By Valeria Araujo – News Editor

In the first book of the four-part series, “Throne of Glass,” the reader finds out that Celaena Sardothein, the main character, is not an average 18-year-old girl.

Unless being an assassin is considered ordinary.

However, her job profession is not the only peculiar thing in the high fantasy series. The world of Erilea which used to be a world full of magic was conquered by a vicious King who wiped it from all shown surfaces. Nations are torn apart as hushed rebellion spreads throughout the continent. When Celaena starts to learn more about her world, the ancient secrets it holds being to unravel and unknown evils decide to come out and play. And it’s up to Celaena to save life as they know it from long forgotten dangers.

But things don’t start of this way. After being betrayed by a fellow assassin, Celaena is sent to a prison in Endovier. She is brutalized as she mines for salt for an entire year (even though most people only last a month) before the Crowned Prince of Adarlan summons her to give her a offer she cannot refuse. To gain her freedom, she must participate in a competition against 23 other diverse criminals for the title of the King’s Champion. If she wins, she would be freed after four years as serving as the King’s Champion, which entails crossing out the names of the King’s personal hit list for good.

“High Fantasy” novels usually leave a lot to be desired, but Sarah J. Maas does a great job of engaging the reader through out the entire novel. She immediately grasps the readers attention in the very first sentence: “After a year of slavery in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point.” By giving a small taste of background on Celaena’s previous endeavors the curious reader would want to know more about how she end up there and what got her in chains the first time around. Possibly the most unique part of the book is that although it is all written in third person, the reader gets to experience many other perspectives other than just Celaeana’s which helps move the story along immensely. As the story progresses and the reader learns more about Erilea, and as they encounter the many plot twist and lovely characters, it slowly becomes a “cannot be put down” book. It’s action-packed and keeps the reader guessing the entire time.

Unfortunately, some of the plot twist are actually extremely predictable. One of the biggest plot twists is completely obvious throughout the entire book. When it comes to the big reveal it falls flat because most people have all ready figured it out in the first few chapters. There are also some tacky tropes like the over done love-triangle that leaves many readers frustrated because these types of tropes never end well. Celaena as a character in general is also kind of a hard pill to swallow. She is quite full of herself at times which might come to bite her in the other books. Even though Celaena might be an annoying main character, at times, it makes her more real because not every hero is always a kind, selfless person in the beginning and this also shows that even the most unlikely people can be heroes which will make the reader continue to route for her in the journey she takes through out the novel.

Sarah J. Maas  truly saves the novel by giving the reader amazing characters like Nehemia Ytger, the dethroned princess of Eyllwe; Chaol Westfall, the stoic captain of the Guard; and the spirit of Eleana Havilliard, the first princess of Terrasen. These are all very different people with completely different roles to play but they are all lovable in their own way.

Readers of the series “The Hunger Games” and “Game of Thrones” might be drawn to the throne of glass series because of its similar settings and/or character arcs because all of these series, more or less, have fantasy aspects to them. The “Game of Thrones” and the “Throne of Glass” series are set in a very old time period because there is still a working monarchy and yet “The Hunger Games” series is a dystopian novel and shares the rule oppressive governments – and also knows a thing or two about murderous competitions – which many young adult readers are extremely drawn recently. Great books will always transport the reader to another dimension and the world of Erilea is one that should definitely be explored.

Rate 4.75 stars out of 5