The Assassins Blade By Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #0.5/3)|Was This a Necessary Prequel?

Synopsis

The Assassin’s Blade is a collection of prequel novellas set before Throne of Glass, following Celaena Sardothien during some of the most important moments of her past. Across these stories, we see dangerous missions, hard lessons and the shaping of Adarlan’s Assassin.

Review

I’m so glad I read The Assassin’s Blade in publication order! It worked brilliantly as book three. Reading it after Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight meant I already knew Celaena as this fierce, complicated and emotional driven assassin, so going back and seeing the pieces that shaped her gave the whole thing far more gravity. Rather than feeling like a money grab or some unnecessary fluff, this really was important to read. Important to the whole series.

One of the things I was worried about, but actually really liked, was the novella format. Each story had its own purpose. And the purpose? To set the scene, add the history and emotion, then rip your heart out. It kept the pace moving, while still building Celaena’s character in a way that felt meaningful and not glorified.

Celaena herself is exactly why this works. She is talented, proud, dramatic, occasionally infuriating and still somehow incredibly easy to root for. Especially now with this prequels added goodness! This collection lets you see more of the person underneath the attitude you see in the first two books. You get more of her loyalty, more of her blind spots, more of her vulnerability and more of the damage sitting under all that confidence. It makes you root for her more and makes her continuing story more compelling.

Sam, who you hear about frequently in there first two books, was also such an important part as to why the emotions in this book feel so much deeper. If you have read the first two book, then you’ll know what i’m talking about! I also think this book does something very useful for the series as a whole.

It fills in emotional and character context without making you feel bogged down with too much information and backstory. Prequels can sometimes feel like they exist purely to tidy up the lore cupboard. Or even sometimes feel like a money grab. I’m happy to say that this is definitely not the case with Assassins Blade. It made Celaena’s story more intriguing and her emotional baggage feel even heavier.

If I had one criticism, it is simply that not every novella got me in the feels. This was never going to be the case, it was just something I noticed. A couple grabbed me immediately, while others felt more like stepping stones to the next page. Even so, I never felt bored and I never had that “yes yes very interesting, but get on with it” feeling that fantasy can occasionally do when throwing intense lore and complicated location names at you.

Overall, I thought this was a genuinely strong prequel. It gave me more of Celaena’s backstory, more emotional substance and more reason to care about what comes next. It did not feel like bonus fluffy content you have to pay extra for. It was important to the overall emotional pull of the story.

Audiobook Review

I listened to The Assassin’s Blade on audio whilst reading in tandem and I really enjoyed the experience. The narration suited Celaena well, which is crucial because she is not a character you can read flatly. She needs presence. She needs edge. She needs that little glint of superiority that says she believes she is the cleverest person in the room and may well be right. The audiobook captured that nicely.

Because this is a collection of novellas, I also think audio helped keep everything feeling distinct and easy to move through. Each section still had its own separate feeling and setting and the performance by Elizabeth Evans is, as always, fantastic. For me, this was a very good fantasy audiobook experience and one I would happily recommend if listening is your preferred format. Or even if it not, give it a try!

Verdict

The Assassin’s Blade ended up being far more important than I expected. I went into it thinking it would give me more context to Celaena’s history and came out of it feeling like it genuinely strengthened the series. It gave Celaena more depth, gave certain relationships more meaning and made the world feel richer without drowning the reader in uncessary information.

Not every novella tickled my pickle but as a whole, this really was an amazing compliment to the series. If you are reading the series in publication order, making it your book three is, in my opinion, the right call. It adds context, emotion, the history that I believe it vital to the overall story and an ending that rips your heart out!

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

You can buy this book at Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/420QvG7