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- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- 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 ↗ - 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 ↗ - 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 ↗ - 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.
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- Behind the scenesBorn from the Cinderella soundtrack
The idea came when Maas was 15, listening to the soundtrack of Disney's Cinderella. The music for the escape from the ball felt way too intense. She wondered: what if Cinderella were an assassin fleeing the palace?
source ↗ - Behind the scenesQueen of Glass online
In 2002, Maas started posting chapters on FictionPress under the title Queen of Glass. It became the most popular story on the site, with fans worldwide. In 2008 she took it down to pursue publication.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSix years to the bookstore
Maas sent the book to agents in 2008 and signed with Tamar Rydzinski in 2009. Bloomsbury bought the novel in March 2010. It came out on August 2, 2012, ten years after the first chapters went online.
source ↗ - ReferenceÉowyn and Velma Kelly
Maas named two influences on Celaena's personality: Éowyn from The Lord of the Rings and Velma Kelly from Chicago. She also gave her heroine flaws on purpose, like impatience and vanity.
source ↗ - SetupWatch the clock tower
Keep an eye on the castle's clock tower and its gargoyles, which unsettle Celaena. It looks like set dressing, but it matters again later in the series.
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- Behind the scenesOnto the NYT list
This is the book that first put the series on the New York Times bestseller list.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIn edits when book 1 came out
In December 2012, a few months after the first book, this one was already in line edits for a fall 2013 release. The third was in draft and wrapped up Maas's Bloomsbury contract.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesOn the 2013 lists
The book was a 2013 Goodreads Choice nominee and ranked No. 2 on PopSugar's best YA books of the year.
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- Behind the scenesA headache from crying
Maas said she had a headache for most of the time she worked on this book. The reason, she said: she cried a lot.
source ↗ - SetupManon's debut
This is the book where the witch Manon shows up, in her own storyline, competing to lead her clan. Don't skip her chapters: her story grows a lot from here.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIn the Goodreads race
The book was a 2014 Goodreads Choice nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.
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- Behind the scenesThe series' first Goodreads Choice win
It was the first book in the series to win a Goodreads Choice Award, in 2015, for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction, voted by readers.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAmong 2015's best
The UK paper The Independent ranked the book No. 4 on its list of the 10 best fantasy novels of 2015.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe show that would have had this name
In 2016, Hulu and Disney-ABC optioned the series for TV with producer Mark Gordon. The project was to be called Queen of Shadows. It never moved forward, and the rights went back to the author.
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- Behind the scenesStopping to cry
Maas said some scenes hit her so hard she had to stop writing and go cry for a few minutes. She writes in story order so she feels what her characters feel.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesEpic music, blasting
Maas blasted a lot of epic music while writing this book. She called the process equal parts fun and devastating.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesBanned in Utah schools
In 2024, this was one of 13 books removed from every public school in Utah over content deemed sensitive.
source ↗ - ReferenceYou can read it alongside the next one
Tower of Dawn takes place at the same time as this book. That's why there are tandem-read guides that alternate chapters from both. On a first read, it's simplest to read one after the other.
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- Behind the scenesIt was meant to be a novella
Chaol's story started as a novella. Maas ended up more than doubling its planned length. She wrote in her newsletter that the story just poured out of her and she couldn't stop.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA pushed date
The book was set for June 2017 and moved to September 5. The shift gave Maas time to edit it, finish A Court of Wings and Ruin and write the final book, which moved to 2018.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFrom novella to book six
The title was revealed in April 2017. By then the former novella was officially book six, making the series seven novels long.
source ↗ - ReferenceRead The Assassin's Blade first
Maas recommended reading The Assassin's Blade before this book, because characters from Celaena's past appear here. She also said that, given how much it reveals, it counts as a main book, not an extra.
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- Behind the scenesAn ending found years earlier
Maas said several endings came and went over the years. A few years before writing this book, she found the ending and wrote the whole series toward it.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThree boxes of tissues
Asked how many boxes of tissues readers would need, Maas said: at least three. She said she went through several while writing.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe author's favorite cover
Maas said this is her favorite cover in the series, for Aelin's pose, the armor and the gold foil background.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe longest in the series
At 984 pages in the US hardcover, it's the longest book in the series.
source ↗ - Behind the scenes2018 Goodreads Choice
The book won the 2018 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction, the series' second win after Queen of Shadows.
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