Letter Essay #7: Throne of Glass

About a week and a half ago, I finished reading Throne of Glass. Throne of Glass is a 433- page fantasy book by the popular author, Sarah J. Maas, New York Times Bestselling Author. Throne of Glass was produced in August of 2012, and every year from 2012 to 2017, a new book in the series has come out, and hopefully another one will come out in 2018.

Sarah Maas has sold over 3 million copies of all of her books, including Throne of Glass, says The Wertzone. Throne of Glass also has a popular coloring book, to go along with the actual book. I chose to read Throne of Glass because it is a very popular series, amd I had heard a lot of good things about it. So, when I went to the library and saw books 1-6 on the shelf, I decided to take them out and try the series. Little did I know, that this series would become one of my favorite fantasy series.

In Throne of Glass, Celaena Sardothien, number one assassin in all of Adarlan, is invited to the caste to try and become the King’s Champion. She goes undercover as Lillian Gordiana, a jewel thief. She goes through training and tests, and compete with other contestants to try and become the King’s Champion. But, in the middle of her training, ridderaks, giant beasts from the underworld, come into the picture, and start to kill off the contestants. Celaena is the only hope to get them to go back where they belong, once and for all, but can she do that and win the competition? Read the book to find out!

This book reminded me of The Grimm Legacy. In both books, there are magical challenges, that the main character has to overcome. They have their struggles, but they are both brave and caring, and give their best effort towards solving the problem. Both main characters have a big weight put on their shoulders, as well as a big problem to solve, but they handle it with ease and confidence, and everything works out in the end.

The main character, Celaena, is such a great character. She is dedicated, driven and fierce, which are great skills that really help her in competition. Even though Celaena has seen and been through a lot, she still manages to keep her swagger and confidence with her, no matter what, making her a funny and feisty character, who was always getting into some form of mischief. “She’d stirred up enough trouble in the months she’d been at the castle. He could only imagine what would happen over the next few years. (p. 398).” Even from Chaol’s, Captain of the Guard, perspective, she was always finding trouble, yet she was still a charming character who made you laugh from the start.

I read the book crazy fast, even for my normal reading speed. I know that most people like to take their time with books, and I’m actually a little embarrassed to admit that I tear through these books. I read this book in three hours (I told you it was bad). I read through it, and laughed and enjoyed this book and the series thoroughly, but I am embarrassed to admit that I finished the series in three days. So, after my reading the Throne of Glass series craze, I begged my mom to take me to the town library, so that I could try and find Tower of Dawn and Assassin’s Blade, the final book in the series and the prequel. I was sorely disappointed, and found neither book, but I am hoping to try and find them soon, because the ending of Empire of Storms is torturous.

I’d compare this author to Marissa Meyer, my former favorite fantasy author. Marissa Meyer is the author of the Cinder series. When I read this series in sixth grade, I absolutely loved it, cutoos to Miss Kym, who recommended the book to me. Both series were great, partly because they both included multiple perspectives, which I love, but mostly because they were well written, had a great storyline and great characters. Sadly, this love that I had for the Cinder series has dwindled after reading the Throne of Glass series. Sorry Marissa Meyer, but I think Sarah Maas has you beat for this one.

I was in struck by this passage, because I hadn’t yet seen how brave Celaena actually was, yet:

“Pain, pain, pain. Pain from her leg, from her head, from her shoulder and arm and ribs . . .

‘Stand,” Elena whispered again, and was gone. The world appeared.

Cain was close, not a trace of shadow around him. Celaena lifted the jagged remnant of the staff in her hand. Her gaze cleared.

And so, struggling and shaking, Celaena stood.

Celaena’s right leg could barely support her, but she gritted her teeth and rose. She squared her shoulders as Cain halted.

The wind caresses her face and swept her hair behind her in a billowing sheet of gold. 1 will not be afraid (page 366-367).”

Like I said before, I really enjoyed how you could see how brave and driven Celaena was, because even though she was beaten to a bloody pulp, had a gash in her leg that wouldn’t stop bleeding, broken ribs and formerly drugged, she still stood and rose confidently to meet her opponent. Also, this passage shows three (from what I can tell) different author’s craft techniques, including Artful And, And In A Sequence and Ellipses. I really enjoyed this book, and I think that it was a great start to the Throne of Glass series. I would rate this book an 8.5 out of 10, only because after reading the rest of the series, it just gets better, and those are the books that I would give a 10 out of 10 to.

Sincerely, Marissa Schrade

Throne of Glass is now a show, on Hulu, see the trailer below.