Throne of Glass – Sarah J Maas – (Book 6 for 2014)
So the question is: Can a 63 year-old grandfather love a book that features an eighteen year-old kick-ass female protagonist? The answer is a resounding hell yes!! The book is Throne of Glass and the heroine is Celaena Sardothian the Adarlan Assassin who has been captured and sent to a slave labor camp. Celaena has amazingly survived 1 and 1/2 years in the Endovier Salt Mines, when the story begins. The novel opens when Crown Prince Dorian Havillliard of Adarlan visits and makes Celaena and offer she can’t refuse return with him to Rifchold and be his champion in a competition to be his father, the King’s Champion! If she wins and serves the King for four years, she will be set free. Soon Celaena is on her way to join a competition against twenty-three killers, thieves and warriors to become the King’s Champion and ultimately be set free.
Soon Celaena is in the competition of her life against not only the assembled competitors but against an evil that is lose in the Castle. An evil that is brutally slaying the competitors one by one. But Celaena is not in the fight alone, along the way she is helped by the spirit of the first Queen of Adarlan Elena, and from Princess Nehemia Ytger of Eyllwe, Celaena’s naive land. A land that has been subjugated by Adarlan forces. Celaena’s presence upsets the whole castle as Crown Prince Dorian sees her as more than just his champion in the competition and Chaol the Captain of the Guard must not only protect Celaena from danger, but also Dorian from the dangerous Celaena!!
I thought that the book was a well-written page turner with just the right mix of mysticism and suspense. I enjoyed all the main characters Celaena, Dorian, Chaol and Nehemia. I also thought that the attraction between Chaol and Celaena and Dorian and Celaena was handled just about right!
Here’s a quote from Kirkus Reviews that sums up my thoughts about Throne of Glass fairly well…..
“Woven in the vein of a Tolkien fantasy….This commingling of comedy, brutality and fantasy evokes a rich alternate universe with a spitfire young woman as its brightess star.”
Bottom line: Throne of Glass is a strong 4.5 out of 5 book. It was exciting and entertaining throughout the book. It was a great choice for my first exploration of the Young Adult genre and I look forward to checking out similar books! I already have the second book in the series checked out of the library. I don’t know if I can put off reading it long enough to finish some of the other books that I am reading or planned to read!! Oh, what the hell maybe I’ll just start it. What do you think??
Links for Further Explorations of Sarah J Maas and Throne of Glass
Sarah J Maas Website
Facebook: Throne of Glass
Twitter: Sarah J Maas
Amazon:Sarah J Maas
