Review of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass Series

I began the Throne of Glass series on the heels of Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I am giddy when I discover long-lasting series which results in past-my-bedtime binges. In this, the author does not disappoint.

I am particularly impressed with her worldbuilding and character development.

Genre: Fantasy

Blurb for Book One: In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

Point of View: Maas skillfully shifts through multiple first person POVs. There were only a few chapters throughout the series where I wasn't certain whose viewpoint was represented at the start. Book 5 began with a flashback to the past that was confusing. I checked the list of books to make sure I had the correct book order.

Protagonist: I loved feisty Celaena Sardothien. As a professional assassin, the heroine was believable as a warrior and strategist. She is a "chosen one," but cannot save the world alone. She is a human who finds she has paranormal heritage and eventually is turned into an immortal. She is given several names along the way, but I didn't lose track.

Love interest:  In lieu of love triangles, the books books portray a realistic progression of relationships until a character finds his or her "soul mate." The secondary characters have believable relationships. Lovers of romance will appreciate the partnering aspects of the series.

Antagonist: There is one overarching antagonist in books one through four then a stronger antagonist is introduced and fought until the end of the series.

Friends and Foes: The characters are all believably motivated with shifting alliances and relationships that change. There is a large cast, but scenes only focus on a few characters at a time. There are a few foes turned friend and vice versa.

Stakes:  Like most Fantasy, the stakes are high. Domination by the enemy would result in harm to the majority of the species of paranormal and human populations.

Word craft: Several crutch words made a reappearance ( hiss and bark) but not as often. There are times when the expletives were repetitive, but I give her points for inventing originals.

Rules of Magic: Maas excels in this category. She explains where the magic comes from, how it works, and its price. The characters' powers have limitations. Magic is a renewable resource and the characters must recharge. Using magic makes them ravenously hungry and tired. There is a risk of permanently running out of magic if used all at once or for an extended period of time. That gives the magical characters a vulnerability.

Maas explains how shifting works and explains what happens to their clothing, another item other authors ignore. The process of transformation drains shapeshifters.

Maas also addresses how the aging process works with immortality. That is one head-scratcher authors rarely account for.

I accidentally skipped Book Six in the series. When I referred back to the descriptions, Book Six seemed to follow secondary characters I didn't really care about. I decided to leave the story at a satisfactory conclusion instead of going backward in the timeline. Other readers will enjoy the detour.

The books in order are:
0 The Assassin's Blade: a collection of prequel short stories
1 Throne of Glass
2 Crown of Midnight
3 Heir of Fire
4 Queen of Shadows
5 Empire of Storms
6 Tower of Dawn
7 Kingdom of Ash

Embarking on Book Seven, I was a bit battle fatigued and ready for the war to be over. I scanned many chapters following secondary characters that were introduced in Book 6. By this time, the cast and POV characters were so numerous, I grew a bit bored with all of the hookups. But fans of romance will be thrilled that much of the supporting cast had their happy ever after romantic resolutions.

Overall, it was a satisfying book binge. Maas has been placed on my "keeper" list and I look forward her new releases. You can follow her on Amazon, Twitter, and her website (http://sarahjmaas.com/).

Further Reading:

Review of Sarah J. Mass's Court of Thorns and Roses