Throne of Glass (Miniature Character Collection) Flexibound – 5 Nov. 2019

5 glistening stars for the ‘Throne of Glass’ by Sarah J Maas who in my opinion reigns supreme as the Queen of Fantasy.From the opening chapters we are treated with excellent world building, fascinating characters, and vivid descriptive prose that transports the reader into the world of dark fairy tales. A place I can quite easily stay when the story delivers this much.This is total escapism at its best. Easy to read, captivating, adventurous, and with the requisite adrenaline rush you come to expect with these Fantasy stories but with some humour and a bit of romance thrown in to add more appeal.The StorylineNotorious assassin, eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien, has been locked up in Endovia’s death camp for the last year. A salt mine where few get out alive. So, when Dorian the Prince of Adarlan nominates Celaena as his champion, Celaena seizes the opportunity to win her freedom. Her challenge to become the Kings Champion is to beat the other 24 competitors in a series of trials, not all of them in physical battle, but survival of the fittest in mind, body, and spirit. If she wins, she only has to remain with the king for 4 years and then her freedom is guaranteed.One by one the bodies of contestants are discovered brutally murdered which creates suspicion, blame and mistrust among the group. However, with one eye on each other they should not lose sight of the mystery that lies within the castle and a king who is every bit as corrupt as he is dangerous. For he seems to have a game plan of his own.“Sometimes, the wicked will tell us things just to confuse us–to haunt our thoughts long after we've faced them.”Review and CommentsMama Mai this was good -'Gimme gimme gimme a Chaol after midnight and a Prince like Dorian to take my troubles away' - and music please !!!!The characterisation is excellent particularly that of Celaean, a strong female fantasy character I actually like. Intelligent, brave, determined, and street wise – well most of the time until someone pushes her buttons. However, behind the battle-hardened façade is a beautiful woman, who is caring, passionate and witty and because of this draws the attention of two suitors. Chaol and the Prince himself, Dorian, who both have some redeeming qualities but great characters. We had an intriguing cast of characters that brought so much drama to the story. Some had more prominent roles - for now!! but we will see again in the series. The seeds have been sown.The Plot was clever and well thought out not just in this book, but you can see all the subplots opening up to be continued through the series. The plot felt stripped back from other SJM books which was a welcome change, because sometimes it can feel there was too much going on, and not all of it relevant. Whereas this was.Another explosion of imagination and another story that gripped me from the start. I loved that the trials were not designed for some backass bitch or bloke to triumph in where physical prowess was the only skill worth measuring. The contestants were tested for their observational and mental skills too, which was well done and another welcome change.Things to be aware ofThere is a trend being created by SJM in that she uses the first book in each series to introduce the characters and creates the various realms and kingdoms for the story to unfold through the series. The reason for mentioning is because some reviews have criticised the loose ends, plot holes, and needing to read the series to fully understand the story. So be warned this is a series, so you will not get closure on the full story in book 1.Whilst it might feel some questions are left unanswered, you know the seeds have been sown for these threads to be picked up again and woven into later books. That said there is no shortage of action, suspense, intrigue and scheming in this novel and it ends at the right time.If like me you have read the later series first, like A Court of Thorns and Roses, then you can tell how SJM herself has developed as an author. This does not change my scoring because I would have given ACOTR a six if I could. The first 3 books were outstanding, a little more complex and multi-layered.A joy to read, a story to captivate, characters to fascinate and set in a world that is magical, enchanting, but dangerously exciting. And am I looking forward to this series. Too darn right I am.

I attempted to read this book a few months back and I just couldn't get into it but after weeks of seeing positive reviews on Goodreads I thought maybe I'd missed the point and gave it another go. I'm so happy I trusted other reviewers and went for it because I was completely missing out on what I think will be a really amazing set of books.Throne of Glass is the first in what appears to be a well imagined fantastical series with multiple novellas and sequels so I usually take this to mean it's going to be good. It was, but I did have a few complaints. Like many readers I absolutely loved the world building. This is my second Maas book and it's clear that she writes beautifully; so much so that I get sucked right into her worlds and never want to leave. I particularly loved the archaic, Royals run, vibe; I haven't read many fantasies (I know, I'm a loser) but this book has really made me want to and was, I imagine, a really gentle ease into this sort of read. For these two reasons alone, I have to recommend this book despite a few flaws and inconsistencies which I'll go into later.So what is it actually about? This first instalment introduces us to Celeana Sardothian, a well accomplished and practically famous assassin imprisoned within a part of the Kingdom used to essentially imprison and enslave wrong doers as a punishment for their crimes. Celeana however has the fortune of being a very good assassin, she'll tell you herself (my number one gripe), and makes a deal with the Prince of Adarlan (who seems perfectly lovely) to compete in his fathers competition against other warriors and assassins to be the Kings personal assassin. If she should win she will work for the King for four years and in doing so will earn her freedom. Which seems a perfectly good deal to Celaena - the closer she gets to the King, the greater her chances of killing him.Celaena however was also the main problem I had the first time around. She's feisty, opinionated and an observant narrator - the makings of a brilliant character. Sadly, she's also a bit too obnoxious, arrogant and self riteous to actually feel too excited about her. This is most evident in the first few chapters, and the main reason I gave up initially, but if you soldier on this actually softens off considerably. Additionally, Celaena is also a walking contradiction. She proclaims to be a strong willed, independent, almost callous character due to her horrific past but later has an immense capacity for empathy and a need to be desired that rivals many female protagonists I've read of in a while. I actually preferred this version of her so I'm not saying I disliked this, but I found her confusing and the "say one thing, do another thing entirely" concept was a bit annoying sometimes. I tried to forgive this and assume it was deliberate, but upon reflection I think Maas just made a mistake. I'm all for kick-ass heroines who can fight their corner, but not if they're kick-ass one moment and starry eyed over a prince they're supposed to loathe the next.Despite these issues, I did really enjoy this book and I will definitely have a read of the next in the set. Although Celaena didn't grow on me especially, her story did and the supporting characters were interesting. The sneak peeks of magic and the insight into the Fey are things that I can't wait to see develop into the following books and I won't risk saying anything further for risk of ruining the fun of it. I loved that Maas barely gave anything away, I was kept guessing and interested throughout - enough to forgive the slightly arrogant Celaena. I also actually quite enjoyed the love triangle/square, which I would usually hate; the prince is easily developing into a book crush for many readers by the looks of things.A good read with lots of brilliant world building and fantastic ideas; I can't wait to read the next instalment. I just hope that our assassin becomes a little more grounded and sticks to her guns.

Linda edição, pena que não existe similar para os demais livros em inglês!

Me ha llegado antes de tiempo y en excelente estado, la edición es preciosa... no me arrepiento de comprarlo.

its in third person i was so mad but you dont even notice my girl was a bad bitchhhh loved her book was good overall def continuing the series

El libro es superbonito y ha llegado en perfectas condiciones.

Libro da collezione molto bello. Copertina rifinita nei minimi dettagli, pagine spesse e interni curati.