The Assassin’s Blade
The Assassin’s Blade (Throne of Glass #0.1-0.5)
By: Sarah J. Maas
“Everything has a price.”
This is the prequel for the Throne of Glass series. I read it after book three, Heir of Fire, which I thought was the author’s recommendation but turns out I was supposed to read it BEFORE Heir of Fire. Whoops! Anywho— keep that in mind because there may be spoilers if you haven’t read those books yet.
I don’t mind having read Heir of Fire before this one. The Assassin’s Blade exposes even more how manipulative and terrible Arobynn was.
At the end of Heir of Fire Celaena is ready to confront him and now I’m ready for that interaction because I need some justice! It might have been less satisfying to read about the terribleness of Arobynn and then read all of Heir of Fire waiting for Celaena to get to the point of being able to go after him.
But, I can’t know what it would have been like to read it any other way so here we are.
The Assassin’s Blade was originally published as five novellas in 2012 before Throne of Glass was published. Then they were compiled and published as The Assassin’s Blade in 2014.
The stories are titled:
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
The Assassin and the Healer
The Assassin and the Desert
The Assassin and the Underworld
The Assassin and the Empire
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like going backwards in the series when I was ready to plow ahead after Heir of Fire. But I think it was okay to go back. Plus, the novella format made it somehow faster of a read.
It was good to see Celaena before her life crumbled apart (well… for the second time).
We see her passion and initiative for freeing slaves when she beats Captain Rolfe.
We see that even though she’s angry for being punished by Arobynn, it doesn’t prevent her from recognizing Yrene’s need for an ally and a way out. Celaena’s generosity and helping the voiceless shines through.
We see her capacity for friendship and mercy with Ansel. I didn’t know Celaena ever really laughed or joked.
We see her budding romance with Sam on full display. Celaena’s ability to be vulnerable for someone.
And then finally, we see when all of that was ultimately ripped away. Her trust extinguished. Her rage ignited. Her love broken. Her future uncertain.
Endovier awaited.
Heir of Fire is a catalyst for Celaena’s character development. Her self-loathing almost destroys her until she is finally empowered to find the light and her worth. After all the darkness she endured— which was fleshed out more in The Assassin’s Blade— Celaena determines that her story will not be one of darkness and despair but of being a beacon of light for the lost, wounded, and broken.
I’m glad to have known that before reading The Assassin’s Blade because Arobynn is just the utter worst and it seems like Celaena just could not escape his clutches. But the saving grace in reading this tragically ended collection is knowing that Arobynn is (hopefully) about to be destroyed and I can’t wait for that.
Some Foreshadowing
Part of why you would want to read this book is to understand more of Celaena’s backstory, her volatile relationship with the manipulative and powerful Arobynn, and what happened with her and Sam, but there are also some other moments that I am assuming are foreshadowing and would be helpful to know about in future books.
It also leads to some new questions I have that I hope will be answered in later books (unless I missed the connection in the first three books without realizing it…).
We don’t really know why Arobynn sent Celaena and Sam to the Skull Islands. It seemed like his ‘business’ could have been conducted without them. He must have sent them away to keep them out of town for something, perhaps related to Ben and Gregorio. We don’t know yet if Arobynn was behind their deaths.
Yrene had healing powers that were taken away when magic disappeared. I’m assuming Yrene and her healing play a vital role in later books and she will be an important ally to Celaena.
Ansel divulges to Celaena: “I’ll tell you a valuable secret: the only way to kill a witch is to cut off her head.” We also see Celaena acquire some spidersilk from a vendor who sold twenty years of his life to get it. He asks Celaena to kill the stygian spider so he can have his years back.
Heir of Fire introduces Manon and all the witches. It also introduces the spidersilk that Manon steals to bolster her dragon thing. I’m assuming this knowledge about heads rolling will be useful later. I also predict that spidersilk will play another major role and that one particular spider will be killed.
Speaking of Ansel and witches… when she ran into an Ironteeth witch on her escape, why would the witch NOT have killed her? We are told how brutal and ruthless they are. Is this witch a significant character for us? Did more happen between Ansel and the witch than she revealed?
Ansel could have a character change and become an ally to Celaena in the Flatlands.
If we don’t see the Mute Master and his Silent Assassins (including Ilias) come to Celaena’s aid when she comes back I will be SHOCKED.
Lysandra has to come back at some point. She’s an enemy to Celaena here but I’m hopeful that she will become an ally that uses her connections to get Celaena information. Like Celaena and Sam, Lysandra is a product of her upbringing, not given a lot of opportunity to escape her entrapment and Celaena might eventually have a soft spot for her, especially if Lysandra is subjected to Arobynn.
Why did Arobynn allow Celaena to be taken to Endovier where she could have easily died? If he knew who she was and was planning to keep her under his thumb to control her and her potential kingdom, why would he risk what could happen in Endovier? Seems like too big of a risk.
Celaena Critique
I admit, I was very frustrated by some of Celaena’s decisions in this book. I think I keep forgetting that she’s only 16-17 in these books. Her frontal lobe is not fully developed and she still is going to act immature even though so much of her character functions like a full-grown adult.
For example, her and Sam are forced to take on the fateful job because they owe Arobynn so much money and Celaena is attached to all her luxurious goods and needs. She isn’t willing to part with anything and requires a certain lifestyle yet going forward. If she could give any of that up, they could have cut ties easier. Her poor use of money is annoying considering the circumstances.
I know most teenagers don’t have great money sense. But most teenagers also don’t know a million ways to kill someone, so…
I was also annoyed that Celaena just believed Arobynn gave up on getting into the slavery industry so easily. She messed up his deal and thought that was that, but if she was smart, she would recognize that Arobynn is not just going to be like- That was going to make me a lot of money, but you’re right, I’ll just not do it because you don’t want me to, in fact I’ll actively work against it.
Though, again, teenagers tend to have an inflated view of self and their ability to change the world, so maybe it tracks.
Plus we have to take into consideration how manipulative and controlling Arobynn has been with Celaena for many formative years now, so to untangle the effects of that on her logic and decision-making would be tricky.
I just hope that Celaena continues to mature in shrewdness and wisdom so she can make better plans and not be taken advantage of anymore.
Recommendation
It’s hard to read a prequel in the middle of a series, but I think that is the correct course of action. Read it before Heir of Fire or after. Either should be fine.
This, again, isn’t going to be my favorite book of the series— probably because it’s tragic and infuriating— but still a great read that continues to invest you in Celaena, her world, and her plight.
Four books into the series and I’m still on the recommend-train!
Also, if you liked the ‘I will not be afraid’ line… then you need to watch the David movie <3
[Content Advisory: a handful of swear words; there is regular talk about a courtesan preparing for her virginity to be sold; there are several scenes where prostitution is occurring in the background but no encounters are detailed; and obviously there is violence and murder because that’s what assasssins do— no scenes of ongoing torture though; closed door romance between Celaena and Sam other than some kissing]
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