Tome Thursday: Throne of Glass

Hello everyone!

So today was spent mostly in ... let's see, doing chores, running around the house, running around town on a special quest for DVDs (but then, you guys should know by now I have a DVD problem ... oopsie?), trying to tame my impossible hair andddd ...

That's enough.

I feel exhausted either way though!

But as promised in the morning, or mid-day, whichever really came first, I can't remember, here is the book blog post! Now, some of you may remember I wrote about Sarah J. Maas and her novellas in a previous post, right here, so I'd encourage you to read it just so you're familiar with who and what I'll be talking about.

Though, if you're unlike me - which I presume most of you are - you already know all about Throne of Glass and are on the fourth book already, while I'm still struggling behind!

Not to worry tough, I have every plan of catching up.

Celaena Sardothien, when we last saw her in the prequel novellas, was being carted off in a wagon to the mines, so she could work as a slave. Now, at the beginning of Throne of Glass, however, we come back to the mines aftr some time has elapsed, so she has survived in there for much longer than how most do it.

Then again, she's got massive skills, people.

While she may think that something is afoot, she doesn't know a thing until she's brought in front of the Crown Prince, Dorian, where she is completely unfazed and just sassy to the core while discussing, quite calmly, her future fate.

This is, as follows: Dorian's father, the King (who is the only person Celaena fears, incidentally), is hosting a contest to filter through twenty-four people so that he may find an assassin worthy of his time and patience, to hire so that they would work only for him. Dorian would like to submit Celaena, seeing as at one point she had been the most famous and deadly of her ilk, and if she wins, that's fantastic!

If she loses, it's back to the mines.

Win-win, right?

Celaena accepts, and thus begins her transition back into civilized society, with the help of Dorian's Captain of the Guard, Chaol.

I sincerely hope you won't stop reading here because you can see a trend.

The King really doesn't care overly much whether or not his assassin is a criminal or someone who's been law abiding all their lives, just as long as they meet his criteria, which will mean going through the tasks appointed to them. Once they win, the position of King's Assassin is theirs for four years before they gain their freedom. Tempting, no?

Celaena gradually starts rebuilding her former skills and strength, but stays smartly in the middle of the pack even though she smarts at that, but she's listenint to orders at that time. Nothing prepares her for weird dreams she keeps having, however, of some sort of Faery Queen and demons and whatnot. Not to mention, there are symbols around palace grounds that are apparently from the time before the Empire, when magic ran rampart. So, her curiosity gets the better of her, as well as fear, and we begin to suspect something about her, but can't get it confirmed.

The tasks themselves aren't something I'll spend describing in this blog post, as they mostly serve as dramatic interludes and ensuring we know who she's up against and what she has to do; what's a little bit more interesting is the fact that Dorian has obviously fallen for her, but it isn't until quite late in the book that we get actual proof Chaol isn't as ice cold about her as he makes out to be.

And, to be perfectly honest, I was cheering for Chaol. Dorian just grates me in the wrong way.

"In the garden, the Captain of the Guard stared up at the young woman’s balcony, watching as she waltzed alone, lost in her dreams. But he knew that her thoughts weren’t of him.

She stopped and stared upward. Even from a distance, he could see the blush upon her cheeks. She seemed young—no, new. It made his chest ache.

Still, he watched, watched until she sighed and went inside. She never bothered to look below."

Throne of Glass, p. 261

But of course, Dorian gets chosen (I think my heart actually broke a little), and Celaena famously crashes a royal ball, as well, which also makes us think, as all the other contestants are invited, but she isn't. What gives, huh?

It's not all fun and games, however, as contestants have begun to disappear, found brutally murdered, and apparently with magic involved.

Le gasp.

By this point though, the Faery Queen has managed to make Celaena believe her, and with the arrival of a princess from a free kingdom, there seems to be no shortage of allies, though our assassin must face the demon on her own before it kills anyone else. Did you doubt her? I didn't for a second. She's a badass and makes sure it's never going to come out to attack anyone else again.

Juggling her awesome magic win with her budding relationship with Dorian and the upcoming final duel, Celaena ends up drugged for it and almost gets killed, although with the help of her friends, she manages to pull through and becomes the King's Assassin.

She also, to my intense relief, breaks it off with Dorian (I'm sorry, prince, but I was clapping here) and it LOOKS like she might be leaning more towards Chaol, now. Considering Chaol helped her during the duel, and she found strngth in his support, I'd say so.

The King, apparently not peeased in the slightest, practically threatens to kill everyone she cares about, regardles who they are, if she doesn't obey him to a T, and she complies - for now.

What else did we learn?

That the King and one of his Dukes are actually familiar with magic, and they suspect Celaena isn't exactly who she says she is. But at this point, the book ends.

I fell in love with our heroine back in the prequel novellas, but this novel just cinched it for me and I'm SO happy I found the series! I can't wait to read book two (I'm getting there, I promise) and see where this is all going to go. Celaena is my kind of girl, headstrong, compassionate, brave, but also incredibly stubborn, not to mention, there's just something about her I can't identify that makes her likeable.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series! And if you haven't read it yet, GO READ.

You won't regret it.

xx

*image not mine