Sarah J. Maas : THRONE OF GLASS SERIES

THRONE OF GLASS series is a series of books written by Sarah J. Maas. There supposed to be 6 books in total and so far two of them has been published, with the third one coming out in September 2014.

Confession time: I only picked out this book as a part of an offer in the local supermarket. It has been sitting on my shelf for past couple of months waiting to be read. I haven't heard much about these books. These books aren't surrounded by craziness which used to surround the Twilight series, Hunger Games series or even Divergent Series. It's possible that it is due to the fact that only two books have been released so far, but both of them had such a great recommendations. So after I decided to finally read this book, I researched it online and was pleasantly surprised. Not only there are fandoms created thanks to the books, there are numerous shipping teams (note: to ship a couple is basically to favour a couple from a book especially when it comes to love triangles) and I cannot forget the great reviews.

"This book was astonishingly good... Instantly one of my favourite female protagonists of all time." REALM OF FICTION

"Sweeping fantasy, fabulous heroine, fully-realised world. Recommend for fantasy YA fans of all ages." THOUGHTS FROM THE HEARTFIRE

"I believe the word "unputdownable" was created for this book." ONCE UPON A TIME

These are only a handful of reviews surrounded this new phenomena. Branded with label: "Better than the Hunger Games" I had to find out for myself what is this book about. And I was swept away to the world of fantasy, love triangle, assassination, back-stabbing each other and finding the truth in it all.

Books so far released it this series:

THRONE OF GLASS

CROWN OF MIDNIGHT

Celaena Sardothien. An assassin who was caught and is now serving her sentence in the salt mines of Endovier. Until a young prince Dorian Havilliard and his Captain of the King's Guard - Chaol Westfall, make her an offer she cannot refuse. Her freedom for becoming a King's Champion. The king, who destroyed the world Celaena loved so much, is holding a competition to find his own assassin who would do his dirty work for him and Celeana has been selected by the prince to become his champion. And we follow her journey which takes her to unpredictable situation. She finds new friendship. She fights for her survival and freedom. And she fights for revenge.

I have to say. I wasn't impressed with this book from the start. It took me a while to get into. About 180 pages, but then something has changed and this book got to me. I wasn't able to put it down.

Maas created this wonderful fantasy world of kingdoms and wars. It reminded me a little bit of Martin's Games of Throne mixed with Tolkien's Lord of the rings. But finally we have a strong female character.

Celaena had to overcome a great tragedy in her life. When she was only ten years old, her parents were brutally murdered and her world was thrown upside down. She was found and brought up in Assassin's Keep where she trained to be one of the best, if not the best, Assassins of all time. But there is more to her then meets the eye. She is beautiful. Strong. Intelligent. Kind. Funny. Sarcastic. And deadly. She knows what she wants and will fight for it until she dies.

Of course, what would be a YA novel without a love triangle. Let's introduce you to Chaol Westfall and Dorian Havilliard.

Dorian, the prince - the heir to the throne. He is kind, clever, and clearly in love with Celaene. He would do anything for her. There is a wonderful relationship developing between Celaena and him. They have these playful conversation and clearly a lot in common like is their love for books and gentle creatures.  In the first book Throne of Glass he seems to be preferred by the author and that pisses me off. It reminds me the situation in Infernal devices by Cassandra Clare where you could tell that Will Herondale is the man who Tessa will end up with. But I still think that there is something missing. Celaena doesn't invest as much into this relationship as Dorian. Maybe because there is someone else who she supposed to be with...

And that somebody for me is the Captain of The Guards - Chaol Westfall. Chaol is loyal to his king and best friend Dorian. He is a warrior. He is beautiful, smart and always look out for the danger. He is a great fighter. Although he isn't all that impressed with Celaena from the start because he doesn't trust her, she slowly gets under his skin. And there is something more. An invisible power which is pushing them together. He tries to resist it. He sees the way Dorian looks at Celaena and he tries to push his feelings away. But as a reader you instantly know, that these to are Soulmates. Maybe because of their playful conversations. Maybe because of the way they constantly challenge each other or the fact that their relationship builds slowly but steadily. I am definitely #TeamChaol from the start.

So we have the base for a good YA novel. A love triangle. But you know that with this books you are for a long haul. There is a map of the continent in the books. Actually the map is on the first two pages. And that is a sign of a long journey ahead of us. With only two novels published so far, I am a little bit devastated. Don't scream just yet! Let me explain...

I love these books. There are refreshing. Entertaining. Intelligent. Witty.  A world of fantasy which has been wonderfully crafted and executed. You find yourself not letting go. Celaena is such a great strong female character. You want to find out more. You want to see her fight the king and get her freedom and happiness. You want to see the king lose his powers over the conquered kingdoms, you want to see him on his knees and possibly die with a horrible death. And finally you want Chaol and Celaena find their happiness together. If one of them dies, or they do not end up together, i will be very very disappointed.

The reason why am I so devastated is that I have to wait so long for the rest of the books to come out. I am hooked like a drug addict and I need my fix. But I have still four books to go before we find out all the secrets and answers to our questions. And trust me, there is a lot of unanswered questions so far. The plot in this books has so many unexpected twists and turns that my head hurts. Just when you think, that you finally discovered the big secret, BOOM!! It turns again and you are left with your mouth opened wide.

And that is what a good book series is about !! You are left wanting more and more. I have to say I prefer Crown of Midnight. I found this book much more closer to my heart. I loved the way the author slowly developed the relationship between Chaol and Celaena. We got to see their happy side of life, even when it was just for a short period.

But all in all I have truly enjoyed reading this series so far. Although it has started with a little bit of boring start, it ended up with me being absolutely crazy about these books, goggling everything possible about these novels. It found very refreshing that these books are actually form of a fantasy genre for YA audience. Usually we are stuck with dysotopian worlds or mystical worlds of vampires and werewolves. But this time we are finding ourselves in the world of assassins and kingdoms.

I cannot forget to mention the beautiful illustrations on the covers of both books. I think they are just fantastic! The pictures of Celaena make sure that you will buy the books. Such vivid colours and Celaena looks so strong. Although she looks a little bit too elfish for me. A would prefer her looking a little more girlish.

The third book is titled HEIR OF FIRE is due to be released in September. Of course, I will make sure to purchase it as soon as it comes out.

I just want to thank you to Ms Maas for creating such a wonderful fantasy world and for bring the lovely relationship of Chaol and Celaena into our lives. Let's hope that them two will get their happy ending :)

Quotes from the book I love:

“Libraries were full of ideas–perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”

“How long was I asleep?" she whispered. He didn't respond. 
"How long was I asleep?" she asked again, and noticed a hint of red in his cheeks. 
"You were asleep, too?" 
"Until you began drooling on my shoulder.”

“You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”

“We all bear scars,... Mine just happen to be more visible than most.” 

“Celaena," Chaol said gently. And then she heard the scraping noise as his hand came into view, sliding across the flagstones. His fingertips stopped just at the edge of the white line. "Celaena," he breathed, his voice laced with pain--and hope. This was all she had left--his outstretched hand, and the promise of hope, of something better waiting on the other side of the line.”

“Sometimes, the wicked will tell us things just to confuse us–to haunt our thoughts long after we've faced them.” 

“With each day he felt the barriers melting. He let them melt. Because of her genuine laugh, because he caught her one afternoon sleeping with her face in the middle of a book, because he knew that she would win.”

“His breath was warm on her neck as he bent his head, resting his cheek against her hair. Her heart beat so quickly, and yet she felt utterly calm—as if she could have stayed there forever and not minded, stayed there forever and let the world fall apart around them. She pictured his fingers, pushing against that line of chalk, reaching for her despite the barrier between them.”

“I name you Elentiya." She kissed the assassin's brow. "I give you this name to use with honour, to use when other names grow too heavy. I name you Elentiya, 'Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.” 

“I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn't, but I do. So I willalways tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.” 

“The rest of the world quieted into nothing. In that moment, after ten long years, Celaena looked at Chaol and realised she was home.”

She smiled sadly. "You'll figure it out. And when you do..." She shook her head, knowing she shouldn't say it, but doing it anyway. "When you do, I want you to remember that it wouldn't have made any difference to me. It's never made any difference to me when it came to you. I'll always pick you.” 

"Because," she whispered, her voice shaking, "you remind me of what the world ought to be. What the world can be.” 

“It was like coming home or being born or suddenly finding an entire half of herself that had been missing.” 

“And because she was young, and so damn clever and amusing and wonderful, wherever she made her home, there would be some man who would 
fall in love with her and who would make her his wife, and that would be the worst truth of all. It had snuck up on him, this pain and terror and rage at the thought of anyone else with her. Every look, every word from her... he didn't even know when it had started.” 

“The best lies were always mixed with truth.” 

“He wouldn't let his servants change the sheets on his bed because they still smelled like her, because he went to sleep dreaming that she was still lying beside him.” 

“Some things you hear with your ears. Others, you hear with your heart.” 

“I can't tell if I should be ashamed of wanting to hold you on this day, or grateful that, despite what happened before now, it somehow brought me to you.”