The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J. Maas

The Assassin's Blade is a prequel of The Throne of Glass series, which I just found out will consist of 6 books #facepalmed#. The face palmed is not because I don't like the book, but because I enjoyed it so much that I don't think I have the patient to wait for 6 books. After Harry Potter, I don't think I have the patient anymore hahahaha. 

(Why do I always bring HP to the conversation??)

Anyway, even though The Assassin's Blade is the prequel, the book itself was released in 2014, after the release of The Throne of Glass in 2012 and Crown of Midnight, the second book of The Throne of Glass series, in 2013. So I feel lucky that I haven't read TOG and COM, so I can really enjoy TAB more. 

I don't know what made me like the book. Maybe I like the title, Throne of Glass, or maybe I like the synopsis, about an assassin, a young girl assassin. No matter what, I felt that I like the book (series) instantly. 

And TAB doesn't dissapoint me. TAB is a novella, which I found out that it mean was consist of some short stories. The setting in TAB happened before the story in TOG begin. 

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin’s Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam.

When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes—and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn’s orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn’s clutches—and if they fail, they’ll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives . . .

A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling—and deadly—world.

Included in this volume:

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

The Assassin and the Healer

The Assassin and the Desert

The Assassin and the Underworld

The Assassin and the Empire

If you have read TOG then you know what will happen to Celaena and you know that this story won't end in happy ending. Knowing me, it should make me dislike this book, but since the story is so good, I really enjoyed it. 

I like Celaena. I like her ability, her confidence, her pride, even though sometimes I think she's a little too proud, too arrogant, but I think she's all that because she's so sure about her ability. 

I also like her relationship with Sam. Although for me, it's a little too fast.  I mean, at the beginning Celaena was described as a girl who doesn't like Sam. There were some kind of rivalry between them. Even though Sam was a year older than Celaena, she's always better than Sam and she's chosen to be the protege and heir of Arobynn Hamel instead of Sam. When Hamel sent Celaena and Sam on a mission together, Celaena start to see Sam in a different way, a little bit, especially after what happened in the pirate island. 

Story number 2 & 3 found Celaena on an away mission from Hamel, this is where Celaena really start to see and think of Sam in a really different way and it concluded at story number 4, continued to the end. 

Since it's only a backstory so I think I understand why the story between Sam and Celaena was quite fast, and still I enjoy it. 

And about the mission itself, well sometimes I hated when Celaena just do what Hamel told her to do. I wished she do some recon or at least investigate deeply the person she's supposed to kill. But then I rethink again. She's an assassin, I don't think assassins really do much investigation. I mean even if the person she's supposed to kill was a nice person, I think she still has to kill them. But I can't help feel that Celaena should be smarter than just do what she's told. On the other hand, that was she trained to do. 

When I read the last story, even though I kinda know how it will end, I still cried when it happened. I can feel Celaena pain, her despair, and her broken heart. And also when she finally decided to live, not to be broken, I also feel it. 

Now...I don't know if I can begin to read Throne of Glass. Because if I start to read it, then I will read Crown of Midnight and I  don't think I can wait for Heir of Fire which will be released on September. It still 5 more months! Not to mention book 4-6! 

I think, other than Harry Potter books, the other series that I read the minute the book was released was Percy Jackson series and Kane Chronicles. Other than that, either the first three books already released (The Mortal Instruments) or I wait for the whole books to partially complete. 

But overall, I really enjoy this Assassin's Blade. You've got action, fantasy, intrigue, and romance in one book.  And I'm sure Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight will have more of those.