Any avid reader will have heard of the phenomenon that is Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series. Twelve years after its initial publication this book remains as popular as ever, and for those who have yet to dive into this multifaceted and lengthily series now is the best time to dig in, with talk of television shows of Maas's many works all the rage on X, formally Twitter, it's the best time to read the novels before a televised adaption storms our screens.
From the blurb;
'Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
'In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.
'Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted.'
By the end of Throne of Glass Celaena Sardothien will have secured her place as readers favourite female character potentially of all time. Maas wrote the book, literally, on kick-ass female characters with Celaena, and has been accused of rightly repeating the formula with her female leads thereafter.
Opening with a pretty straightforward concept; imprisoned assassin takes deathly deal to secure her freedom, protective Captain as middle man, and haughty handsome prince drawing our romantic interests, all tangled into an explosive duel of survival; it doesn't take long for Maas to turn up the heat and the intrigue as she reveals the crux of her world, and her characters places in it.
Unlike other books of this nature Throne of Glass throws readers into the deep end on opening and sprints on wards from chapter two, hooking readers in with a fantastic cast of characters and a knife's edge mission, it's impossible to put down and only gets more addictive with each page.
Spliced between glimpses of Celaena's past, and the puzzle that is the dangerous present, we get beautifully hewn action sequences which read like ballet on the stage and captivate as much as they entertain.
With Throne of Glass Maas secured herself a position as an author to watch, and thanks to it built herself a book throne as one of today's most popular authors. If you have yet to jump onto the speeding bullet that is Maas's success Throne of Glass is the stunning introduction all readers should start with, and now, more than ever, is the time to join the masses and become a Maas fan.
We give Throne of Glass Five Stars
ISBN - 978-1-4088-3233-2 Cover Price - £6.99 First Published in Great Britain in August 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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