Book review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Finished reading: 12 January 2024
Rating: 4/5

​​A collection of five short stories, The Assassin’s Blade follows the story of the young and deadly assassin, Celaena Sardothien, and truly sets up the epic Throne of Glass series. It provides an in-depth look into how her character has been built, and what has led to the events that unfold in the first book of the Throne of Glass series.

​I’ll be honest, before picking up the Throne of Glass series, I didn’t realise there was the option to read this after Crown of Midnight (the second book in the Throne of Glass series) as per the timeline of publishing. So, I read this book right at the beginning and, personally, I really liked how it flowed into the first.
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The five short stories included in this book are:

• The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
• The Assassin and the Healer
• The Assassin and the Desert
• The Assassin and the Underworld
• The Assassin and the Empire

You can see a recurring theme in the naming, huh?

Naming of the stories aside, these short stories do an excellent job in providing the context of why Celaena is the way she is. Where she makes certain decisions, you can almost trace a reason to why back to these stories, all of which show elements of deception, betrayal, love, and the good ol’ ‘doing what is right, even if it isn’t easy’ cliché.

If I had to rank each short story of which one I liked most to least, it would look something like:

1. The Assassin and the Empire (setting up the first book, Throne of Glass)
2. The Assassin and the Healer
3. The Assassin and the Desert
4. The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
5. The Assassin and the Underworld

Why? I love how the final novella sets up the first book of the Throne of Glass series while tearing your heart open in the process. I adore how Maas is able to portray navigating complex emotions through helping people find a way to defend themselves in the second, while also providing such an interesting switch between perspectives. I enjoyed the twists and turns of betrayal exacerbated by the desire to return home in the third.

The first, while entertaining and does well to introduce Celaena as a character, feels a little predictable to me. And, with so many memorable moments in the other novellas, the fourth didn’t really zing for me like the others – as I sit here nearly 20 or so months after reading it, it’s probably the one short story where I don’t really remember much at all other than a few sweet and thrilling moments.

And in saying all that, they’re all still very good – good enough to sit comfortably at a 4/5 rating for me.

But, can I also say it’s very hard for my brain to accept that these events occur when Celaena is SIXTEEN going SEVENTEEN?! I get it – it’s a fantasy story in a fantasy world.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but I could never imagine myself at sixteen being the deadliest assassin. But, fantasy isn’t meant to be reality—the Throne of Glass series is a young adult fantasy series, and I know I would’ve absolutely lapped this up when I was in my teens.
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What are your thoughts? How would you rank the short stories? Leave a comment and let me know!