The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas (Throne of Glass, Books 0.1-0.5)

by Sarah J. Maas

The action-packed introduction to the legendary Throne of Glass series - an irresistible bind-up of all five of #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas’s Assassin novellas

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan’s most feared assassin. As part of the Assassins' Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam.

In these action-packed prequel novellas – together in one edition for the first time – Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn’s orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery . . .

Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine and find out how the legend begins in the five page-turning prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series.

• ISBN10: 1408851989
• ISBN13: 9781408851982
• Publish Date: 13 March 2014 (first published 4 March 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 February 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Bloomsbury YA
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

4.5★

I was very nervous to start this series because everyone loves it. But then I read The Assassin's Blade, and thought I have nothing to worry about! I am so glad that I decided to read them in chronological order, rather than publication order, because this set of novellas has got me super excited for the full books! I feel like I really got to know Celaena, and I understood her better once the main story started. There's also a bit of world building introduced, even though the majority of the focus is on Celaena's characterization. And I must say that I love her! Sure she's quite arrogant at first, but it's also clear that she cares about doing the right thing despite being an assassin. I also loved that she was kick ass and girly! She can snap your neck and do your makeup!

The other great thing about The Assassin's Blade was that it did real like a novel rather than just a collection of shorts. Each story is directly connected to the one before it. It all flows together and felt like its own full book. If there had been proper transitions instead of each story ending and the next beginning, it totally could have been the first book in the series! Or a really long prequel! Whether you've started the series or not, I'd highly recommend giving these stories a read! They're fantastic on their own, but they're also a great introduction to (or background of) our heroine.

★★★★☆ The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
★★★★☆ The Assassin and the Healer
★★★★½ The Assassin and the Desert
★★★★☆ The Assassin and the Underworld
★★★★★ The Assassin and the Empire

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[vagasker]

These are the first novellas I've ever read and I really liked them. Especially the first few!

[wyvernfriend]

Short stories set before the first book.

[Amanda]

More like 4.5... can't wait to dive into Throne of Glass now.

MY FEELINGSSSS. It was nigh on impossible keeping a hold on my emotions while reading this. The first 4 novellas are great, but that 5th one gutted me. Destroyed me. Made me feel all the feels. Amazing.
Full review to come.

[limabean74]

I have been waiting to read about Celeana again and I was so excited to jump into this collection of novella's before moving on to Heir of Fire. The book contains 5 novellas each on a different story that will fill in the gaps of Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight.

I am not sure if this contains spoilers or at least give information you might not want to know before reading Throne of Glass. Personally I would read the first two books before reading these but that's my opinion.
The Assassin & The Pirate Lord ~
We meet Celaena in the Assassins' Guild meeting room as they discuss the loss of one of their Assassins. Celaena is a hard ass and a little to full of herself, she know she's the best and tends to let it go to her hand. We heard stories about Sam in the first two books and it's nice to finally meet him. He has a much cooler head then Celaena and you can tell as much as she irritates him he cares about her. You also start to get the idea that Celaena as much as she is a badass has a really good heart.Going against Arobynn Hamel King of the Assassins wishes and going after Rolfe and a bunch of pirates just to help others makes me adore her and her big heart (even thought she wouldn't admit that).  I really enjoyed this story and it was packed full of action and the hope that her plan will work. This one I gave 5/5 stars, very enjoyable.

The Assassin & The Healer ~
Celaena once again proves she has a big heart. She got in A LOT of trouble from Arobynn when she got back because of what she did with the pirated and is now on her way to the middle of the dessert to help train the Mute Master and his group of Silent Assassins. While she wait for the ship to take her she is staying in Innish at the White Pig in. I love her interaction with the bar maid Yrene. Yrene was a great character, I do hope to see her again in the future at some point. Once again Celaena acts like she couldn't care less about what is happening around her and has thought of running away and leaving the Assassins' Guild behind but once she gets to know Yrene you can tell she just wants to help her. I enjoyed this one also not as much action as the first but you really get a better sense of how big of a heart Celaena has. This one I gave 5/5 starts, I liked it

The Assassin & The Desert ~
We find Celaena in a dessert going to find the Silent Assassin's she needs to get a letter from the Master before she can return to Arobynn Hamel. She meets the super friendly and overly helpful Ansel, Ansel was the complete opposite of Celaena but you can tell that in this book Celaena might need to learn how to be humble and think of others more than she thinks of herself. Even with her big heart she still needs to learn that even though she is a well known assassin she is still a small part of a huge world. I thought this story was really interesting but not sure it was one of my favorite since it was a little slow at time. The end totally made up for it with a major twist I honestly didn't see coming. Celaena even find a bit of a love interest but you start to see that she is quite smitten with Sam and worry about him a lot. This one I gave 4/5 stars, slow pace but great ending.

The Assassin & The Underworld ~
I'm not even sure how to explain this one. After coming home from the dessert and seeing Arobynn again you can see he felt bad for what he did but as we read on we find out hes an asshat. I honestly for some reason remember her saying how much she cared for him and loved him but in this story I wanted to kick him in his teeth by the end. I loved her interaction with Sam and I can see why she is falling for him since I adore him and am pretty much quite smitten. The story was good, a little slow in pace but over all the end got very exciting and really enjoyable in giving more information about Celaena's life before the Salt Mines.  I gave this one 4/5 stars, it was a bit slow but the romance between Sam and Caleana was well done and I really add so much to the 1st and 2nd book but it pains me to read the next one knowing what I already know.

The Assassin & The Empire ~
This was a rough one to read, having read the both books I already knew what was going to happen and I just didn't want it to. Having spent 4 books with Celaena and Sam I just didn't want the outcome to be the same. I wanted a Happily ever after. I know I wasn't going to get it, if you read the 1st and 2nd book you know the story of how she was captured or at least know a story. This books tell you how she ended up in the Salt Mine and what happened to Sam and Arobynn. Plus you find out who betrayed her even thought she doesn't know. (I wish I could tell her) This one broke my heart and put tears in my eyes. From a girl with big heart to a shell of a person, I really liked this one and I loved the story regardless of how much it broke my heart and pained me to see Celaena go thought it all. I gave this one 5/5 stars, this story is heartbreaking and really fills in all the details.

Over all I gave The Assassins' Blade 5/5 stars. Even with some of the stories not being as good as other I still loved it and the writing and stories are just outstanding. I would totally recommend  this after you read Crown of Midnight.

Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my review

Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!

Please pardon any spelling or grammar errors. I suck at both and spell check totally hates me :)This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life

[Berls]

I reviewed each story separately - though I read them in this beautiful hardcover. Click on each link to see their reviews here on goodreads...

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (#0.1) - 4 stars

The Assassin and the Healer (#0.2) - 5 stars

The Assassin and the Desert (#0.3) - 4.5 stars

The Assassin and the Underworld (#0.4) - 4 stars

The Assassin and the Empire (#0.5) - 5 stars

Rating for collection (averaged): 4.5 stars