The Assassin’s Blade is the prequel novel to Sarah J. Maas’s series, Throne of Glass.  This book is made up of five shorter stories, that all flow together but are separated and have their own unique plot.  The first section is called “The Assassin and the Pirate Lord”.  The first story takes you through Celaena Sardothien’s life living at the Assassins’ Guild.  You learn about her relationships with the other assassins and you learn more about her master, Arobynn Hamel.  In the first story, it takes you through one of her most important assignments given to her, which is to give Captain Rolfe a personal letter from Arobynn Hamel.  Pirates are very dangerous and sneaky, and Celaena is given strict orders to hide her true identity of being Adarlan’s Assassin.  While she is on her assignment, her nemesis, Sam, is tasked to accompany her to make sure that the mission goes smoothly.  

The second section, “ The Assassin and the Healer”, is about a young girl named Yrene Towers who works at an inn, where Celaena is staying for the moment before she embarks on her next assignment in Yurpa.  In this part, Yrene takes interest in Celaena, and wonders who she is but is too scared to talk to her until one day Yrene gets harassed by older, drunk men at the inn’s bar.  Celaena is able to get involved and fix the situation while also helping Yrene learn some simple self defense moves.  

“The Assassin and the Desert” is the third section to the book, and is about Celaena’s trip to the Red Desert to stay with the Silent Master as punishment for what happened in an earlier mission where she disobeyed Arobynn Hamel.  Here, Celaena learns about friendship and patience, while the majority of the assassins she is staying with choose to be mute.  

The fourth section is called “The Assassin and the Underworld” and Celaena is back from the Red Desert.  Arobynn Hamel is trying to make him forgive Celaena for the actions that he did to her and one of his ways of trying to win her back is to offer her a big mission with a healthy payoff to assassinate Benzo Donovan.  The section ends in a huge plot twist where Celaena makes a big decision that alters her life.  

The final section of the book is called “The Assassin and the Empire” which is where you learn what Celaena did to end up in Endovier which ties up this prequel book quite nicely.  

I rate this book a 9/10.  This book had everything in it for me- a couple different plots so you would not get bored of one, some romance, and a ton of action.  My favorite section had to be the final two, “The Assassin and the Underworld” has a great story line to it, and you really get to know what Celaena’s personality is outside of being an assassin, but the final story “The Assassin and the Empire” gives you the details that you have been wanting to know about how she ended up in Endovier and what event truly broke her.  

         Since this is a prequel book, there are two ways to read this book.  One of the ways is chronological order and read this book first, and then read Throne of Glass.  This way, you know the background of Celaena, and you can build a deeper connection with her from an earlier point.  Another way that you can read this book (and this is what I did) is to read it after Heir of Fire, and before Queen of Shadows.  I liked reading it after Heir of Fire, because of the emotional response you get from this book.  You get so much of a different reaction to backtracking after you learn how much Celaena has grown and what she has been through.  No matter when you read The Assassin’s Blade, it is still an amazing book that everyone will love. 

Check out Assassin's Blade from NBPL!