Review: The Assassin and the Empire by Sarah J. Maas

Just a quick note before I do my review. I have decided to change the format of my reviews because I don’t really like what I have been using (with what I don’t like and what I do like) and I don’t really think it works for me. So this review is going to be in my new format! Let me know what you think.

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Celaena Sardothien is the assassin with everything: a place to call her own, the love of handsome Sam, and, best of all, freedom. Yet, she won’t be truly free until she is far away from her old master, Arobynn Hamel; Celaena must take one last daring assignment that will liberate her forever. But having it all, means you have a lot to lose.

Today I am going to review the final Throne of Glass novella, The Assassin and the Empire by Sarah J. Maas. This story was a little darker and twisted than the others and it is possibly my favourite of the four. This story covered the events that landed Celaena in the prison that is the salt mines of Endovier. As with the previous novellas, it was nice to know what actually happened leading up to Throne of Glass.

I found Celaena to be less annoying in this story compared to the others and I think that this may have been because she was willing to give everything up to be safe with Sam. I still found her a little vain and stubborn, but she had softened a little. I also felt that she was more aware of what was going on around her and she didn’t have blind faith in Arobynn anymore. In saying that, I still think she trusted Arobynn a little too much. She also thought things through a little more than in the other books, particularly in how she planned to leave Rifthold and in planning their final job.

I felt like Sam had become darker in this story. We saw him needing to be violent, as such, when he fought. He did say that it was because it was easy money, but I also felt that he needed it to sort out his feelings. I liked that Sam only trusted Celaena. He had no faith in Arobynn. I also liked that he would do anything for Celaena. It was also nice to see him be a bit rash at times, particularly in his need to leave Rifthold behind. I also felt that he was a bit rash when it came to the mission, particularly that he wanted to take it on by himself.

The plot was fairly original, but not necessarily unpredictable. From reading Throne of Glass, I knew who was going to die and that someone betrayed her. It was from reading the novellas that I guessed who it was that betrayed her, and the book proved me right. There were some surprises, like support from an unexpected front, but I mainly knew or guessed what was going to happen. In saying that, if I had of read this before reading Throne of Glass I think it would have been a lot less predictable.

This was a great story to finish the novellas and a great lead up to Throne of Glass. I am satisfied that I now know the events prior to Throne of Glass and I am eagerly anticipating the release of the second book, Crown of Midnight, in August this year!

I give this story 4/5 stars.

Mel.

Up next: Throwback Thursday – Chronicles of Narnia

Review: The Assassin and the Underworld by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

When the King of the Assassins gives Celaena Sardothien a special assignment that will help fight slavery in the kingdom, she jumps at the chance to strike a blow against an evil practice. The mission is a dark and deadly affair which takes Celaena from the rooftops of the city to the bottom of the sewer—and she doesn't like what she finds there. 

 

The Assassin and the Underworld is the third Throne of Glass novella. This book was set entirely in Rifthold, unlike the first two. I really enjoyed the setting and finding more about the dynamics of the assassins.

What I liked about the book?

• As I said, I really enjoyed learning more about the dynamics in the book. They interactions and the hierarchy were really interesting and added depth to the book. I particularly liked the interactions between Sam and Celaena and the both of them and the King of the Assassin’s.
• I love Sam. He was so caring, despite his profession, and forgiving in regards to Celaena, despite what she had done to him.
• I liked that we got to see more to the story than just the mission that Celaena was given. We saw her go to a party and the theater which both originally started out for the mission but it ended up more than that for her. I also liked to see her in the times that she was more feminine, gushing over presents, I felt like it was a relief to all the thoughts about the slave trades, the mission and Arobynn. I also enjoyed her playing the piano.
• I thought that the new characters added depth to the story, particularly Lysandra. I also liked getting to know some of the older characters more and learning what drives each one a bit better.
• I found the plot was less predictable and more original than the first two and was more intriguing as well. There were a couple of twists and turns that I didn't expect as much as I did in the last novella.

What I didn't like?

• This is similar to the other reviews. I found the lack of description of some of the places annoying, particularly considering trinkets and clothes were described in good detail when they didn't need to be.
• Celaena annoyed me even more in this story. She was more vain and up herself than usual and very proud. She looked down on others because of their profession, even if they had no choice in the matter, the same as she did. She also let people’s behaviour blind her to what was really going on. I found her very blind to some things going on around her, particularly in regards to Sam. It all just annoyed me a little.

Other than that I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and action-filled. I gave it 4/5 stars.

Mel.

Up next: Review: The Assassin and the Empire by Sarah J. Maas.

Review: The Assassin and the Desert by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

The Silent Assassins of the Red Desert aren’t much for conversation, and Celaena Sardothien wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s not there to chatter, she’s there to hone her craft as the world’s most feared killer for hire. When the quiet is shattered by forces who want to destroy the Silent Assassins, Celaena must find a way to stop them, or she’ll be lucky to leave the desert alive 

The Assassin and the Desert is the second of the Throne of Glass novellas. I really enjoyed reading it and it was nice to again learn more about Celaena’s past, in this case more about the Silent Assassins.

So what did I like about the book?

• The plot was entertaining. I really enjoyed the idea of the Silent Assassins and the difference between them and the Northern Assassin King.
• I loved the cool horses. Ok, I have to admit something here which is that I really love horses. So when any book has a cool horse, in this case two, my thoughts of the book are generally improved. The Asterion horses were great with their fast speed and incredible strength. I really wish I could own one.
• I really like Celaena. It is a surprise for me that I actually like the main character because quite often they annoy me, but in this case I do. I admire her morals, because even though she is an assassin she respects people and she respects human life. She always tries to find an alternate way than killing someone, even if it makes the job about ten times more difficult than it already was. I do find her a bit arrogant and vain, which are traits that usually annoy me, but the way she cares for others and the wrongs that happen to other help me to overlook this.
• The new characters that were introduced were really good as well. I loved the Mute Master and his son Illias. The difference between the Master and Arobynn and their interactions with Celaena was interesting to see. I loved the continual comparisons that Celaena made of Sam and Illias, as well, and I was hoping that it would make her more aware of Sam’s feelings toward her. I found Ansel intriguing but she annoyed me a fair bit and I never trusted her. I felt for her though when the truth about her past came out. I also liked Mikhail even if he didn’t play a big part.
• As always with Maas’ writing I found that the sentences flowed really well and drew you into the story. They weren’t too long and they weren’t too choppy.

Now to what I didn’t like (which in this case are more annoyances than not liking).

• I had predicted who was going to betray Celaena fairly early on in the book, so when the betrayal actually came I wasn’t at all surprised by it.
• I would like a little more description, but I can understand why it doesn’t seeing it is only a novella and not a full novel.
• I got annoyed by Celaena always going “I am Celaena Sordothian, Ardalan’s Assassin.” I think that it could have been left out more often than not because you still got that she was proud and vain without her constantly repeating it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fairly well written and it was entertaining. I rate it 4/5 stars.

Mel.

Next Up: Throwback Thursday - Inheritance Cycle

Review: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

On a remote island in a tropical sea, Celaena Sardothien, feared assassin, has come for retribution. She’s been sent by the Assassin’s Guild to collect on a debt they are owed by the Lord of the Pirates. But when Celaena learns that the agreed payment is not in money, but in slaves, her mission suddenly changes—and she will risk everything to right the wrong she’s been sent to bring about. 

This is the first of four Throne of Glass novellas that are set before the Throne of Glass book. Each novella covers the events that lead up to Celaena being imprisoned. I really enjoyed this book, it was great to find out part of Celaena's back story that was mentioned in Throne of Glass but not really explained.

What did I like about this book?

• As I said, I enjoyed getting the back story of Celaena, particularly finding out about Sam. We hear in Throne of Glass that Sam was a love interest of Celaena's and that he was killed, so it was nice to actually meet Sam at the start of their relationship where Celaena hates him. It was great to see this relationship grow, and to see Celaena start to trust him more. 
• It was also great to learn about the hierarchy at the Assassin's Keep. It was great to see Arobynn and his relationship with Celaena. It was also good to see Celaena start questioning her blind faith in Arobynn.
• I really liked Sam. He intrigued me at the start because of what we knew about him. I was also intrigued by Celaena's original thoughts about him, seeing him only as a rival and a threat, and how biased she was against him. I also had a feeling that what she thought he felt for her was probably the complete opposite of what he did actually feel for her. I also liked that he had a moral compass, even though he was an assassin, that I felt came from his background.
• I liked the fact that despite Celaena being an assassin she is compassionate and feels for other people. I liked that she found it difficult to kill someone who wasn't a murder/slave-trader etc. All this made her easier to connect to because if she didn't have that compassion I think it would have been impossible.
• It was also nice that Celaena didn't have to kill everyone to complete her mission. I like the fact that she was good at knocking people unconscious or leaving them too wounded to chase after instead of just killing in cold blood. I found it really refreshing to have an assassin who didn't have to kill everyone.
• I really enjoyed the plot. It was interesting and fairly complex, with some good twists and it caused you to aske questions about morality and the like. It probably wasn't the most original plot but it was enjoyable.
• I also like Maas' writing style. Her sentences weren't too long, but also weren't short and choppy. I felt like everything flowed really well. 

What didn't like about this book?

• It wasn't as descriptive as it could have been, or I would have liked it to be. I understand that it being shorter than a normal length book that the descriptions would have to be cut short but I felt that there wasn't enough for me to even form a vague mental image of some things. In saying that I really loved the description of Skull's Bay which reminded me of Tortuga from Pirates of the Caribbean. 
• The arrogant, headstrong side of Celaena annoyed me but I did see that there were other sides to her that didn't annoy me as much.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord was a great start for the background story of Celaena and definitely leaves you wanting to read the rest of the novellas. I gave this story 4/5 stars.

Another note relating to Throne of Glass, is that the title for the sequel was released at the end of January. The title will be Crown of Midnight, and I must say that I am even more excited for the release of this in August than I was before!

Mel.

Up next: Review: The Assassin and the Desert by Sarah J. Maas.

Wrap-up of this week and What is to come next week

What happened this week?

Good question. I decided to really get this blog up and running and I am excited for the time ahead. So what I brought you this week was a review of possibly my favourite book of 2012. I gave you my first ever entry of Throwback Thursday, where I looked at two favourite series of mine. I then gave you an outline of what you can expect from me over the coming weeks and, hopefully, months. Saturday saw the start of Seven on Saturday, where you got to see my taste in Book Couples. And then of course there were the challenges that I signed up for. These are the 2013 TBR Pile reading challenge, Short Story Summer challenge, Take Control March 2013 challenge and the Australian Women Writers challenge 2013. Click on the pictures of the challenges to sign up! I will be bringing you the progress of these challenges in this wrap-up post across the weeks. 

What will happen next week?

Monday: Review of The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan

Tuesday: December releases that I am looking forward to

Wednesday: Review of The Golden Door by Emily Rodda

Thursday: Throwback Thursday - Harry Potter

Friday: Review of The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Saturday: Seven on Saturday - Summer Reads

Sunday: Wrap-up/Preview and Challenge updates

I hope you enjoyed this week and I am looking forward to sharing with you next week.

Mel.

Up next: Review of The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

First thing I have to say is the Australian/UK/New Zealand (on the left) cover to this book is amazing! For once, it is so much better than the American cover (on the right). This wasn't the reason why I bought the book though. I bought it because the blurb intrigued me and it looked like it could be a really interesting book. It lived up to, and beat, all the expectations I had for this book. 

I read this book in 2 days because it was just so addictive! It was one of the best books I have read this year.

The things I liked about this book are:

- The world building. Sarah J. Maas build this fantasy world so well and so descriptively without slowing down the pace of the book and without taking away from the characters.

- The character building. You watch the main character Celaena,who is an assassin, open up and trust other people and learn about her history. It is also really fascinating to see how the other characters change in regards to how they feel about Celaena, particularly Captain Westfall.

- I also loved the balance of action and romance. There was plenty of action in the book which was fast paced and very entertaining but it was tempered with a little romance which worked really well.

- The character relationships were also really good.

The only thing that I didn't really like about the book was the few switches of perspective because it got a little confusing. The first time we saw something from another persons perspective I was a little confused because it was so unexpected. However these still really built on the story, it just took a minute to figure out who's perspective it was being told from.

Overall, I really loved this book. I was surprised by how much I could relate to Celaena and how I really worried about the events. This was one of the main characters that I haven't been annoyed with unlike some of the other books I have read recently.

I would give it 4.5/5 stars.

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