Tuesday 28 August 2012

Review: The Assassin and the Desert


Title: The Assassin and the Desert (A Throne of Glass Novella 0.2)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publication Date: March 30 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: N/A
Length: 86 Pages
Link to SynopsisGoodreads
Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Buy ItAmazon US / Amazon UK

My Rating: 4 Stars

This is the second of four novellas that serve as prequels to Throne of Glass. I will quickly add that I maintain my suggestion to read the full novel first and then these prequels. Not that anything is given away but the allure of Celaena's mysterious past is one of my favorite elements of the full novel. Reading these after is helping me see why she acts the way she does later on but I am glad to not have known these details at the time.

Another reason why I would strongly suggest the reading of the full novel first is because we are seeing a completely different side of Celaena in these novellas.  We all know that Celaena is in the prison of the salt mines at the start of Glass of Throne.  Before this she was a bit... shall I say... stuck up and cocky?  Yep that about sums it up.  Her attitude is not bothering me as much because I know how Celaena will be once she gets knocked down a peg or two.  But if I had not read the full novel first I am unsure if I would really like Celaena in these. Although we do still get to see how noble she is in her beliefs and her hatred toward slavery so we do see a glimpse of the real Celaena behind the walls she puts up around herself.

The Assassin and the Desert picks up very shortly after The Assassin and the Pirate Lord.  We find Celaena being punished for her act of treason against her master, Arobynn Hamel.  In the main novel we do learn a bit about Arobynn and get the idea that he was not a kind man.  Well... if there were any questions about that then this novella sure helped dispose of the doubts.  What a complete jerk.

There is no Sam in this novella which was a bit sad, I was hoping to see more of him and Celaena.  She has been sent by Arobynn to the red desert to train with the Silent Assassins.  The story is fast paced and as always full of adventure and betrayal.

Another quick fun read!

14 comments:

  1. New follower! Thanks for stopping by Patch of Sky, and I can't wait to read up on your reviews!

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  2. Thanks so much for stopping by on my blog - I always love discovering new blogs to follow and your blog is gorgeous. Consider me your newest follower! I must say I'm absolutely dying to read Throne of Glass - have heard so many great things about it.

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  3. I am excited to read TOG. I was told to read the novel first and then the novellas.
    I am JEALOUS of your blog! Holy crow! I adore the color and the sparkles that come out of the mouse/arrow, all of it! I love the side bar buttons & the cute "frames" around the pics.
    My blog is boring in comparison! lolz.
    U just started your blog? You have a wonderful amount of reviews already :)
    I am going to read a few & hopefully we'll chat again soon..
    Maybe you'll tell me how to make my arrow/mouse pointer thingy spit out sparkles too ;)
    I also LOVE the diamond accents on the social media icons!
    Have a great rest of the day & hope to see ya around :)

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  4. I really loved Throne of Glass but I haven't yet read these. Several have said I should have read them first, so I'm happy to hear you say that it's better to read Throne of Glass before so I have an idea of how she turns out. I really need to read them!

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  5. Thanks for stopping by my blog as well! You have a beautiful blog. I followed you and look forward to reading more of your reviews!
    Monica at www.the-readathon.blogspot.com

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  6. Throne of Glass sounds interesting. I'll add to my tbr list.

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  7. Throne of Glass is high on my TBR list, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Hopefully when I do, I can read the prequels as well. Thanks for the review! :D

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  8. Dang, I haven't even read "Throne of Glass" yet. I am so behind! It sounds very interesting, though. Great review :)

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  9. Throne of Glass is on my TBR pile - I've been wanting to read it for awhile! I didn't realize there were so many prequels too! That will be a really nice extra after I've read the first book. Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm very happy to follow you too, I love the layout of your blog! And the sparks/rain coming from the mouse pointer is so cool!

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  10. Throne of Glass is in my TBR pile, I hope to get to it soon! I didn't know there were so many prequels- that will be a nice extra to read! Thanks for visiting my blog, I'm happy to follow you as well, I love the layout of your blog and the sparks/rain coming from the mouse pointer is so cool! :)

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  11. Thanks for stopping by at my blog!
    And thanks for following me.

    Mariska New Follower

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  12. New follower here! Thanks for dropping by my blog as well. Already see some books on your blog that I'll have to add to my TBR pile!

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  13. New follower via GFC! Thanks for stoppng by my blog! :)

    I loved Throne of Glass and thanks for reviewing one of the prequels!

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  14. I haven't read any of these yet, thanks for sharing xx Thanks for popping over to beck valley books, pop over wed for our weekly book blog hop !!

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I would love to hear what you have to say! I read and try to respond to every single comment I receive. Knowing there are people out there reading is what makes this all worth it... : )