Reading Time: 7 minutes

Spoiler-Free Review

I slammed the entire 8-book Throne of Glass series back-to-back – which, for the record, I never do – so that I could have the entire Maas-verse completed before the release of House of Flame and Shadow.

Here are my thoughts on each book in the series. At the bottom, I summarize everything and offer my opinion on whether you should read it.

What’s Throne of Glass about?

This series follows a young assassin with a mysterious past who was raised by an infamous Assassin’s Guild leader. Everyone wants to use her unique skills for themselves – or otherwise eradicate the threat she poses. As she struggles for freedom, she is also forced to confront her deepest secrets.

Book 0.5: The Assassin’s Blade

This book is essentially a prologue for the Throne of Glass series. It’s a compilation of five short stories that take place about a year before Throne of Glass starts. It was entertaining, if sometimes a little predictable. I had my critiques, but overall, I liked it.

The backstory is important for understanding the series, so I don’t recommend skipping it. There’s debate on where to place it in the reading order, but I recommend reading it first. Throne of Glass spoils the end of The Assassin’s Blade, and in my opinion that can interfere with your enjoyment of this story. I don’t like to read books when I know the ending.

Listen. I’m a serial novella-skipper. I just don’t read them, not for any series. So since I had to read this, there was no way I was going to interrupt the Throne of Glass series arc just for the backstory. I got it out of the way first. It was worth it.

Book 1: Throne of Glass

This was one of Maas’s first published books, so you can definitely tell that her writing style has improved a lot in the last decade. While it was entertaining, I wasn’t necessarily hooked at first. There were a lot of exclamation points, and overall it felt like pretty standard early 2010s YA fantasy fare. But, true to form for SJM’s books, I liked the characters and was interested to see where the series would go from here.

Book 2: Crown of Midnight

More of the same. Entertaining, but still early in Maas’s writing career and you can tell. There wasn’t a lot on the rising action side, so I was a little bored for most of it (and I predicted the big twist). The plot did thicken by the end though, and this book slowly expanded the scope of both the world and the problems.

Book 3: Heir of Fire

In my opinion, this is where things really started to get interesting. After a couple books of build up, you can tell this is where Maas started to develop into the writing and plot style she has today. It felt like we were finally cooking with gas, and I was excited about where this was going. It did have its slow moments, but the emotional struggle of the main character was compelling.

Book 4: Queen of Shadows

This book was propulsive, intriguing, and action-packed. It brought new elements and characters to the table that were much-needed to both shake things up and set up the next three books. While I was hoping for a bit more from the villain confrontations, I enjoyed it overall.

Book 5: Empire of Storms

This is the reset point as we head toward the finale. It establishes new stakes, and this is also the point where the characters grow the most. They must each become who they have to be if they want to stand a chance at winning. (Also, this is the first hint at spiciness we get in this series). I really enjoyed the shift in this one.

No, I did not do the tandem read. For the uninitiated, the “tandem read” consists of reading Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn in tandem because they take place over the same time but follow different characters in different places. There are even guides online that will tell you what chapters to read of each and in what order.

Book 6: Tower of Dawn

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. The change of pace and scenery was much needed, and I’m a sucker for healing/growth journeys. It was just right for me; it had the right blend of character versus plot focus, compelling arcs, and interesting relationship development. I love to see characters deal with their internal struggles. If you liked Heir of Fire (book 3), you’ll like this one too, as it has a similar plot setup.

I am definitely glad I forewent the tandem read. The pacing is so different, and each book has such a big cast of characters, I think reading them together would have been too slow.

Book 7: Kingdom of Ash

This one is huge and includes all the POVs we’ve gotten to know over the series, resulting in an epic story. While a fitting conclusion to the series, I will say it was very long. But it built up to a worthy crescendo, and I cried several times by the end.

Final Thoughts

This series started out just fine, nothing to really write home about. But whew, by the end I felt like I’d been on a whirlwind of an adventure.

The first book in the series released in 2012, and the finale released in 2018. That’s a six year publication span, and you can definitely feel SJM’s growth as a writer from beginning to end. It’s not the strongest start to a series, but I can confidently say that by the end it was worth it.

As always, SJM stands out as a great character writer. This series has such a large cast, and we get most of their POVs. Yet, it never felt like too much to juggle or keep up with. Each person felt unique enough that keeping everyone straight in my mind was never a struggle.

While it does boast plenty of action, this is actually a pretty slow-paced series on the whole. It really took its time to establish not just the world, but each character and each relationship – romantic and platonic – so no one ever felt unnecessary to the plot. Not only that, but I appreciated the slow moving at points where the characters had to regroup, strategize, heal, or travel. Were these characters all-powerful? Yes. Were they invincible? No – and I really liked that.

I feel like I’ll be reflecting on this series for a while.

Should you read Throne of Glass?

This series could be a good place to start in epic fantasy if you’re looking to try a long series. Since it’s young adult, the writing is a little simpler at times, which overall just makes it easier to dive into the genre if you’re not as familiar with it. It’s great for teen readers. I would say perhaps minimum age 14 or 15+. Click here for content warnings. Of course, that being said, I wouldn’t say this series is known for outstanding prose, or anything.

It’s often slow-paced, but not in a way that makes it boring. There is definitely plenty of action and plot movement, but in between all that is breathing room for the characters to grow and change, or learn more about their world. There are opportunities for relationships to develop (including some great friendships). All of this creates a strong emotional core for the story, and compels the reader to care. The main character’s growth is significant – who she is at the beginning of this series is a far cry from who she becomes by the end.

This series could also be good if you’re not primarily a fantasy reader. I can see how it has converted so many to the genre. It’s great for that immersion in a new world, and experiencing those twists and turns you get from high fantasy for the first time. The worldbuilding here is extensive and impressive.

If you prefer darker fantasy, here are some notes you may find relevant:

• While it has dark (and sometimes gory) moments and themes, I wouldn’t call it dark fantasy, because it mostly has a hopeful tone and found-family vibes.
  • But in terms of that darkness and goriness, there were things like slavery, murder, torture, dismemberment, and more. Eventually, it becomes a war story. It’s about an assassin living under authoritarian rule, after all.
• You may find the first few books predictable (I did).
• You may like it if you’re looking for something easy/fun/engaging to read to break up heavier reads.

That being said, if you’re not heavy into fantasy yet, you may not find them predictable at all!

Reading order notes:

• Read The Assassin’s Blade first to avoid spoilers and so you don’t have to interrupt the series for the backstory.
• I don’t recommend the tandem read for Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn, at least for your first read through.
  • Not only do I personally need the happy brain chemicals I get from finishing a book, the honest truth is that if SJM intended you to read these two stories at the same time, she would have written it that way. Every other book in this series has both of these characters’ POVs alongside each other except for these two books. In my opinion, this means the intention is to read and appreciate each individually, as they have very different pacing and tone.

On the Maas-verse

If you’ve read A Court of Thorns and Roses by this same author, just know this is not the same genre. ACOTAR is adult fantasy romance – emphasis on the romance – while Throne of Glass is young adult high fantasy with romantic subplots. It doesn’t get spicy until far into the series (and even then, it’s pretty tame), and first loves are often not true loves here. Just because a couple is together in this series, it doesn’t mean they stay together or that their relationship has a happy trajectory.

The Throne of Glass series might be more your speed if you prefer a plot that is centered on more traditional fantasy themes and plot devices.

If you want to read all of SJM’s works, here’s my recommended reading order:

• A Court of Thorns and Roses series. This is adult fantasy romance (if you’re not into the spicy parts, @thereallifebookreviewer on Instagram has “closed door modifications” where she tells you which chapters to skip, and she has them for each book in the series).
• Throne of Glass series. This is young adult high fantasy.
• Crescent City series (as long as you read this one last, you can really read the other two series in whatever order you prefer). This is urban fantasy, with book 1 centered on a mystery.
• Unnamed work-in-progress? Rumors have started to spread about a new SJM series in the coming years. Some speculate it could be called Twilight of the Gods, which was a project she mentioned once years ago when she first teased Crescent City as a work-in-progress in 2015. More to come!

Click here for my full SJM guide.