Rating – 3 stars
Every few days I have a habit of browsing the recommendations on Goodreads, sometimes the results are surprisingly good, sometimes not so much.
At times the same book can be found in the list for months if not discarded with a ‘Not Interested’ button as most of y’ll know. So when browsing through these lists, I read the summaries of a few of em, and if I find myself intrigued I add it to my TBR list, if not then I discard the book. However since its not possible to have a look at all the books, a few books remain in the recommendations for a while.
Almost 2 months back, I got suggested 2 different YA books, both the first in a series, with quite similar themes – that of a girl assassin; one was the woefully terrible – Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers from her series ‘His Fair Assassin, #1’, while the other was Sarah J. Maas ‘ Throne of Glass, the first in a series of the same name.
I unfortunately picked the former and was terribly disappointed with it. Hence I decided to tread lightly and give myself a break before picking up Maas. And finally picked it up last week while I was reading Helene Wecker’ wonderful book The Golem and the Jinni.
Seeing as there are quite a few prequels that lead to the events of Throne of Glass I picked the very first one – a book which would help me learn about the lead Celaena Sardothien in a short 70 pages, not to mention give me a glimpse into the author’ writing style.
In The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, Celaena is a 16 year old Assassin who works for Assassin’s Guild. I liked the fact that Maas has a heroine who is not only a badass but who is quite a narcissist and quite arrogant considering she is not only the best assassin in the guild but is also the chosen one to lead it, when the situation arises. Reading about cocky heroes can get really old and kinda androcentric. So it was a pleasant surprise to read about a girl who is so full of herself and yet has a compassionate and soft side, though she hardly reveals it.
The plot of the book revolves around Celaena & Sam – a fellow assassin at the guild being sent by the Assassin’s Guild to collect on a debt they are owed by the Lord of the Pirates Captain Rolfe. However to her and Sam’ surprise they have been sent to buy slaves instead. This changes the mission and Celaena & Sam’ outlook towards it completely.
While they may be assassins they fiercely oppose the barbaric practice of slavery and decide on freeing all the slaves in captivity at Skull’s Bay.
Considering this book is a debut release the writing is surprisingly good. I learned it owing to a few reviews posted by fellow Goodreads members that the author had in fact posted the book on Fictionpress and later decided to give a shot at professional writing and was finally published by Bloomsbury.
I dont know when I will pick up the next book in the series but I will to see how that one goes – this one left me with a minor complaint. A rushed ending which I frankly found a little unrealistic and unbelievable but perhaps the author has improved upon that in the next novella, it I happen to like that one I would definitely give the series a shot.
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