The Assassin and the Empire by Sarah J. Maas | Fantasy | Throne of Glass Novella | Mine for the Reading

"You want to hear something ridiculous? Whenever I’m scared out of my wits, I tell myself: My name is Sam Cortland… and I will not be afraid. I’ve been doing it for years.”
It was her turn to raise her brows. “And that actually works?”
He laughed onto her fingers. “Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. But it usually makes me feel better to some degree. Or it just makes me laugh at myself a bit.”

This scene was one of the many that broke me. THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE is just another piece of the story of Celaena Sardothien’s downfall. The story is woven of betrayal and deceit and severed friendships and old wounds and love. Such a sweet, bright light in a tale which eeks out darkness like spilt blood.

This was the final piece. The cog on the wheel of Celeana’s fate which broke her heart yet again and tormented her spirits into numbness.

I knew what was going to happen. I’ve read the series to date, and love every fracturing piece of Celeana that there is to discover. This is the part of her past that just made the events I’ve already read all worth even more. Made me cry. Made me want to hit someone.

Loss is like that. Especially one that has been treated like a vivid scar Celeana wears on her life going forward. I knew about this pain she bore, but I didn’t fully understand it until I read this novella. And now I mourn for the girl she was all over again.

And the man who suffered for loving her, against all the odds.

It puts so much of Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows into focus. I cried for it. And I cried for her promise to overcome the hell she was sentenced to. On crumbling legs and wobbly feet, before the Lord of the North, swearing that she would survive.

“The breeze grew into a wind, and she closed her eyes, letting it sweep away the ashes of that dead world—of that dead girl. And then there was nothing left except something new, something still glowing red from the forging.
Celeana opened her eyes.
She would go into Endovier. Go into Hell. And she would not crumble.”

She would not be afraid. I’ve got tears in my eyes yet again.

EMPIRE OF STORMS could not feel farther away.

e-Book / 94 pgs / July 20th 2012 / Bloomsbury / Goodreads / $1.99

My e-book copy was purchased on Amazon.com.

What did I rate The Assassin and the Empire?