Name: Assassin's Blade, The
Rating: 4.192033383915024 (1977 reviews)

Mass Sarah J.

Assassin's Blade, The

Simone Endres

nara davies

Brittany

Camz 

vittoria

Sarah J. Maas

The twist of a knife. The birth of a legend. Step into the world of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas with this collection of prequel novellas. Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin's Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance. If she hopes to escape Arobynn's clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade . . . knowing that if she fails, she'll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life. A prequel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas explores the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling-and deadly-world. Included in this volume: 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

The Throne of Glass Novellas

The Assassin's Blade

Elda Mengisto

(First of all, this is the first time in a while I'm reading a book that I own, haha!) Four years ago, I read Sarah J. Maas' "Throne of Glass", intrigued by its cover and its back content. While its plot was similar to several YA novels of the day and got stuck at times, I was enthralled by Celaena's journey as she fought off intrigue and demons to work for the King. While I know there's more to the tale, I decided to go back to the prequels after a while before moving onto the rest of the series. They primarily focus on Celaena's time at the Assassin's Guild, in which she is considered one of the best of her realm. When I was reading the novellas, I felt like Maas told about this more than she showed through Celaena's actions. I saw her more as a ruthless assassin with a heart of gold, as seen throughout. The latter attached me more to her than the idea of being "the greatest assassin", especially with this particular scene. "Celaena lowered her bow and watched until Ansel disappeared beyond the horizon. One arrow, that had been her promise. But she'd also promised Ansel that she had twenty minutes to get out of range. Celaena had fired after twenty-one." (222). It not only highlights her humanity and struggle to do what's right, but also shows Maas to be a deft writer. She knows how to describe situations and build up anticipation for what would happen next, then come up with a curious twist. A weakness I've noticed was how she tended to tell more than show, but somehow it adds to Celaena and her world's charm. (and her relationship with Sam, that was great and filled with banter!) Overall, I'm happy with how the stories flowed together, despite acting as an anthology of stories. I liked seeing the world of Throne of Glass more and anticipate reading the series. The last lines of "The Assassin and the Empire" tie things well together, and open the door which lies ahead...(8/10)

The action-packed introduction to the legendary Throne of Glass series - an irresistible bind-up of all five of #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas's Assassin novellas Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassins' 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 prequel 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 . . . Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine and find out how the legend begins in the five page-turning prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series.

Emilee Keawe Oldroyd

Is was a beautiful collection of short stories that definitely enhance and add to the world that Maas has created. It made me absolutely weep and I am so glad that I decided to finish the series before reading this book.

Madeleine Rose

A wonderful prologue to the story of Celeana Sardothian. A romantic and gut wrenching love story.

Isabella De Francesca

Chase Leitner

I read this book as an assignment for my AP English class and I didn’t expect it to be as phenomenal as it was. I’m a slow reader and often struggle to start books but this book was much different, I’m absolutely in love with it.

Emmie Ervin

Loved all the back story and lore, so glad I decided to read third as I felt it impacted me more emotionally 

Kira Louise Morris

Read 3rd so in publishing order. Very glad that I did. I couldn’t wait to read it after finishing Crown of Midnight. I loved being able to tie the stories together and get a better understanding of why she is the way she is/does the things she does. Can’t wait to get back into the current storyline now! 

Leah Diaz 

Read this after ToG and CoM and I liked how you saw a lot of parallels into what Celaena did in those books. It definitely hindered the emotional impact of Sam’s death as I knew the whole time that he was dead from books 1 and 2, but it was still nice to see their little love story. Can’t wait to see how all of the characters that were introduced play out in the series. 

Paige Paul

I like this book because it gives us a glimpse of what Celaenas life looked like before Endovier. Reading about how hopeful she was for her future makes it a lot more heartbreaking that she was sent to a death camp where for all she knew her life was crushed. 

At the same time I have my my qualms with this book. It felt rushed and lacked depth in my opinion. Particularly, the romance between her and Sam was underdeveloped. The simple fact that they grew up together and cared for each other does add up to his death being monumentally painful but I wish their emotional bond was explored more. The beginning of their romance itself felt misplaced and a bit hard to believe. Sam’s admission to loving her his whole life also felt forced and unexpected. At the very beginning when their characters are introduced, nothing leads us to believe that the two of them have any sort of relationship apart from being acquaintances, albeit Sam is supposed to be hiding his true feelings for her, at the beginning of the book it hardly seemed like two were even friends. In fact, Celaena’s indifference to him makes it so hard to believe that she had ever given him a second thought. I don’t know, overall it felt rushed, poorly developed, I didn’t like how surface level the emotional connection between Sam and Caelena felt. Even the aftermath of his death felt lacking. This book would’ve been a lot more impactful if we jumped right into them being childhood friends/recent lover and if it picked up from there. 

Even her past and her journey as an assassin is barely glanced through. In the end I only like this book for the simple fact that it gives us glimpses of the girl she used to be. A lot more carefree with a heart of a child still and with less weight of the responsibilities that she couldn’t have anticipated. In the end I care for Sam more for the love he gives and the fact that we know, despite the lack of depth, that he cared about her and she cared about him. I do think the book doesn’t do Sam justice and I wish it did. 

khwaiish 

I like this book because it gives us a glimpse of what Celaenas life looked like before Endovier. Reading about how hopeful she was for her future makes it a lot more heartbreaking that she was sent to a death camp where for all she knew her life was crushed. 

At the same time I have my my qualms with this book. It felt rushed and lacked depth in my opinion. Particularly, the romance between her and Sam was underdeveloped. The simple fact that they grew up together and cared for each other does add up to his death being monumentally painful but I wish their emotional bond was explored more. The beginning of their romance itself felt misplaced and a bit hard to believe. Sam’s admission to loving her his whole life also felt forced and unexpected. At the very beginning when their characters are introduced, nothing leads us to believe that the two of them have any sort of relationship apart from being acquaintances, albeit Sam is supposed to be hiding his true feelings for her, at the beginning of the book it hardly seemed like two were even friends. In fact, Celaena’s indifference to him makes it so hard to believe that she had ever given him a second thought. I don’t know, overall it felt rushed, poorly developed, I didn’t like how surface level the emotional connection between Sam and Caelena felt. Even the aftermath of his death felt lacking. This book would’ve been a lot more impactful if we jumped right into them being childhood friends/recent lover and if it picked up from there. 

Even her past and her journey as an assassin is barely glanced through. In the end I only like this book for the simple fact that it gives us glimpses of the girl she used to be. A lot more carefree with a heart of a child still and with less weight of the responsibilities that she couldn’t have anticipated. In the end I care for Sam more for the love he gives and the fact that we know, despite the lack of depth, that he cared about her and she cared about him. I do think the book doesn’t do Sam justice and I wish it did. 

rereading the series and cried at every other sentence. so much foreshadowing. so many connections. love it! 

neele

Loved! The third novella absolutely broke my heart. As did the fifth one. Such amazing character and world building. So glad I read it first.

Allison

Karen

Cameron Gleeson 

Hannah Alexander 

soooo good. I definitely loved going back in time after knowing information ab the characters and stuff. Reading it 3rd was def a good call ONTO THE NEXT

Allysen

Good… but I wanted more!! Excited for sequels 

Frankie Fleming

i cared more about sam in one book than i have for anyone else halfway through the series. i knew it was coming and still wasn’t prepared for it. if i were her, i would’ve killed myself romeo and juliet style idc.

julie reads

Janice Walker

I read AB as the 4th book in the series and I'm glad I did. I've had people recommend me to read it as the first of third(which I probably would have liked as well) book in the series but I was too much into the story to read this book after CoM. 

While I thought the first couple of short stories were a bit boring sometimes, I really enjoyed learning about Celaena's past. In the three books I've read, there were multiple things hinted from her past (like stealing an Asterion mare or spending time in the Red desert) and I really liked that I already sort of knew how these things affected Celaena. 

I think that I wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much if I had read it as the first book in the series, simply because I wouldn't have had an idea of Celaena herself and her 'mysterious' backstory in Rifthold. I also think it adds to your reading experience if you already know she's originally from Terrassen, even if (SPOILER) you don't know she's Aelin yet. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even if at some points it was a bit to slow for my liking. 

Isabelle

I read AB as the 4th book in the series and I'm glad I did. I've had people recommend me to read it as the first of third(which I probably would have liked as well) book in the series but I was too much into the story to read this book after CoM. 

While I thought the first couple of short stories were a bit boring sometimes, I really enjoyed learning about Celaena's past. In the three books I've read, there were multiple things hinted from her past (like stealing an Asterion mare or spending time in the Red desert) and I really liked that I already sort of knew how these things affected Celaena. 

I think that I wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much if I had read it as the first book in the series, simply because I wouldn't have had an idea of Celaena herself and her 'mysterious' backstory in Rifthold. I also think it adds to your reading experience if you already know she's originally from Terrassen, even if (SPOILER) you don't know she's Aelin yet. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even if at some points it was a bit to slow for my liking. 

tbh the only novella worth it in this collective is the last one, the others were fun but also boring and distracting ? idk the final one was the only one that lent anything to the over all

Cici Pearson

Ok, the first three novellas were sooo good, I loved finally seeing all the adventure and swash-buckling bad-assery I expected when first introduced to Adarlin's Assassin in Throne of Glass. The last two novellas, however, were excruciatingly slow with all the dialogue and meandering around Riften, especially in the last novella when we already knew Sam's fate. I know it's because there needed to be a relationship fully established with Sam before the finale since we didn't see much of him until the 4th novella, but the plot underneath felt repetitive and pointless--ESPECIALLY since Arobynn's betrayal (BOTH times) was so comically obvious that I lost complete faith in Celaena's supposed intelligence. It was nice to finally know the exact events leading up to Celaena becoming a slave in Endovier, so it was definitely worth the read for the backstory; I just wish the last two novellas weren't so long or predictable.

Bethany

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin's Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam. When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes-and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn's orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn's clutches-and if they fail, they'll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives . . . A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling-and deadly-world. Included in this volume: 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

Jennifer Gosnell

These novellas are fantastic! I didn’t anticipate that they would be so close in the timeline to ToG and would pick up one after another. I really love that we got to really see Celaena in action, and in a myriad of different circumstances. It was delightful, heartbreaking, and twisty/turny. I’m torn on the reading order. I see the arguments for reading this book first, and the arguments for reading it 3rd or 4th. I read it 3rd, after Crown of Midnight… Overall I think that worked for me.

Maya 

3.75 ★

“I will not be afraid.”

The ending of this book shattered me. Realizing that she’s just a young girl. All the things they put her through. All the horrors she had to go through. Just for her to be used again and again. Being betrayed every step of the way. She just can’t catch a break it breaks my heart :(

Assassin's Blade, The

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