The Assassin and the Desert
A Throne of Glass Novella
Readers rate it 4.1 (111 on Hardcover)
103 pages · Released 2012 · Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Content report card
What's inside
LGBTQ+ themes
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is the opening novella in Sarah J. Maas's YA fantasy series featuring an 18-year-old assassin in a dark, competitive setting. The story contains combat violence, deaths of characters (including a child), and morally complex themes around assassins and punishment, balanced by character growth and romantic tension. It's marketed to older teens and requires maturity to handle the darker content and moral ambiguity.
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From the publisher
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thiev... After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.
Shelved under
- Fantasy
- Young Adult
- Fiction
- Romance
- Plot driven
- Strong Character Development
- Unloveable Characters
- Not Diverse Characters
- Adventurous
- challenging
- emotional
- sad
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ISBN 9781408834213 · Bloomsbury Publishing Plc