The Assassin's Blade

Sixteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is the best assassin in Arobynn Hamel's guild. Across five stories, she sails to a pirate island and frees the slaves she was supposed to help trade, which earns her a beating from Arobynn. At an inn, she helps a young woman named Yrene. Then she trains with the Silent Assassins in the desert. Back in the capital, she falls for Sam Cortland, another guild assassin, and starts to doubt her master. The two plan to leave the guild and run away together. Arobynn betrays them: Sam is tortured and killed, and Celaena is captured and sent as a slave to the salt mines of Endovier.

1. Behind the scenesNovellas to fill the wait

   In 2012, Bloomsbury put out four e-book novellas to keep fans going between books. Maas said novellas let her dig into characters and backstory without weighing down the main story.

   source ↗
2. Behind the scenesOne brand-new story

   The book collects five novellas. Four had already come out as e-books. The second, The Assassin and the Healer, was new when the collection hit shelves in 2014.

   source ↗
3. ReferenceWhere the author places it

   On Sarah J. Maas's website, this book is listed third, after Crown of Midnight. She has said to read it before Heir of Fire. Many readers start with it instead, since it comes first in the story.

   source ↗
4. SetupPeople who come back

   Before Tower of Dawn came out, Maas suggested reading this book first, because characters from Celaena's past show up there. Pay attention to who she meets along the way.

   source ↗