The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas (Throne of Glass, 8)

Alright, so if you have read this or you are considering reading this, then you have probably greedily read all of the Throne of Glass books. If this is not the case, stop reading this and either immediately buy this or the Throne of Glass book, you can thank me later. Despite having read the entire original series and knowing some of the back story, I read this collection of stories with my kindle mere inches from my face. It was amazing, tense, beautiful, and thoroughly captivating. I loved returning to this world, to Celeana Sardothien and her quick wit and sass, and to Adarlan (despite it's flaws). So not only would I highly recommend this and the other books but I would quite like to climb into the world and live in it. Go forth and read!

’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.

Woah so where do I start with this one,what an emotional and action packed rollercoaster, I was truly heartbroken by the end of this book. So I read Throne of Glass first but, I would definitely recommend reading Assassin Blade first. But if like me you read Throne of Glass first it answers so many questions and answers that are missing in the first book.  𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡- 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙,𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧? 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢? So Assassin Blade is a novella, we get a look into Celaena Sardothien’s life before what happened in the Throne of glass. Now depending on when you read this book, you will read and see it differently, as I had read the Throne Of Glass first I think it pulled my heartstrings more as I knew some of the things that were going to happen. After reading this omg my heart truly breaks for Celaena you truly get a look in of her life with the King of Assassin, Arobynn Hamel.Celaena works for the Assassin Guild, she is the most feared assassin of her kingdom and is Arobynn Hamel protegee and heir. I was excited to meet one of the characters, Sam Cortland, another of Arobynn assassins. I loved Sam. He is a strong and loyal friend to celaena and I loved how their relationship and the trust built between them both through the book. I loved the five different stories we had in Assassin Blade too. It was very well done. "𝙈𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙣," 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙," 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙." This book really does get to all your emotions, I had tears and devastation, full of action and love and friendship and finding out who they can really trust. This is definitely a book you need to read if you haven't yet, and having started the series it explains a lot of why Celaena is the way she is. We meet a lot of new faces and some of the characters we hear about in Throne Of Glass. I admire Celaena a lot more now too, everything she has been through and she still carries on the way she does. She is truly an amazing character and a strong and sometimes reckless, and kickass young lady and I can't wait to read the rest of the series to see where it takes us. Absolutely love this series. It is truly phenomenal as it is becoming one of my favourite fantasies.

Overall rating : 5 stars Witness Celaena’s rise and downfall as Adarlan’s Assassin in this collection of five prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series… Assassin’s Blade is a collection of novellas, served as a backstory to the Throne of Glass series. These novellas follows Celaena Sardothien’s life, all the way up to the Salt Mines of Endovier. Celaena Sardothien was brought up in Rifthold, and trained to become Adarlan’s Assassin. Celaena is duty-bound to Arobynn Hamel, He is the one who provided her with a home at the Assassin’s Guild and taught her the deadly skills she needed to survive. And yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only one person. The person she trusts is her fellow killer for hire, Sam. The Assassin and the Pirate Lord is the first novella. Celaena and her rival, Sam Cortland, are sent on a mission to seal a deal in the slave trade with the pirate lord, Captain Rolfe, Lord of the Pirates. Refusing to seal the deal, Celaena and Sam must find a way to free the two hundred slaves without attracting attention from Rolfe or have word reach Arobynn. The Assassin and The Healer follows on from The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. After being beaten by Arobynn for disobedience, Celaena is sent to the Deserted Land to train with the Mute Master and his Silent Assassins for a month. While waiting for the ship to take her to the Deserted Land, Celaena meets Yrene Towers — a healer, working as a barmaid, and wishing to seek further education for her abilities. After an attempted attack, Celaena teaches Yrene how to defend herself for when she decides to leave for a better life. The Assassin and The Desert follows on from The Assassin and the Healer. After their stunt with Captain Rolfe of Skulls Bay Celaena and Sam returned to the Assassins’s keep and are severely punished by their master, the King of the assassins Arobynn Hamel . Celaena, after being beaten prutalmente was forced to train in the red desert together with the master mute. Among the hot sun and the sand dunes Celaena holds a friendship that leave more than a few broken bones. The Assassin and The Underworld continues on from The Assassin and the Desert. Returning to Rifthold and her life at the Assassin’s Keep, Celaena finally runs into Sam, only to find that he’s been spending time with Lysandra, a courtesan whom Celaena has despised since she was ten. Celaena and Sam are sent to assassinate Doneval and his business partner for attempting to arrange a way to improve the slave trade. Following a staggering deception from one she trusts the most, Celaena must gather courage to fulfil her wish to move out of the Guild and begin again The Assassin and The Empire follows from The Assassin and the Underworld. After paying off her debt to Arobynn, Celaena moves out and brings Sam with her. In order to escape ...

📖BOOK REVIEW📖 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 QOTN: “When we die, do you think we’ll be punished for the things we’ve done?” THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! The Assasin’s Blade is a collection of 5 novellas dictating Celena Sardothein’s life leading up to the first book “Throne of Glass.” Each story tells you a different adventure Celena takes and explains her relationship with Sam. •••• Whether you read this first before “Throne of Glass” or after “Kingdom of Ash,” like I did, these novellas prove that SJM can WORLD BUILD!! The fact she wrote these 5 stories and then ToG and had it all tried in together is insane! The explanations for Skull’s Bay and Ansel was amazing. Explaining how she got sent to Endevoir by Arobynn amazing. The only reason I gave it 4/5 is because of the Sam storyline. In my opinion, ToG series made Sam & Celena’s relationship seem more fairytale-esc and more prominent, when in reality they were briefly together!! Also, due to the way I read the series, I thought Rowan & Aelin had more chemistry than Sam & Celena did. I will say, however, ending the novellas with Arobynn’s quote: “Because I don’t like sharing my belongings,” was BEAUTUFUL!!