Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury (2nd August 2012)
Blurb:

MEET CELAENA SARDOTHIEN.
BEAUTIFUL. DEADLY.
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.

In the dark, filthy mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament – fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her  assassin’s heart be melted?

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Throne of Glass is Sarah J. Maas’s brilliant  debut novel. In it we are told the story of Celaena Sardothien, an assassin, who is offered the chance of earning her freedom by entering in a tournament that could mean her death.

I had heard great things about this book through the blogosphere, though I tried to steer clear of the reviews. The one thing that really caught my attention about the book was that it was originally published on FictionPress.com – and I really admired the fact that Maas makes no attempt to hide this, and indeed thanks her fans and friends on the site.

Throne of Glass is a brilliant example of a Young Adult sword and sorcery tale with a female protagonist. The story is told through third person narration, thus allowing the reader to know things at times that Celaena does not. This form of narration really worked, as it allows readers into the head-space of other characters so we can know them better.

The world in Throne of Glass is an interesting one. It is quite a dark place, where magic has been wiped out and countries have been brutally conquered. In fact, when the story starts Adarlan is in the process of conquering another country. The characters in this world are vivid and come alive on the page. Celaena is an interesting protagonist, and I found it very easy to relate to her. She is very sure of herself, and she is very driven. Maas does a brilliant job with the secondary characters too.

Throne of Glass is a brilliant read. If you’ve enjoyed Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series, then you should definitely try this book. I look forward to reading future books in this series.