It appears that I haven't figured out how to work the timed posting feature yet. Here's the post meant for two weeks ago.
Sarah J.
Maas' first novel, "Throne of Glass," comes out in August. Over the last
few months and leading up to that debut, she's releasing four prequel
novellas to build interest and back story: "The Assassin and the Pirate
Lord," "The Assassin and the Desert," "The Assassin and the Underworld"
and "The Assassin and the Empire." (That last one will be released in
July.)
"The Assassin and the Pirate Lord" introduces Maas' heroine,
assassin Celaena Sardothien, who at 16 already considers herself the
best assassin in the world. She works for Arobynn, who is presented as
something akin to a brothel madam for a stable of assassins. Celaena is
beautiful, vain, self-centered and arrogant, but when she and fellow
assassin Sam are sent to manage their master's purchase of 100 slaves,
she realizes she can't abet human trafficking.
This was a good introduction. The antagonistic relationship between
Celaena and Sam starts abruptly and isn't given much back story, and it
resolves a bit too quickly, but that's a minor quibble. I generally like
the characters — even the Pirate Lord, who is ostensibly the villain
here. A bit more explanation of Celaena's role in the assassins' world
would have been helpful - I found myself wondering a few times why it
was so necessary for her to be disguised. We don't get that answer in
this novella.
In "The Assassin and the Desert," Celaena is punished for her
actions in "The Pirate Lord" with a vicious beating and sent to train
with a covey of assassins in the Red Desert. She's out of her element
and, though the assassins are familiar with her name, her reputation
doesn't buy her the same awe it does back home. She has to convince the
Mute Master of the desert to write her a letter of recommendation —
essentially — but with a traitor at work in the assassins' base, her
time to impress the master may be shorter than she realizes.
Sam isn't present in this novella, aside from in Celaena's thoughts, and
I missed his character. The Mute Master's son steps into the leading
man's role, in a way, and it highlights a weird contradiction in
Celaena. She's very aware of her beauty and is a fairly worldly
character, but we learn that she's never been in a relationship, nor
even kissed a boy. It's rather odd for the way she's presented. Overall,
the story arc is more developed than in the first novella, and there's
more growth from Celaena.
"The Assassin and the Underworld" focuses less on action and
more on personal growth. Back from the desert, Celaena finally learns
what happened to Sam as punishment for their actions in "The Pirate
Lord." She's dealing with her feelings for him at the same time she's
trying to come to terms with her changed feelings for Arobynn. At the
same time, she and Sam are working together to break up another web of
human trafficking through the assassination of a key player.
Celaena faces the choice of remaining a kept woman or of leaving Arobynn
and taking control of her own fate. It takes her longer to choose than I
(and Sam) expected. We also finally get the reason that Celaena hides
her identity: it's because she is presented to society as Arobynn's
niece. Learning that earlier wouldn't have hurt anything, and it would
have made parts of "Pirate Lord" less confusing.
The writing in these is top notch, and the characters are likable when
they're supposed to be likable (and not, when they're not). Arobynn, in
particular, comes across as a creepy, manipulative man. My only
complaint, in fact, is that for all Celaena talks of herself as the BEST
assassin EVER, it's not supported in the stories. She makes frequent
mistakes, she gets caught, she gets played. I'm not sure whether we're
supposed to believe she really is such an accomplished assassin or whether it's meant as a sign of her age; more clarification along those lines would be nice.
All in all, very good stories. I'm looking forward to "Throne of
Glass" and the fourth novella — although judging by the description of
"Throne of Glass," bad things are in store for Sam, in particular.
