"Throne of Glass" - 3.5/5

A review of Sarah J. Maas's first novel of her first series, "Throne of Glass".

With my rating as proof, "Throne of Glass" is not a hit. The book is mediocre at best and a let down to my expectations after reading Sarah J. Maas's other series, "A Court of Thorns and Roses". While SJM wrote this series when she was sixteen, but one would think that her editor changed the book to make it better. “Throne of Glass” has great potential, but the book is a little difficult to read because it doesn’t keep up the interest that the summary promises.

Summary

Celaena Sardothian, the world's best assassin, is in Endovier (the harshest prison in Adarlan) for about a year since her arrest. She has tried to escape, failed, and is waiting for death to claim her from the hellhole that is her prison. As Celaena feels hopeless, the Crown Prince arrives with an offer to fight in a tournament to become the King's champion and she can have her freedom in a few years' time. If Celaena fails to win, she goes back to Endovier and finishes out her sentence. Celaena accepts the offer. The tournament pulls Celaena into a magical mystery, and falling for both the prince and his head guard.

Positive Aspects of the Book

• Concept: The idea of an assassin fighting for her freedom in a tournament is unique to the Young Adult genre. The only other novel with a similar concept is “The Hunger Games”, but that series is also different from “Throne of Glass”. As the first book in the series, "Throne of Glass" sets up the world, while also leaving some mysteries that will be discovered in later books; such as life outside the palace, and possibly the assassins' guild that Celaena was a part of before the events of the first book. The book drops hints of two other countries (Terresan and Eyllwe). SJM easily integrates worldly aspects (names, history, magical aspects) that the reader can pick up on, but doesn't deteriorate the reading experience.

• Mix of Different Characters: The book goes through several characters that are unique in their own right because of their motivations. There's Celaena, a female assassin with a lazy side. Chaol is the no-nonsense captain of the guard, who struggles between friendship and his job. Prince Dorian is the semi-arrogant prince that might be plotting against his father. Kaltain Rompier is a lady that wants to reach the top. And Princess Nehemia is a foreign princess that is being held hostage, who also wishes to set her people free from the country she is stuck in. These characters give different viewpoints, ideas, and values that spice up the story from just one type of character. They all have their own backgrounds that make them unique from each other.

• Usage of different POVs: Books that use different points of view are engaging if done right. SJM uses the different character points of view in the story to give the reader the different versions of events (such as from Celaena, Dorian, Chaol, and Kaltain Rompier), and information certain characters don't know. The story does mainly focus on Celaena, but it is nice to have a break from her inner monologue and story. The different viewpoints also help with foreshadowing for later in the story, as the reader can see what is happening outside of Celaena's little bubble of training, books, and the mystery surrounding the Tournament.

• Descriptions of Action Scenes: Action sequences are difficult to write. The author has to take into consideration on how to make the action believable. SJM makes the fighting unique, understandable, and truthful to actual fighting. Reading the scenes creates a picture in your mind of what is actually happening, instead of just paragraphs of action nonsense that come off as gibberish.

Aspects that Need Improvement

• Pacing: The pacing does not help keep the reader’s attention. Certain aspects of the story drag to the point that interest is lost, while other parts weren't slowed down enough to help paint the story. The Tournament is what should have been the main focus, however it takes a backseat to a miniature love triangle and subplots. The subplots fight to take over the main plot, and do so in a way that makes the main point of the story somewhat inconsequential.

• Story Logic: If you were to interview people who have read "Throne of Glass" (a reader who is not a megafan of SJM), then they would tell you their biggest issue is the idea of Celaena's identity being known while she is the world's best assassin. If Celaena was truly the best assassin in the world, then no one would know who she is. If people did know, her name should be an alias, such as how Natasha Romanov is known as Black Widow in the Marvel comics.

• Names: Now, I am going to break my normal writing style for the reviews to get my point across for this aspect. I love unique character names, especially if they have a special meaning to the character/the character's background. However, I have difficulty with how SJM names her characters. While the characters names are interesting, they can get a little confusing, especially when different items/nouns have unique names. Add in the unique setting names (i.e. Adarlan, Endovier, etc.), the story can get a little confusing with who is who and what is what. There is also inconsistency with the naming as some characters have unique names (i.e. Celaena and Chaol) while others are mundane (i.e. Dorian).

• Plot Devices: Authors overall have to be careful of how they use characters within their stories. Many characters can easily become plot devices, whose only purpose is to drive the plot forward and have little to no personality. In "Throne of Glass", almost all of the other contestants in the Tournament are plot devices. SJM doesn't even assign these characters names, and just gives brief descriptions of what they look like (some not even that). They are the prime examples of flat characters, but that is how most of the characters are save from the main five (Celaena, Dorian, Chaol, Kaltain, and Princess Nehemia). SJM needs to narrow her characters down, or give them more information that doesn't make them so flat.

• Elena Subplot: The entire magical subplot revolving around a dead queen from a thousand years ago feels very rushed and not very well thought out. Everything just falls into perfect place, which normally wouldn't happen. For example, the way to get to the dead queen's tomb is through a secret door that is in Celaena's room. There is no other way to get to said room. Another example, Elena is only seen by Celaena and can grant her power to win the Tournament in Celaena's time of need. While it is inferred that Celaena may have magic in the beginning, the rest of the plot shows that Celaena doesn't know that much about magic. She doesn't do any research about Queen Elena after her first discovering Elena's spirit. There just seems to be holes in why all of this is happening to her, and no one else knows (especially Princess Nehemia, who understands magic).

While not the best book, "Throne of Glass" has potential as a series. SJM has shown to be an excellent writer in her "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series, which was written as she was writing the "Throne of Glass" series. Overall, if you want to read the series (which I hear gets better around book 2 or 3 - depending on who you ask), then you need to read "Throne of Glass" to understand the world and who the characters are.