Book Review: Throne of Glass Series

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Overall Rating: 5/5

Spicy Rating: 2/5

Genre: Action, Adventure, Dystopia, Fae, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Magic, Novella, Pirates, Politics, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, War, Witches, Young Adult

The Throne of Glass Series is one of my favorite series that I’ve read in the last decade. Since first reading it over the summer of 2020 I have already reread the last four books once and will probably reread the first two before the end of 2021.

This series consists of seven high fantasy novels, Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, Kingdom of Ash, and a prequel which consists of five novellas, Assassin’s Blade.

The books take place in the magical realm of Erilea with most having a typical medieval European setting except for Tower of Dawn which takes place on the Southern Continent in Antica and seems to have more Asian influences on the setting. The Throne of Glass Series is centered on an 18-year-old girl named Celaena Sardothien who is known for her immense talent as a highly trained assassin. While she may be a talented killer, she is also adept at discovering the mysteries that the kingdom of Adarlan has long sought to keep hidden, and is rapidly finding that these secrets are closely related to an identity that she has kept hidden from the world and has been running from herself almost her entire life. She finds friendship and betrayal, love and heartbreak, power and powerlessness, and not everyone survives to see a happily ever after.

This series has become wildly popular and dominated the Young Adult Fantasy shelves for the last few years, it’s constantly being talked about by social media and it’s become a running joke that everyone who joins “booktok,” the TikTok area for readers and lovers of books, has to read the Throne of Glass Series and the A Court of Thorns and Roses Series. Because of its raging popularity the issues that the books and their author Sarah J. Maas have have gotten a lot of attention, and rightfully so, these books are not perfect. They center on a cast of mostly white, straight characters and there are some issues of able-ism that I expand upon in my review of Tower of Dawn. These books were written and the series completed prior to the push for diversifying of bookshelves and the cast of characters that authors portray within their books being a more diverse reflection of the real world and I feel that it is important to talk about these issues and to read and elevate diverse authors, but I do not think that means you can’t or shouldn’t read these books. If you enjoy fantasy novels, I think that you will enjoy the Throne of Glass Series!

Here you can find links to my lists of books by any Own Voices Author for Fiction and Nonfiction, POC Authors in Fiction and Nonfiction, by LGBTQ+ Authors in Fiction and Nonfiction, by Disabled Authors in Fiction and Nonfiction, and with POC Characters in Fiction and Nonfiction, LGBTQ+ Characters in Fiction and Nonfiction, and Disabled Characters in Fiction and Nonfiction. Keep in mind that I am one person and the books that I have read, reviewed, and listed are far from the only diverse books that exist!

The reading order that I recommend depends on whether you think you would enjoy a slower introduction to the series or are someone who likes to have some action in the first few pages, and also whether or not you care if an important character death is spoiled.

For those that want to read the books in chronological order of events and not have anything spoiled I recommend starting with Assassin’s Blade and then progressing through the rest of the series in order from Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, with a tandem read of Empire of Storms, and Tower of Dawn, before finishing off the series with Kingdom of Ash.

For those that need a faster-paced introduction into the world and don’t mind knowing some of what happens ahead of time, start with Throne of Glass, and Crown of Midnight, and then read Assassin’s Blade so that you are introduced to and familiar with some of the characters that will be revisited in the later books. After that read Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, and complete a tandem read of Empire of Storms, and Tower of Dawn, before finishing off the series with Kingdom of Ash.

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If you enjoyed the Throne of Glass Series you might also enjoy the A Court of Thorns and Roses Series, the Crescent City Series, the From Blood and Ash Trilogy, The Folk of the Air Trilogy (also known as the Cruel Prince Trilogy), the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, and its follow-up the Six of Crows Duology, the Serpent and Dove Trilogy, and The Shadows Between Us.