Disclaimer: I got the first book of this series on Wednesday from my library. I finished it Friday night. I was too impatient to wait – I bought the ebook for the second in this series, Crown of Midnight. I did nothing else on Friday and Saturday but read. I couldn’t stop.
This series has been on my to-read list for a while, and I’m getting a lot more reading in now that I’m done with school, especially in my chosen genre of fantasy.
Throne of Glass reminded me why I love fantasy. It reminded me that I love high fantasy. I’ve tried to read too many high fantasies that focus more on the world than the characters. We all know that I’m a character-drive story kind of reader.
This story does everything right: it has an array of lovable characters; it has love interest; it has mystery; it has potential disaster; it has a protagonist with secrets; it layers the story itself on top of the high fantasy world; and it’s not swimming in exposition so thick I can’t breath.
I admit, at first the love triangle thing kind of irked me, but Maas handles it so gracefully that it’s beautiful. It’s not there just to be a way to pull readers in. No, each character has a purpose to be there.
I also started reading this because someone suggested it to me. They said my story, Devil’s Blood, reminded them of Throne of Glass. After reading it, I see what they mean. Maas and I both start off with characters who’d grown up in the underworld of the city after a horrible disaster; they were raised by criminals to be criminals; they were caught and are thrown into the world of law-keeping.
Am I upset? Hell no. Honestly, that’s what kept me reading, too. The story was like the one that I wrote. I wrote it because I love it. That character setup is my jam! I feel like Maas and I would get along if we ever met. As readers and writers. I like her clean, to the point writing style.
This series is technically YA, but it doesn’t read like the whiny, mary-sue YA books that are flooding the market. It didn’t have all the whiny, first-world problems and drama that seem to come with the YA genre. Yes, Throne of Glass had drama, but it was solid, not-high-school drama.
The fact that this story originated from Fiction Press blew my mind. Maas published this story at the age of 16. 16! That’s amazing. I’m super jealous that she hit success. Readers loved it and pushed her to continue it, to pursue the publication route. It makes me want to write something and slap it up on Fiction Press, but then again I realize that I’d be one of thousands of people who flood the site looking for easy success and fans. That’s not the right way to go about it.
Anyway – I gave Throne of Glass (and kind of Crown of Midnight, too) a 5 out of 5 because I couldn’t stop reading. I couldn’t put this book down. I read until three in the morning one night, and I forced myself to go to bed. I laid awake thinking about this book. It’s a staple for anyone who wants to write or read fantasy.
*** Also, I give Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, and Tower of Dawn 5/5. I might give Queen of Shadows a 6/5 – it was AMAZING.
Beatrice B. Morgan 