Celaena Sardothien is a legend among the lands of Erilea as a feared assassin. Most people do not know that she is a young woman, and that she was captured and sent to work in the mines to die. However, Celaena is very much alive, and the Crown Prince of Adarlan, the country that has enslaved and destroyed most of Erilea, wants her to compete for the title of the King’s Champion. He offers her this chance at freedom if only she will compete against 23 other contenders, win, and be the King’s Champion for four years. She accepts, and then it is the responsibility of Chaol, the Royal Captain of the Guard and the Prince’s best friend, to make her ready. However, something is murdering the contestants, and Celaena would try harder to figure it out, but she must keep her cover as a gem thief or she could be in serious danger. With her spirit and refusal to give up as well as her pretty looks, Celaena attracts much attention, even a bit of romance from the Prince and Chaol. Will she win the competition or is there something even more crucial at stake here?
The second book, Crown of Midnight, was published August 27. Review of that to come!
Be forewarned, fantasy criticism below!
As a very avid reader of fantasy, I have been looking forward to reading Throne of Glass for some time. I have to say, I was disappointed in her world and character building. As readers, the audience is just supposed to accept that Celaena is almost undefeatable as an assassin, and yet there is no credibility (like a convincing backstory, a prologue or something) to back her up except her own boasts and haughty manner. And when they just keep mentioning that she’s so scary, yet there’s no real believable action to back that up, it comes off as flat. As for the world-building, there just isn’t enough description, in my opinion, to give the reader an idea of just what is so important about a glass throne. Plus, picturing the setting I found to be extremely hard. Another thing I noticed was that the whole idea of the magic just needed to be fleshed out more. It seems to come out of nowhere with no significance given earlier in the story. All in all, I think this has good potential but just did not reach believable or amazing to me, not when compared with other fantastic fantasy authors such as the indomitable Ms. Rowling, Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, and even Rae Carson. While these faults will not stop me from reading the second book, this series will probably not be something I’m inclined to buy.
Book two, Crown of Midnight, reviewed here.
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