Maas grew up an imaginative and creative child, she began writing Throne of Glass when she was only sixteen. Initially titled Queen of Glass, she shared several chapters of the work on a fiction archive site, FictionPress.com. It soon became one of the most read works on the platform and this encouraged her to complete and publish the novel which birthed the Throne of Glass series.
What’s The Throne of Glass Series About?
As the author once shared, the series was inspired by the Cinderella story but with Cinderella reimagined as an assassin instead of a servant. The fantasy series follows a young woman and assassin named Celaena Sardothien as she went from being a slave to someone destined to save her kingdom. Apart from this series, Sarah Mass is known for two other book series: A Court of Thorns and Roses and the Crescent City series. If you have been following the Throne of Glass novel series right from when its first book was published, then the natural. However, if you are looking to start the series, you might want to consider reading it based on how it is outlined below.
How to Read The Throne of Glass Series
The Assassin’s Blade (Book 0.5)
Publication Date: March 4, 2014 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 464 Pages
This is a collection of five stories titled The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, The Assassin and the Healer, The Assassin and the Desert, The Assassin and the Underworld, and The Assassin and the Empire. Each of these was individually published as a novella in 2012 before they were put together and published in 2014 as The Assassin’s Blade, a collection of short stories based on a time before the events of the Throne of Glass series.
Throne of Glass (Book 1)
Publication Date: August 7, 2012 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 416 Pages
The first book of the series, Throne of Glass was nominated for the Lincoln Award in 2015 and also received the North Carolina Young Adult Book Award for High School that same year. It follows a teenage assassin subjected to slavery and must fight for Prince Dorian against some of the most notorious assassins and thieves of the kingdom to regain her freedom. Celaena accepts the offer but would soon realize that a great and scary destiny beyond her, awaits her.
Crown of Midnight (Book 2)
Publication Date: August 27, 2013 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 432 Pages
The second book of the series follows Assassin Celaena after she triumphed in the deadly contest to become the King’s Champion. Now Prince Dorian is bent on being evil and as the story unfolds, Celaena must choose between keeping up with her fake loyalty to the crown and fighting for the people she truly cared for while striving to untwist the dark secrets of the dark castle. Crown of Midnight was nominated for Goodreads Choice Award in 2013, this was under the Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category.
Heir of Fire (Book 3)
Publication Date: September 2, 2014 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 576 Pages
Heir of Fire is packed with intriguing major stories that follow Celaena’s journey to Wendlyn where she confronts the truth about her heritage and embraces being the Queen of Terrasen. Meanwhile, Prince Dorian struggles to assimilate his growing powers and the throne contends against rebels while monstrous forces plot to enslave everyone. As the third book of the series, Heir of Fire was also nominated for Goodreads Choice Award in 2014 under the aforementioned category.
Queen of Shadows (Book 4)
Publication Date: September 1, 2015 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 656 Pages
Queen of Shadows is the fourth book of the Throne of Glass series and it follows a vengeful Celaena Sardothien who has resolved to confront her past and save her kingdom. To do this, she must fight for what’s left of her loved ones. This book was nominated for the Best of the Best award in 2018 and earlier in 2015, it won the Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Empire of Storms (Book 5)
Publication Date: September 6, 2016 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 694 Pages
Empire of Storms is the fifth book in the Throne of Glass series and it was also nominated for Goodreads Choice Award under the Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category. It continues to follow Celaena Sardothien but as Aelin Galathynius who is determined to never forsake her kingdom. She builds an army and goes after Lord Erawan who is bent on destroying the world. Aelin would in the process uncover more about herself, that she is destined for sometime bigger than her right from birth: nothing had happened by chance.
Tower of Dawn (Book 6)
Publication Date: September 5, 2017 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 672 Pages
The events of this book happen at the same time as the events of the previous book, Empire of Storms. It follows Chaol Westfall, a royal guard and friend of Prince Dorian who had served the evil king for years. He escapes the king and together with Nesryn Faliq, forms an alliance with the Khaganate for the sake of its armies in an effort to save Erilea. Like most of the books in this series, Towers of Dawn was also nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award.
Kingdom of Ash (Book 7)
Publication Date: October 23, 2018 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Print Length: 992 Pages
The last book of the Throne of Glass series, Kingdom of Ash won the 2018 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. It tells how Aelin Galathynius was captured, locked up in an iron coffin, and persistently tortured. Now everyone has to fight to save Erilea and Aelin might just pay the ultimate price of that.
