Assassin And The Empire

A month after leaving Arobynn, Celaena and Sam want to leave Rifthold, but first they need to buy out of The Assassin's Guild for this Arobynn ask for an insane amount of money. To pay this they need to find a very big contract and Sam finds one, the almost impossible kill of crime lord Ioan Jayne and his ruthless right-hand man Rourke Farran. They decide to take out Farran first and Sam wants to do it alone, while they plan the kill Sam books passage for them out of Erilea. On the night of the Farran kill Sam does not return home as expected, Celaena watches the clock and on two separate occasions goes looking for him, when she returns home the second time Arobynn is waiting and tells her Sam is dead. He was tortured to death by Farran but Celaena still wants to see Sam's body, to make sure. Celaena goes to Jayne's house to kill both him and Farran, not caring for her safety and just wanting revenge for Sam, she kills several guards and Jayne but when she goes for Farran is knocked unconscious by a strange gas. Farran then turns her over to The King of Adarlan who gives her nine life sentences in Endovier. As Celaena is being carted off to Endovier Farran and Arobynn watch from a rooftop, as it was all a setup in which they conspired to kill Jayne and Sam and imprison Celaena.
This story is told from Celaena's point of view apart from one section near the end which is told from Farran's point of view, when he meets with Arobynn. This was different to the other stories as it showed two polar opposite sides of Celaena, the vulnerable side with the love story between her and Sam and then the lethal reckless side after Sam was murdered. It was bittersweet reading this story because even though I knew Sam was going to die I had still grown to like him, so I didn't really want it to happen. What I find most interesting about that is we only had a few short stories to get to know Sam yet we still did pretty well and the fact that his own recklessness caused his demise and ultimately caused Celaena's downfall.
I found that this collection of short stories perfectly set the scene for the Throne Of Glass series by providing some of Celaena's history and informing us on just how she was able to end up in Endovier. I primarily enjoyed the chance to get to know the 'old' Celaena and how she became the character she is at the beginning of the series, I also really enjoyed the chance to get to know Sam and how he impacted Celaena's life before his death. It's very clear that the series would be incomplete without these stories to give that little bit more insight into the world of Throne Of Glass, it also gives an introduction to Lysandra and Arobynn who become key characters in the next book and the history Celaena has with them.
My rating for The Assassin's Blade is 7/10

Queen Of Shadows

Now we come to book four and the last in this review, yet again all is changing. Aelin has returned to Erilea to hunt down Arobynn, Dorian is hosting a Valg Prince, Chaol is leading the rebels in Rifthold hunting for the Valg, Aedion is in a cell awaiting execution, Rowan is left in Wendlyn and Manon has been given her mission but discovers there are much more sinister forces at play. New characters in this book are, Nesryn Faliq, Chaol's right hand woman and an exceptionally skilled fighter. Elide Lochan, a slave in Morath and eventual ally to Manon. There are also some returning characters that we have not seen since Crown Of Midnight, Duke Perrington, who popped up every now and then in the first two books and is the King of Adarlan's right hand man, also Kaltain Rompier who now seems to be a shell of herself. The points of view in this book are Aelin, Chaol, Manon, Rowan, Elide, Dorian (mostly while trapped in his body not knowing who he is), plus a couple of chapters from Kaltain and a short section from The King of Adarlan.
A lot happens in this book, tying up some loose ends seems to be a bit of a theme in the events. Aelin returns to Rifthold and soon is working with Chaol and Nesryn to free Aedion, with a bit of help from Arobynn, in the form of a deal, as a means to an end. This brings Aelin back into contact with Lysandra who becomes a friend. Rowan returns to Aelin upon discovering Lorcan, a Fae warrior equal to himself, has travelled to Erilea presumably after the Wyrdkeys like them. Rown reveals that from their scents he has discovered Aedion is the son of Gavriel, another Fae warrior and Rowan's friend, and Lysandra is a shapeshifter. Honouring the deal with Arobynn the deliver him a Valg hosting soldier, Aelin gets the amulet of Orynth (her birthright and one of the Wyrdkeys) back and that night Lysandra kills Arobynn as planned. The group discover that there is a Valg King, called Erawan, under the mountains in Morath. Lysandra gets arrested for being a shapeshifter and is taken by the king to a secret meeting with the witches.
Meanwhile in Morath Manon is taking orders from Duke Perrington and realising the horrors the King is ordering. Elide comes to Manon's attention after she tries to spy on her and after realising Elide has witch blood in her decides to protect her. Kaltain is a shell of herself and possesses black wildfire. Aelin's group go to free Lysandra and get to see the witches for the first time. After being a prisoner in his own body Dorian is able to take control and even remember his name for a moment when talking to Manon. Once Lysandra is free and safe Chaol goes back to kill Dorian as a mercy kill, Aelin and Rowan follow and after saving him from the witches they flee. Manon catches up and after a tough fight Aelin wins almost leaving Manon for dead, but saves her life instead. Elide gets locked in a dungeon when her witch blood is discovered. Manon informs Aelin that Dorian is still in his mind to save, this is repayment for saving her life.
Final battle plans are prepared to free magic and save Dorian. Aelin and Chaol gain entry to the castle and end up fighting Dorian and the King respectively, while Rowan and Aedion battle through the sewers to blow up the clock tower. Rowan and Aedion seem to be losing the battle until Lorcan appears and helps, this allows Aedion to ignite the explosives and destroy the clock tower freeing magic, they are then trapped by an army of Valg which they fight a losing battle against until Lysandra, in the form of a ghost leopard, comes to their aid. Dorian breaks free of the Valg and takes back control of his body and then the King arrives having defeated Chaol, Aelin and Dorian fight the King together joining their power to release him from the Valg inside, he says everything he did was to protect Dorian from Duke Perrington as he is host to Erawan. Dorian kills his father by destroying the glass part of the castle while Aelin uses her fire to protect the city from being destroyed by it. Meanwhile Manon feels the return of magic and hunt for Elide, finding and freeing her, Kaltain finds them and helps them escape by using her golden wildfire to destroy the dungeons and the horrors within. Manon sends Elide north to Terrasen alone. Following the battle in Rifthold everyone stays to help Dorian transition to King, when he is ready he sends Chaol and Nesryn south to get his spine healed, while there he is to get the southern continent on their side. Aelin, Rowan, Aedion and Lysandra leave and make the journey home to Terrassen.
Well what a book this is easily the best book do far and I enjoyed reading every part of it, this book is the first not to have character development as a key part of the story, of course it is there but the focus is quite clearly on the main goals of the characters. I really enjoyed how the story went and the twists and turns throughout, several I did not see coming until they happened, Lysandra being a shapeshifter was a very unexpected surprise, I thought she was magical but not that, this adds another dynamic as we have loads of Fae, witches and Valg but a shapeshifter is new and exciting. The King being killed I truly did not expect and especially not ripped to shreds by his son, but at the same time for everything he has done he did deserve it, this also means of course the ultimate bad guy is actually Duke Perrington who has only been a bit of a minor character with too much power until now, even if Kaltain has taken a bit of that from him. I loved seeing the development in Manon, building on the conscience she started to display in Heir Of Fire she actually saves the life of someone who is only part witch and seems to like her, I also like that she has returned to Morath to hopefully help from the inside. The end of the book is an interesting situation, Dorian is alone as King, Chaol and Nesryn are going south, Manon is going back to into the hornets nest, Elide is travelling north alone, Aelin, Rowan, Aedion and Lysandra are in Terrasen, they are all more split up than ever and yet all working for the same cause, I am beyond intrigued the see how the next three books play out and how the final game plan is revealed, primarily just how strong are Duke Perrington, Aelin and Dorian?
My rating for Queen Of Shadows is 9/10

So that is my first book review, sorry it was so long only individual books in future, I hope you enjoyed it.