The Throne of Glass novellas add context to Celaena Sardothien’s story, and they’re all compiled in The Assassin’s Blade — but some of these additions to Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy series are stronger than others. Although the stories in The Assassin’s Blade are set before the events of Throne of Glass, they pack just as much of a punch after readers have finished the series. These novellas shed light on Celaena’s life before being locked up in Endovier, bringing readers back to when she was Adarlan’s Assassin. Her life under that title isn’t easy, and Maas’ stories highlight that fact.

They also reveal how Celaena comes to know some of the characters introduced in the Throne of Glass books, elaborating on connections that help her during her fight against the Valg. The stories in The Assassin’s Blade don’t tell readers much they don’t already know. However, they add emotional weight to Celaena’s backstory and the events mentioned throughout Throne of Glass. They’re certainly worth reading, especially for those invested in Maas’ series, but some of The Assassin’s Blade’s stories prove more compelling than the others.

5

The Assassin And The Healer

Yrene’s Introduction Makes For The Weakest Story

The Assassin and the Healer is the second novella in The Assassin’s Blade collection, and unfortunately, it’s the weakest Throne of Glass story in Maas’ repertoire. This novella introduces Yrene, the healer who goes on to become Chaol Westfall’s love interest in Tower of Dawn. It’s obvious that the entire point of this narrative is to set up Yrene’s character, ensuring that she has a connection to Aelin before the final Throne of Glass installments. Outside establishing Yrene as a character, The Assassin and the Healer does little for Celaena’s journey or growth compared to the other novellas.

In fact, Celaena isn’t even that likable in this story. Although she teaches Yrene to defend herself and pushes her to pursue her dreams, Celaena makes some questionable choices while doing so. Leaving Yrene to fend for herself and refusing to drop her weapons when the other woman is held at knife point, Celaena paints a questionable picture of her morals. She claims to be in control of the situation, but it still seems cruel to force Yrene’s hand like that. And although the story’s lesson — that “the world needs more healers” — is well stated, it doesn’t make up for it.

Although The Assassin and the Healer has a fairly high average Goodreads rating — it currently sits at 4.19 — it is one of the lowest-ranked Throne of Glass novellas, tying with The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. The fact that it doesn’t push Celaena’s story forward and feels relatively low-stakes is probably the reason for this. The Assassin and the Healer isn’t a novella to skip, but it just doesn’t compare to the rest of the stories in The Assassin’s Blade.

4

The Assassin And The Pirate Lord

A Strong Start To The Assassin’s Blade (But Just That)

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord opens The Assassin’s Blade, and it gets the novella collection off to a strong start. This story follows Celaena and Sam Cortland as they embark on a mission for Arobynn Hamel. The two travel to a remote island to deal with Rolfe, the Lord of Pirates, and this adventure makes sense of Aelin’s interactions with this character in Empire of Storms. When Celaena and Sam meet with Rolfe, they realize their master has sent them to barter for slaves. Damning the consequences, Celaena sets out to free these people rather than trade for them.

Unlike The Assassin and the Healer, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord does a solid job of highlighting Celaena’s moral code, which she continues to showcase throughout Throne of Glass. Although she’s raised as an assassin, Celaena has a good heart — and her refusal to cooperate in the slave trade drives this home. It also marks the first rift between her and Arobynn. Celaena’s efforts to stop Rolfe and Arobynn’s transaction are successful, and readers get a suspenseful and action-packed narrative leading up to this point. They also see the beginnings of Celaena and Sam’s rivals-to-lovers dynamic.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord is a decent story, especially when it comes to setting up Celaena’s journey. However, it doesn’t pack the emotional punch of the other novellas in Maas’ collection. It very much feels like a beginning, and to be fair, it’s supposed to. But the novella’s 4.19 Goodreads rating confirms that it isn’t on the same level as the other Throne of Glass stories. It has high stakes, but readers don’t feel them nearly as much as they do in the later narratives.

3

The Assassin And The Underworld

High Stakes & Tense Moments With A Few Notable Flaws

The Assassin and the Underworld sits in the middle of The Assassin’s Blade, so perhaps it’s fitting that it’s also at the middle of Maas’ novella ranking. This Throne of Glass story finds Celaena returning to the Assassin’s Keep after time away, and her relationship with Arobynn is clearly strained. Celaena intends to leave the Assassin’s Guild with the money she was given in the previous novella. However, Arobynn persuades her into a final mission to gain her freedom — and it’s an easy sell when he reveals she could prevent slavery from coming to Rifthold.

The unfortunate twist is that Arobynn is actually helping the person pushing for the slave trade, and Celaena learns this too late. This crushing revelation makes The Assassin and the Underworld a tense and surprising addition to The Assassin’s Blade. And Celaena finally buying freedom for herself and Sam is that much more satisfying after Arobynn shows his true colors. Of course, the action moments and political maneuvering also make this one of the collection’s more gripping stories. It certainly has the highest stakes, with Celaena’s decisions impacting more than her own life.

Unfortunately, while The Assassin and the Underworld takes readers on an anxiety-inducing and emotional ride, it has a few flaws that prevent it from ranking higher. They may be responsible for its middling 4.33 Goodreads rating as well. For one, the story’s main conflict and ending twist center on slavery in Adarlan, but it fails to go as deeply into this topic as it should. Additionally, Celaena and Sam’s romance moves far too quickly in this installment, turning what seems like an obvious rivals-to-lovers pairing into something that reads more like insta-love.

2

The Assassin And The Desert

One Of Throne Of Glass’ Most Fascinating World Expansions

The Assassin in the Desert is very close to being the best Throne of Glass novella, and it certainly proves the most fascinating expansion of Maas’ world. The Assassin and the Healer sees Celaena traveling to the Red Desert as punishment for her antics in The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. The following novella follows Celaena as she arrives and begins training with the Silent Assassins. Arobynn tasks her with getting a letter of recommendation from the mysterious assassins before she returns, and it nearly seems impossible at first.

Celaena’s stay with the Silent Assassins proves a fascinating exploration of what Adarlan’s killers could be, if only Arobynn had a moral compass. The Silent Assassins live a far quieter and more spiritual life than the assassins from Celaena’s city, and they also prove much kinder to their trainees. Celaena learns the value of this sort of compassion when she trains with them, and the whole thing makes for a thoughtful and heartfelt read. There’s also plenty of action at the end, when Celaena realizes her friend from the keep plans to take out the Silent Assassins’ leader.

Celaena manages to stop this from happening, and it gains her the approval of the Silent Assassins — which comes back to help her in Throne of Glass — and the ability to return Rifthold. The Assassin and the Desert may not be the most thrilling Throne of Glass novella, but its 4.37 Goodreads rating proves it resonates with readers. It also drives home the importance of compassion and mercy, and it has an incredibly distinct feel compared to Maas’ other stories. This lands it among the top-two narratives, though there’s one that surpasses it.

1

The Assassin And The Empire

The Emotional Climax Of Sarah J. Maas’ Novella Collection

The Assassin and the Empire is the final novella in The Assassin’s Blade, and it perfectly sets the stage for the first Throne of Glass book. It also serves as the emotional climax of Maas’ collection, as it contains one of Celaena’s biggest pre-Throne of Glass losses. The original series speaks of Sam’s death from the beginning, but watching Celaena experience it firsthand is considerably more devastating. The Assassin and the Empire finds Celaena and Sam doing one more job before leaving Rifthold. The tragedy, of course, is that this mission prevents them from ever doing so.

This novella encapsulates the anxiety and grief that comes with a loss like Sam’s, and this makes it the biggest tear-jerker of The Assassin’s Blade. Watching Celaena cycle through various stages of grief and land on revenge is both expected and heartbreaking. And her revenge hardly ends better than her mission with Sam, as it gets her captured and imprisoned in Endovier. Anyone who’s read Throne of Glass already knows this is coming, and Maas uses that to her advantage. The tensions are higher than ever as readers follow Celaena, knowing every step of the way that she’s making mistakes.

With its emotional impact and direct lead-in to Throne of Glass, there’s no doubt that The Assassin and the Empire is the best novella in Maas’ lineup. Its impressive 4.4 average Goodreads rating speaks to this story’s quality, as well as the effect it has on readers. If there’s one must-read novella from The Assassin’s Blade, it’s this one — though Throne of Glass fans shouldn’t skip out on any of them.