Throne of Glass is a fictional book series written by author Sarah J Maas. The first book of the series ‘Throne of Glass’ was first published on August 2nd 2012. This story has very memorable characters with a magical plot and is one of my personal favorites. Remember, freedom is the important theme throughout this story.

Throne of Glass takes place in the made up world of Erilea, which contains many vast and beautiful landmarks, but the story takes place in Rifthold, the castle of Adarlan.  Tragically, most of the kingdoms in Erilea have been taken over by the king of Adarlan, who is the main antagonist and has sent many people to their deaths. While reading this story I could really picture the environment in my head, the author uses many sensory details describing the beautiful, sometimes eerie and shadowy settings. Furthermore, the characters in Throne of glass each have very strong and distinctive personalities. The main heroine and character of the story is Celaena Sardothien, whom is known as the infamous assassin of Adarlan. Celaena is a very strong and independent heroine, she is very brutal and sarcastic while at times is very girly and caring—sometimes. I strongly believe that Celaena is an amazing character because she has been through so much and still comes out on top; nobody can beat her, one of her popular quotes “My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or whatever, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me.” Then there is Chaol Westfall the Captain of the Guard, who was assigned to keep watch over Celaena. Chaol Westfall is very strict and cold in the beginning, but as the story progresses he warms up a bit and becomes one of Celaena’s main allies. Not to mention, prince Dorian Havilliard, son of the wicked king. Dorian is very charming, caring, and intelligent, and he eventually falls in a forbidden love with Celaena. Last but not least, there is Nehemia Ytger, Princess of Eyllwe, whom is bold, passionate, cunning, arrogant and cocky spirit, filled with deep love for her country. Nehemia becomes Celaena’s best friend throughout the story.

As I read through Throne of Glass I became more and more hooked to the story. The story starts off with infamous assassin Celaena being escorted out of death camp Endovier, by Prince Dorian and Chaol, Captain of the Guard. They dragged her to the throne in Rifthold to have an audience with the king of Adarlan. Celaena was chosen to be Dorian’s champion in a competition in which the strongest of criminals are chosen to fight against each other. The winner of this competition will become the king’s champion and therefore serve him for four years before gaining complete freedom. To Celaena this freedom meant everything to her, it meant going back to her home in Terrasen, a place which the king of Adarlan took over. As the story progressed, Celaena started off well in the competition until one faithful night a mysterious woman came and gave her warnings about lurking evils within the castle. From there on out, it was Celaena’s job to not only win the competition but to figure out the many dark mysterious going on within the castle.

This story has captivated me and brought me into a magical world full of action and suspense. The story is very entertaining, but the characters really grew on me. Specifically Celaena, as she has had a rough past and her goals and passion for the taste of freedom really shook me to cheer her on and follow her story. Additionally, characters like Dorian, Chaol and Nehemia all have different purposes and goals which made me pick up the prequel ‘Crown of Midnight immediately after finishing the story. However, my only complaint is that certain things within the story became repetitive, for example the restating of characters pasts and titles.
 

Overall, the book was fascinating with interesting lore and characters whom which really make you want to keep on reading. I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a powerful heroine going through a long journey for freedom. Or to anyone who really enjoys fantasy fiction such as ‘Game of Thrones’ or ‘Hunger Games’.