Book Review- The Assassin's Blade
Hello readers!
Since the Throne of Glass series is so massive with a current total of 7 published books, I decided to break my reviews leading up to the release of Kingdom of Ash into sections. I chose this method mostly so I can focus on each book in the series, because for me, there are definitely pieces of Aelin's story that change to much. I first read this series Summer 2017 via audible, and since I feel like a lot of detail can be lost when someone reads a story to you, I figured I'd pick up physical copies for my re-read.
So today's review will be for just the novella bind up, The Assassin's Blade.
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| The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas |
♥♥♥♥♥
Title: The Assassin's Blade
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult
Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥
Synopsis:
Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.
Review*:
For those of you who are not familiar with this series, this book is a bind up of short stories about Celaena Sardothien. This was not published first, I don't believe it was even written prior to Throne of Glass, but it is different situations that lead up to where we find Celaena at the beginning of Throne of Glass. A lot of the characters within this book are important in both Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn, but prior to that are not present with the exception of Sam Cortland and the King of the Assassins, Arobynn.
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
Within the first novella, we meet Celaena and immediately learn of her position within an organization called the Assassin's Guild. Now, if you are reading this as the first book in the series and haven't already gone through the arrogance Celaena possesses in the first three books, you certainly are in for a treat.
Something I found annoying about her character, rather than endearing, was the total arrogance and snobber-y that Celaena has harbored as a character. Sure she is used to the finer things in life, being the King of Assassin's protégé, but fuck. Get over yourself.
Now for the actual plot, it's written very simply, which is not a bad thing. Celaena tends to rely a lot on luck and this skill she has spent 8-ish years honing. It's a very dense aspect of her character because although we see her being a tough character, we don't get any back story on how it's built. Her luck certainly seems to be playing a big part in this break-out for these slaves, considering there were a lot of opportunities for shit to fall through the cracks.
Without reading the first few books prior to the Assassin's Blade, we don't get much context on why Celaena is motivated to help these people other than "Slavery is bad, mmmmkay." Sam's intentions are clear enough between 1. not trying to work against his partner, and the most valuable asset to his master and 2. his mother was sold into prostitution at a very young age.
The entire plan seems very frail and transparent. I have no idea how Arobynn could have remained clueless to his adventures into the slave trade being squashed by his own assassins. Although it is a novella, I felt like more could have been explained, especially if someone is looking to read this as the first book in the series.
The Assassin and the Healer
This second story continues to follow Celaena after what transpired in The Pirate Lord. Arobynn learned of the incident with the slaves and did punish the assassin for her failure. As part of her punishment, Celaena is being sent to The Red Desert to train with the Silent Assassins. Before departing to the Deserted lands, Celaena waits for her ship in Innish, a tiny port town riddled with thieves and thugs.
This novella is written both in the POV of Yrene Towers, a barmaid at the White Pig in Innish, and Celaena. There isn't much action going on, and aside from the relationship she builds with Yrene, there isn't much story line added within this section. Most of what we learn is of how the King of Adarlan's conquest across the continent has affected more than just the magic that has now disappeared. Yrene's family is a long line of healers, and with the disappearance of magic, they were left without their skills. Adarlan soldiers show up to Yrene's hometown and butcher her family, but she manages to escape and find refuge with cousins elsewhere. Yrene's deepest wish was to travel to the Torre Cesme to train to become a healer.
Celaena gets restless the night before she is to depart from Innish and finds herself saving Yrene from some thieves looking to rob her as she is cleaning from the end of her shift. Celaena dispatches all but one of the thugs and then teaches Yrene self-defense should she need it. The remaining thug shows back up with more men and attacks Celaena. Yrene ends up utilizing the fresh self defense techniques.
In the end, the two women part ways, Yrene leaving her life in Innish to travel south with a pocket purse of coin from Celaena. Celaena continues her journey towards the Red Desert.
The Assassin and the Desert
This by far, was my favorite story within the book, mostly because Celaena's arrogance finally gets a reality check. She also does a lot of self-reflecting here; on what her feelings for Sam mean, her relationship with Arobyn, and even though she is the best where she comes from, she still has a lot to learn.
Celaena grows close to another girl, Ansel, and through her history we find that the two have more in common than they expected. Most of Ansel's story brings some background for characters that we run into though the remainder of the series, such as knowledge of the Ironteeth witches and the merchant who shaved his life for a piece of spyder silk.
As Celaena has to navigate her experience with the assassins without Arobynn's hand, she is given a chance to reflect on what her morals are. She ponders a lot on the day after she and Sam returned from Skull's Bay and how when she returns home things will be different. Celaena is beginning to understand that although Arobynn has done a lot for her, that doesn't mean he can buy her and the blind faith she has been living with has only backed her into a corner.
Now, I don't ship Celaena with anyone and I will get into that later in the series review, but the beginning of her relationship with Sam gave me the most feels. When the Mute Master's son, Ilias goes in to kiss her, she pulled away because she knew things had changed between her and Sam and didn't want to compromise that.
The Assassin and the Underworld
So, remember how Celaena was doing all this reflecting in the previous novella? She even came to the decision she was going to pay off her debts to Arobynn with the gold the Mute Master gave her for saving the assassins and his own life. Insert flush noise.
She let her wind get knocked out of her sassy sails when she finally made it back to the keep with the gold in tow, but since Arobynn is the controlling, mind-fucker he his, she froze. He gave her gifts, sweet promises, and instead of finally pulling herself from under Arobynn's thumb, she sat on it for a while. Like an idiot.
There is more of a plot in this novella; the country of Melisande is coming to Rifthold for an Autumn celebration and with it brings our lovely divorced couple, Leighfer Bardingale and Benzo Doneval. Leighfer hires Celaena to kill her ex-husband Benzo stating that he is trying to establish a slave trade route from Melisande to Rifthold. Celaena and Sam work together to obtain the documents she is hired to acquire and manage to kill both Benzo and an informant he was meeting in Rifthold.
What actually happens, and is super obvious, is that Arobynn lied to Celaena. Whether you believe that he knew prior to her successfully dispatching Doneval is a small argument, but I don't see how Arobynn couldn't' have known the entire time. Once Celaena finds out, she finally gives the King of Assassin's the gold to pay off her debt to him and moves out.
The most important part of this story is that we see Celaena start to shift from the young killer she was raised to be into a young woman who is finally taking her fate into her own hands. She has her lover, with Sam, and her freedom that she purchased herself.
The Assassin and the Empire
⇸⧫↞
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
Within the first novella, we meet Celaena and immediately learn of her position within an organization called the Assassin's Guild. Now, if you are reading this as the first book in the series and haven't already gone through the arrogance Celaena possesses in the first three books, you certainly are in for a treat.
Something I found annoying about her character, rather than endearing, was the total arrogance and snobber-y that Celaena has harbored as a character. Sure she is used to the finer things in life, being the King of Assassin's protégé, but fuck. Get over yourself.
Now for the actual plot, it's written very simply, which is not a bad thing. Celaena tends to rely a lot on luck and this skill she has spent 8-ish years honing. It's a very dense aspect of her character because although we see her being a tough character, we don't get any back story on how it's built. Her luck certainly seems to be playing a big part in this break-out for these slaves, considering there were a lot of opportunities for shit to fall through the cracks.
Without reading the first few books prior to the Assassin's Blade, we don't get much context on why Celaena is motivated to help these people other than "Slavery is bad, mmmmkay." Sam's intentions are clear enough between 1. not trying to work against his partner, and the most valuable asset to his master and 2. his mother was sold into prostitution at a very young age.
The entire plan seems very frail and transparent. I have no idea how Arobynn could have remained clueless to his adventures into the slave trade being squashed by his own assassins. Although it is a novella, I felt like more could have been explained, especially if someone is looking to read this as the first book in the series.
The Assassin and the Healer
This second story continues to follow Celaena after what transpired in The Pirate Lord. Arobynn learned of the incident with the slaves and did punish the assassin for her failure. As part of her punishment, Celaena is being sent to The Red Desert to train with the Silent Assassins. Before departing to the Deserted lands, Celaena waits for her ship in Innish, a tiny port town riddled with thieves and thugs.
This novella is written both in the POV of Yrene Towers, a barmaid at the White Pig in Innish, and Celaena. There isn't much action going on, and aside from the relationship she builds with Yrene, there isn't much story line added within this section. Most of what we learn is of how the King of Adarlan's conquest across the continent has affected more than just the magic that has now disappeared. Yrene's family is a long line of healers, and with the disappearance of magic, they were left without their skills. Adarlan soldiers show up to Yrene's hometown and butcher her family, but she manages to escape and find refuge with cousins elsewhere. Yrene's deepest wish was to travel to the Torre Cesme to train to become a healer.
Celaena gets restless the night before she is to depart from Innish and finds herself saving Yrene from some thieves looking to rob her as she is cleaning from the end of her shift. Celaena dispatches all but one of the thugs and then teaches Yrene self-defense should she need it. The remaining thug shows back up with more men and attacks Celaena. Yrene ends up utilizing the fresh self defense techniques.
In the end, the two women part ways, Yrene leaving her life in Innish to travel south with a pocket purse of coin from Celaena. Celaena continues her journey towards the Red Desert.
The Assassin and the Desert
This by far, was my favorite story within the book, mostly because Celaena's arrogance finally gets a reality check. She also does a lot of self-reflecting here; on what her feelings for Sam mean, her relationship with Arobyn, and even though she is the best where she comes from, she still has a lot to learn.
Celaena grows close to another girl, Ansel, and through her history we find that the two have more in common than they expected. Most of Ansel's story brings some background for characters that we run into though the remainder of the series, such as knowledge of the Ironteeth witches and the merchant who shaved his life for a piece of spyder silk.
As Celaena has to navigate her experience with the assassins without Arobynn's hand, she is given a chance to reflect on what her morals are. She ponders a lot on the day after she and Sam returned from Skull's Bay and how when she returns home things will be different. Celaena is beginning to understand that although Arobynn has done a lot for her, that doesn't mean he can buy her and the blind faith she has been living with has only backed her into a corner.
Now, I don't ship Celaena with anyone and I will get into that later in the series review, but the beginning of her relationship with Sam gave me the most feels. When the Mute Master's son, Ilias goes in to kiss her, she pulled away because she knew things had changed between her and Sam and didn't want to compromise that.
The Assassin and the Underworld
So, remember how Celaena was doing all this reflecting in the previous novella? She even came to the decision she was going to pay off her debts to Arobynn with the gold the Mute Master gave her for saving the assassins and his own life. Insert flush noise.
She let her wind get knocked out of her sassy sails when she finally made it back to the keep with the gold in tow, but since Arobynn is the controlling, mind-fucker he his, she froze. He gave her gifts, sweet promises, and instead of finally pulling herself from under Arobynn's thumb, she sat on it for a while. Like an idiot.
There is more of a plot in this novella; the country of Melisande is coming to Rifthold for an Autumn celebration and with it brings our lovely divorced couple, Leighfer Bardingale and Benzo Doneval. Leighfer hires Celaena to kill her ex-husband Benzo stating that he is trying to establish a slave trade route from Melisande to Rifthold. Celaena and Sam work together to obtain the documents she is hired to acquire and manage to kill both Benzo and an informant he was meeting in Rifthold.
What actually happens, and is super obvious, is that Arobynn lied to Celaena. Whether you believe that he knew prior to her successfully dispatching Doneval is a small argument, but I don't see how Arobynn couldn't' have known the entire time. Once Celaena finds out, she finally gives the King of Assassin's the gold to pay off her debt to him and moves out.
The most important part of this story is that we see Celaena start to shift from the young killer she was raised to be into a young woman who is finally taking her fate into her own hands. She has her lover, with Sam, and her freedom that she purchased herself.
The Assassin and the Empire
The final novella in this book is a pretty great story as well and leads into the beginning of Throne of Glass flawlessly. Sam and Celaena are trying to survive without the assistance of the Assassin's Guild but are having a hard time finding jobs. Sam is also finding it harder and harder to live in the same city as Arobynn and tries convincing Celaena to move away.
Unfortunately, the blessing of the guild and the hefty price tag attached to it stand in their way. Celaena spends the rest of her money to free the pair once and for all from their murderous past in Rifthold. With a lack of funds, the pair come to an agreement that one more job in Rifthold and they will flee.
Sam comes through with a job to eliminate the Crime Lord of Rifthold, Ioan Jayne, and his deranged muscle Rourke Farran. Despite their confidence, this is no easy feat, Farran is known for killing his victims slowly in a torture-esque manner. Personally, I wouldn't have taken this job no matter what kind of freedom it meant and regardless of my abilities. When your target is known as a sadistic butcher, you don't go for him.
Now, although Sam and Celaena were super cute, I also didn't care for their relationship. I don't fault her, but Celaena had been void of love and affection so when Sam came a long and told he that he loved her, I wasn't surprised that she reciprocated. Over-all, the pair falling in love was great; it helped Celaena pull her head out of the sand, it put her on the path to finally leave the guild and I also believe that Sam made Celaena guard her heart more which are all important aspects throughout the series.
Celaena's fall from grace was sad. Her life has dictated by a selfish man who lorded over her for half of her life. As she is transported to Endovier, the connections she made with Terrasen were a nice touch and way to remind Celaena of her roots, despite her ignorance to how deep they go.
Unfortunately, the blessing of the guild and the hefty price tag attached to it stand in their way. Celaena spends the rest of her money to free the pair once and for all from their murderous past in Rifthold. With a lack of funds, the pair come to an agreement that one more job in Rifthold and they will flee.
Sam comes through with a job to eliminate the Crime Lord of Rifthold, Ioan Jayne, and his deranged muscle Rourke Farran. Despite their confidence, this is no easy feat, Farran is known for killing his victims slowly in a torture-esque manner. Personally, I wouldn't have taken this job no matter what kind of freedom it meant and regardless of my abilities. When your target is known as a sadistic butcher, you don't go for him.
Now, although Sam and Celaena were super cute, I also didn't care for their relationship. I don't fault her, but Celaena had been void of love and affection so when Sam came a long and told he that he loved her, I wasn't surprised that she reciprocated. Over-all, the pair falling in love was great; it helped Celaena pull her head out of the sand, it put her on the path to finally leave the guild and I also believe that Sam made Celaena guard her heart more which are all important aspects throughout the series.
Celaena's fall from grace was sad. Her life has dictated by a selfish man who lorded over her for half of her life. As she is transported to Endovier, the connections she made with Terrasen were a nice touch and way to remind Celaena of her roots, despite her ignorance to how deep they go.
↠⧫↞
Overall, if you really love this series and Celaena specifically, I would recommend taking the time and reading the Assassin's Blade. It's hard to place what order to read it in though, considering the order of publication but I would lean more to reading this first. There is a lot more added to your hatred of Arobynn later on in the series, and reading through each character that is re-introduced in the story the context of their relationship to Celaena would have added to that moment.
If you've read the series, or even just the Assassin's Blade let me know your thoughts below.
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