The Assassin's Blade

The Throne of Glass Novellas

By: Sarah J. Maas

Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans

Bloomsbury presents The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas, read by Elizabeth Evans.

The twist of a knife. The birth of a legend.

Step into the world of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas with this collection of prequel novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin’s Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance.

If she hopes to escape Arobynn’s clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade . . . knowing that if she fails, she’ll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

A prequel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas explores the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling—and deadly—world.

Included in this volume:
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
The Assassin and the Healer
The Assassin and the Desert
The Assassin and the Underworld
The Assassin and the Empire

©2014 Sarah J. Maas (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

"Fans and libraries will delight in having this gorgeous edition of the interconnected stories. Action-packed and full of insight into Celaena’s character.... What a ride!" (Booklist)

great prequel

this prequel was published sometime after the first few books but i didn’t listen to it until a few months after i finished the series and i’m so glad i waited. it was really lovely to get the backstory of so many of the adventures we learn about over the course of the main series and i enjoyed meeting many of the characters in their previous lives.

i know some people read this first and hated it because it seemed so juvenile but i would urge everyone to continue the series because there is great character development for the lead and so many other characters worth getting to know (manon! dorian! elide! nehemiah!! lysandra!).

i have also read the ACOTAR series and i genuinely don’t understand why it seems to be more popular than this series because this series is SO much more compelling.

I absolutely love this series.

This is a great prequel to my most favorite book series of all time. The author does such a great job of having all of these short story parts come back into play later in the other books and make your jaw drop.

Awesome Story and Narration

I love all the author's stories. Very talented and well written and sucks you in from the first page every time. The narrator is equally talented. the more audibles I listen to, the more appreciation I have for story tellers with talent.

Didn’t have high hopes..

But I was pleasantly surprised! I don’t believe you have to start with this book. I read the books in order of release date and it was still a fun read after knowing the “end”.

Good… but not as good as the rest

I have been reading this series in the romantic order. I loved the first three books and then I got to this one… it’s okay, but it’s no where near as good as the others. Also, the “southern” accent used for one of the characters really didn’t seem to match the setting of the book and was very distracting to me.

Love the narrator, love the stories

Elizabeth Evans is perfect for this character and absolutely nails it again. Enjoyed getting detailed backstory and found it interesting even though I know how it ends. Sam’s story was even more sad with the build up of their relationship.

Explains a lot

I have already read the TOG series and love it very much. It was very cool and sad to see where it all started… a lot of things through out the series kind of make a little more sense with this book. I don’t believe you need to read/listen to this book in order to make this series, how ever to understand the MC on a different level it’s a good starting place. Because I listened to this I want to listen to the whole series again.

Great Story

Great development of the story line and the characters, can wait to listen to the next book.

Gripping New Series

This book pulled me in from the start and kept me wanting more. I’m excited to continue this series.

Be still my beating (crying) heart

This collection of stories about Celaena gives so much insight into the making of Adarlans assassin. Her steel will and heart so much bigger than she would ever admit. I fell in love with her character all over again, because I’m reading this after all the other books. Brilliant character development, brilliant twists and turns, and a story worth reading over and over again