Throne of Glass re-read: Throne of Glass

Publication Date: August 2nd 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 404 pages

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?

Who would have thought, when I first opened the package with my review copy of Throne of Glass, that I would be here,  six years later, about to come to the end of this staggering series, and completely in love?

I wouldn't. I was predisposed to dislike the book. Here was an author who already had a massive following for this story when she'd self published online, was younger than me and incredibly beautiful. But I'd been sent this ARC to review, so with a resigned sigh I opened up the book and...

Well I didn't stop reading. I devoured the entire thing in one sitting, and then cried because oh god I now had to wait for the sequel and that just Wasn't Fair.

My snap judgements were not only completely unfair (I was going through a particularly bad time so this achievement from someone younger than me felt like a huge kick in the teeth) but also completely unfounded, because this series was magic. And whilst you don't understand in this first book quite what a ride you're actually going to be in for over the course of the series, it's still an excellent first step.

Going back now and re-familiarising myself with this world, I am struck once again by what a brilliant writer Maas is. She captures that frustrating cockiness, that self assuredness that Celaena holds herself with - part coping mechanism and part the armour of youth. She has such faith in her abilities, in her place in the world, and that can be frustrating to read (I admit to wanting to take her down a peg or two at points) but put together as a whole with the rest of the series, it shows her character development as she matures, and with hindsight becomes even more impressive.

I love the sheltered feel of the first book. The action is confined to the castle, to the competition, and you're allowed to take the time to get to know these characters and how they interact and respond. It's quieter than the rest of the series, but filled with the sense of malice that grows to shape the final battle, and then to set up the rest of the series.

A lot of people find this book frustrating and don't truly get into the series until book two or three, yet I found myself loving it from the first page. It's safe to come back to, without some of the higher stakes you find in later books. It's wonderful to see that development, to see the little breadcrumbs that Maas leaves the reader to pick up about the layers and threads she's weaving into this series as a whole.

If you've tried this book and found yourself not engaging, or finding Celaena too frustrating, I urge you to try again. A lot of her immaturity and arrogance smooths as her character grows over the series, and you'll discover a much deeper story than what this first book appears on the surface. Stick with it, you'll be rewarded.

And as for my re-read? It's simply cemented my love for this series and her writing as one of my all time loves. I adore it, and it's nice to re-experience it and to sink back into this world from the beginning.