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A review by outsidestar
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The 5 novellas follow each other, so it’s more like a prequel book on who Adarlan’s Assassin was before Throne of Glass. We get a sneak peek into Celaena’s life at the Assassin’s Guild, her relationship with Sam and how she ended up in Endovier.
Before I get into each of the novellas, let me emphasize that the Celaena we get here is the assassin I was hoping to get in Throne of Glass. Her character is much more developed and well-rounded. In the first novellas she’s the portrait of danger, fearlessness and overall badassery. But we still see hints of something more. She’s got layers to her. She’s brave and reckless but also kind, and will stand up for what she believes is right. Then in the last novellas we see how relationships and betrayals shape her into the Celaena we know from the main story.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD ★★★☆☆
16 year-old Celaena and her fellow assassin Sam are sent by Arobynn Hamel to the Dead Islands in order to secure a deal with the Pirate Lord of Skull’s Bay. When Celaena discovers this deal has little to do with money and a lot to do with slave trading, she tries to stop it at all costs. Even if that means disobeying the King of the Assassins himself.
This was really really slow and boring until the last few chapters, where everything went to hell. I’m starting to see this pattern in all the books of this series, unfortunately.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE HEALER ★★☆☆☆
Celaena, now a week away from turning 17, is traveling to the Red Desert, where she is to train for a month with the Mute Master of Assassins as further punishment for the events that took place in The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. We find her in a filthy tavern in a filthy little town waiting until she can get on a ship to the Deserted Land. There she meets Yrene, former healer and currently a barmaid at the inn, who dreams of going to the Southern Continent to train as a healer.
Once again, this was slow for the most part but, since the novella itself was shorter, it didn’t feel like it dragged as much, though it was quite forgettable. And I’m sure we’ll see Yrene again at some point.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT ★★★★★
Two months after wreaking havoc in Skull’s Bay, Celaena finally arrives to the Red Desert and meets the legendary order of the Silent Assassins. She has one month to win the Mute Master’s respect and return home with his letter of approval.
I absolutely loved this novella, hands down my favorite. It didn’t drag (finally) and instead hooked me from the beginning with its twists and turns. We met new characters and I found myself caring for all of them.I could have gone without Ilias crushing on Celaena, though. Why does everyone have to fall in love with her or want to kiss her? Friendships are fine and as strong probably stronger. Anyway, I very much prefer the Silent Assassins and their ways to Arobynn’s and I bet Celaena does too. I even cried through this. Not just at the end, but that moment looking at the stars had my eyes watering with all the feels too:
Before I get into each of the novellas, let me emphasize that the Celaena we get here is the assassin I was hoping to get in Throne of Glass. Her character is much more developed and well-rounded. In the first novellas she’s the portrait of danger, fearlessness and overall badassery. But we still see hints of something more. She’s got layers to her. She’s brave and reckless but also kind, and will stand up for what she believes is right. Then in the last novellas we see how relationships and betrayals shape her into the Celaena we know from the main story.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD ★★★☆☆
16 year-old Celaena and her fellow assassin Sam are sent by Arobynn Hamel to the Dead Islands in order to secure a deal with the Pirate Lord of Skull’s Bay. When Celaena discovers this deal has little to do with money and a lot to do with slave trading, she tries to stop it at all costs. Even if that means disobeying the King of the Assassins himself.
This was really really slow and boring until the last few chapters, where everything went to hell. I’m starting to see this pattern in all the books of this series, unfortunately.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE HEALER ★★☆☆☆
Celaena, now a week away from turning 17, is traveling to the Red Desert, where she is to train for a month with the Mute Master of Assassins as further punishment for the events that took place in The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. We find her in a filthy tavern in a filthy little town waiting until she can get on a ship to the Deserted Land. There she meets Yrene, former healer and currently a barmaid at the inn, who dreams of going to the Southern Continent to train as a healer.
Once again, this was slow for the most part but, since the novella itself was shorter, it didn’t feel like it dragged as much, though it was quite forgettable. And I’m sure we’ll see Yrene again at some point.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT ★★★★★
Two months after wreaking havoc in Skull’s Bay, Celaena finally arrives to the Red Desert and meets the legendary order of the Silent Assassins. She has one month to win the Mute Master’s respect and return home with his letter of approval.
I absolutely loved this novella, hands down my favorite. It didn’t drag (finally) and instead hooked me from the beginning with its twists and turns. We met new characters and I found myself caring for all of them.
“What about that one?”
“That’s the stag,” Celaena breathed. "The Lord of the North."
"Why does he get a fancy title? What about the swan and the dragon?"
Celaena snorted, but the smile faded when she stared at the familiar constellation. "Because the stag remains constant—no matter the season, he's always there."
"Why?"
Celaena took a long breath. "So the people of Terrasen will always know how to find their way home. So they can look up at the sky, no matter where they are, and know Terrasen is forever with them".
This novella in particular felt like it was giving us a lot of hints of things to come to the main story too. Not just about the Ironteeth witches or the Asterion horses which show up in Crown of Midnight, but I do think we’ll see more of Ansel (she kinda gave me some serious Aria Stark vibes) and the Silent Assassins in the upcoming books of the series. Maybe even the stygian spiders that take years and dreams away from people.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD ★★☆☆☆
17 year-old Celaena is back in Rifthold and Arobynn Hamel has a special assignment for her which he claims will help fight slavery. Being back also means she will inevitably have to face Sam and the feelings that have been steering in her since Skull’s Bay.
This dragged and dragged and then dragged some more. Again. I thought we were over this dragging bullsh*t after The Assassin and the Desert pumped things up, but it seems like that was just a stroke of luck. Sam was the only reason I didn’t just skip to the next novella.
I didn’t really have a strong opinion regarding Arobynn before, but I hated the guts out of him from the very beginning of this. I can’t stand the guy and this was all very predictable. I wish Celaena would’ve had the common sense to get the hell out of there as soon as she got back, but then there wouldn’t be a 7 book story to tell, I guess.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE ★★★☆☆
Set a month after The Assassin and the Underworld, Celaena and Sam are now planning on leaving Rifthold for good. However, in order to leave the Assassin's Guild on good terms, they need Arobynn's approval. And money. But Sam finds someone that promises to pay a small fortune if they kill the biggest Crime Lord in Rifthold. No big deal.
It dragged. Again. <spoiler>And it was clearly a trap from the very beginning, but the two best assassins in Adarlan fail to see all the red flags and flashing lights right under their noses and fall for it. Again.</spoiler> If you've read even just the first chapter of Throne of Glass, you know how this is going to end. But I wasn't hooked at all, I just felt meh about the whole thing. That is until the very end, which made me cry a bit. The best thing about this novella is, hands down, the trip to Endovier and Celaena's final decision.
Seriously, if the 5 remaining books in the series keep up this pattern of dragging and boring me to death for the first half of the book before the good stuff happens, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get through them.