The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin’s Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance.

If she hopes to escape Arobynn’s clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade . . . knowing that if she fails, she’ll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

A prequel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas explores 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

I wish we could've gotten even more of a back story with Sam. They deserved more time for their story to be told. I loved all the different past tales of her journeys. FU Arobynn.

This collection of novellas with an overarching direction was very interesting. It gave a great deal of insight into Celaena's past. However, on it's own merit, it was not as good as the regular stories in the series. The writing and intensity were not up to par. Neither was the pacing. It dragged moments out in several places, especially with the ending that anyone who read the other books knows was coming. After having read Heir of Fire, this story by necessity does not feel as grand. Perhaps it lost some magic for that reason.
There were some great things and characters. Sam Cortland was fantastic. The silent assassins and the Mute Master were incredible (easily the best part). Overall, I just didn't love it as much.

“Of all the girls in all the world, here she was on a spit of beach in the Red Desert, astride an Asterion horse, racing faster than the wind. Most would never experience this - she would never experience anything like this again. And for that one heartbeat, when there was nothing more to it than that, she tasted bliss so complete that she tipped her head back to the sky and laughed.”
~
I really enjoyed this collection of short adventures that provide some history to Celaena's life and some background to her person. Maas did a great job of making each story captivating and emotional, setting up the start of Throne of Glass.I really enjoyed the collection of short adventures that Maas put together to provide some history to Celaena's life and background into her person. Maas did a fantastic job of making each story captivating and emotional, setting up the start of the Throne of Glass.

This book is actually a collection of novellas that are prequels to the Throne of Glass Series. Each one contains some event that shaped Celaena into the assassin we see in the series. These novellas were amazing and I really enjoyed all the background we got.

Each novella showed a lot of the choices Celaena makes that contradict the stereotypical assassin persona. These novellas helped show that what Celaena does in Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire is not completely out of character and she has done similar things in the past. Personally I wish I had read this book before reading Heir of Fire because it would have augmented a few of the things Celaena goes through with Rowan if I had already read the Assassin's blade.

From the other books in the series, I did not think I would like Sam, but reading this book really made me understand why Sam and Celaena were good for each other. They dealt with the struggles of being an Assassin together and supported each other through that. Along with this came the heartbreak of just how devastated Celaena must be at the beginning of the Throne of Glass with being in the camp plus Sam's death. The slow build up of Celaena realize just how much she cares about Sam was wonderfully done.

Each of these stories were a great window into Celaena's life prior to Endovier and how they have shaped the events that take place in the other books. Arobynn is incredibly cruel and I absolutely do not understand how Celaena survived all that time with him. The Silent Master definitely taught her a lot and was a far better Master.

That last page killed me. So sad, but she is using Sam's death and her imprisonment to motivate her to survive and get her revenge. This book also made me crave more Celaena and I also miss Chaol and Dorian. I don't like that I have to wait until Fall 2015.