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?

It's My Birthday And I'll Put Up An Exclusive Scene From Crown Of Midnight If I Want To

Yeah, you heard right. Today is my birthday and as glorious occasion though it may be, I have something even more awesometastic for you. Who here has been DYING to read a little somethin' somethin' from Crown of Midnight? Okay, okay, stop raising your hands and swinging them everywhere before you hurt someone.

The peeps at Bloomsbury have prepared an EXTRA SPECIAL exclusive scene from the coveted Crown of Midnight and you get to read parts of it at different blog stops today. Ain't life grand? You can read Part 1 and Part 2 now!


THE ASSASSIN AND THE CAPTAIN, By Sarah J. Maas (Part 3)
For a moment, they just looked at each other, a moment during which she remembered that day after the duel when he’d held her—not a captain holding an assassin, or a friend holding a friend, but a man holding a woman…
If she tried to hold him now, would he shove her aside? She didn’t want to know—didn’t quite have the nerve to try it. Or the nerve to wonder why she wanted to.
“I trust you,” was all he said.
“That’s why you had men around the city spying on me?”
“I had men around the city,” he said through gritted teeth, “because I wanted to have a chance to greet you first. To see if you were all right.”
She blinked and cocked her head. Looking after her, not spying. It had been so long since she’d had who cared enough to bother.
She had to swallow a few times before she could reply. “Of course I’m all right.” A stupid response, but he began walking again. She followed him, blinking against the brightness of melting snow off the glass castle. “But if I wasn’t all right,” she dared ask, “what would you have done?”
A shrug of those powerful shoulders. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“Indulge me.”
He didn’t look at her as he said, “I would have done what I needed to do.”
She ground her teeth. “Stop being so cagey.”
“I don’t see how knowing it makes any difference.”
She felt her nostrils flare, but kept her mouth shut. Fine.
They reached the front gates of the castle. The usual hustle and bustle of courtiers, servants, guards, and visitors was hardly lessened by the frigid day. She glanced up at the upper spires, her stomach twisting at more than the thought of climbing all those stairs to the king’s council room.
So much depended on this meeting—so much that she didn’t dare let herself think about it. And certainly not in front of Chaol, who could read her face with unnerving ease. So she grinned before he could turn to glimpse her face, to discover the doubt and fear underneath.
Absolute confidence, absolute arrogance: her best shields and most beloved masks.
“I hope His Majesty has a decent spread of food for me to eat while I’m being interrogated.”
“Watch your mouth or the only thing you’ll be eating is hot coals.”
“Do you actually make people do that?”
His eyes narrowed. “What kind of person do you take me for?”
“You are the Captain of the Guard of the most powerful man in the world. Wyrd knows what horrible things you’ve done to people.”
“You must be nervous as hell if you’re resorting to taunting me.”
She wouldn’t let that shake her, wouldn’t allow the grin or the swagger to pause for an instant. But she halted before the wide, sweeping front steps into the castle. The best lies were always mixed with the truth—let him believe what he would.

You can finish reading the scene at 4pm at Alexa Loves Books! I know, I know, you're extremely grateful and you don't know how best to express it, I get it. Just follow the scene today and that'll be thanks enough!

A Word On the Great Friendships of Throne of Glass

In celebration of friendship week, we Throne of Glass ambassadors have been asked to talk a little bit about the friendships we've seen in Throne of Glass, and I will more than happily shed some well-deserved light on one of the major reasons I read and love this series so much. Friendship, and through that, love, is the core of this story, and what ultimately motivates the characters on all their decisions both past and upcoming in Crown of Midnight. Even those that may not be able to weather all the horrors that take place in Sarah's amazing sequel. It's the thing that connects the characters, gets them to do things, and adds a great depth to them. ToG wouldn't be nearly as wonderful as it is without the story of friendship underlying all of it.

What would an assassin know about friendship?

Not very much seeing as she doesn't have the best examples from her past, and certainly has no surviving friends at the moment Throne of Glass begins. Being an assassin, and one of her caliber, proves just how dangerous it is to have people of immense value in your life. Coming out of the prison camp in Endovier, physically half-alive and not a little gun-shy, the last thing she or you as the reader would expect is how rapidly people become fixtures in her life following her release into a royal competition to be the King's Champion (not exactly the ideal place to make nice with your peers). But friendship is a hard thing to avoid when you have a curious, awkwardly caring Captain of the Guard, an affectionate prince, and a BAMF foreign princess interested in the candidness and mystery wrapped up in one lone assassin.

Princess Nehemia

I think part of the reason Nehemia and Celaena get on so well is because they're so alike and yet their strengths come from different places entirely. They're both straightforward while putting forth an impenetrable mask to hide the secrets no one would believe of them, two strong-willed women who have seen much and know more than you can imagine. And our assassin perpetuated as this immovable carrier of a "heart of ice" is a princess at heart, with all her affection for girly things and making herself up. And they will both always do what is right, and have and will continue to sacrifice more than anyone should.

Prince Dorian

Even with the spark of attraction that has him in pursuit of Celaena's characters, in a quest for her truths, they make excellent friends (and I have a mind to keep them that way.) With a mutual passion for stories and a penchant for reading ALL THE THINGS, a built trust that may not grant Dorian passage to her entirely riveting past, there's little doubt on their connection.

Captain Westfall

Oh, I've really written this post to come to him within it. At first, Chaol's motives for accompanying our notorious assassin seems utterly unselfish and quite for the best considering. But before there's romance, or even a hint thereof, Chaol and Celaena are the ultimate best friends. Between going for a run first thing in the morning to sharing each other's company over a meal, these two aren't kidding anyone. More than that, Chaol learns a little something about acceptance, a hard rock of a man with a soft soul. There's something that will always bind them on a soul-deep level, a recognition and acceptance that never fails to move me.

I've made this post very Celaena-centric, which I'm sure she wouldn't mind a bit and really is there any other way to go? I adore the woman! Seriously, if you haven't read Throne of Glass yet, consider my avid participation in this blog tour every week a strong suggestion.



If you haven't already entered, make sure you don't lose out on a chance to win one of five paperbacks of Throne of Glass.

Become An Assassin... If You Dare

So the awesome peeps over at Bloomsbury have created this really cool thing! I bet, like me, you've always secretly wanted to be an assassin, to be a feared and respected by everyone just by giving a Can't Touch This kind of stare riddled with power.



Well, now may be your only chance. See, in celebration of Crown of Midnight, a story generator has been created. It allows you to fill in the blanks and create your own Throne of Glass-like story, which you can share with whoever you want or download to your computer for your eyes only. I wouldn't, however, recommend dirty-minded individuals like myself to play around with this thing. We tend to do really silly things...

Ah, who am I kidding? Really, they gave me no choice.





But, uh, if you're not specific enough or are TOO dirty-minded for this story generator, here's a taste of what can happen:



It's plain that I have the mind of a fifteen-year-old boy, and all the maturity of one, but I couldn't resist. If you'd like to read the rest of the story, you can bring your mouse on over here (it's not like I didn't warn you). It's actually quite well-written, if I do say so myself.

And in case you were wondering if you were ever going to have the chance to meet Sarah Maas, let me clue you in on what you may not know. She's having a Crown of Midnight tour everywhere but where I want her to, but that's totally okay *eye twitches*. Make sure to see her if she's in your area.

Aug 27 –
Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Bookshop
1030 Bonita Ave.
La Verne, CA 91750
6:00pm

Aug 28 –
Kepler’s Books and Magazines
1010 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025
7:00pm

Aug 29 –
Blue Willow Bookshop
14532 Memorial Dr
Houston, TX 77079
7:00pm

Aug 30 – Sept. 1 – Catch Sarah at DragonCon in Atlanta!

Sept. 7 –
Malaprops Bookstore
55 Haywood Street
Ashville, NC 288801
*Event with Susan Dennard and Erin Bowman
7:00pm

Sept. 8 –
Flyleaf Books
752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
3:00pm

Sept. 9 –
Barnes and Noble #2647
760 SE Maynard
Cary, NC 27511
6:30pm

Sept. 10 –
Barnes and Noble #2647
3225 W 69th Street
Edina, MN 55435
7:00pm

Sept. 11 –
Anderson's Bookshop
123 W. Jefferson Ave.
Naperville, IL 60540
7:00pm

Sept. 12 –
Joseph-Beth Bookseller
2692 Madison Road
Cincinnati, OH 45208
7:00pm

And finally if you haven't seen my introductory post as noble ambassador of Throne of Glass or haven't yet entered to win one of five copies of the paperback release of Throne of Glass then you should get on that. It would be a pity if you missed out.

The Perks of Following a Throne of Glass Ambassador: Enter to win FIVE paperback copies of Throne of Glass.

So you haven't read Throne of Glass, is that right?

Well, you remember how I said I was a Throne of Glass Ambassador (I talked about what an honor it was, how exciting and fulfilling this opportunity would be, etc etc), kind of like a street team for the series and Sarah? This is already going to pay off for you guys because I get to giveaway five paperback editions of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. And even if you have read the book and just want another edition to add to your ToG shrine (like some people *points to self*), or just don't own it yet, which...

Now's your chance! The only catch is you have to be a US citizen to lay claim on one of the prizes. This giveaway will end in two short weeks with the intended cut off date as August 1st. So do whatever you have to to enter SOON!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
You can thank Bridget at Bloomsbury for this awesome chance. Send up your praises in the comments or share your love for Throne of Glass. I want you to. Like, now.

It's happened. I'm a Throne of Glass Ambassador.

At last, this day has come. I’m so proud of me.

It pays to be so consistently insistent about the things I love.



And so slavishly grateful to Bridget and Bloomsbury for giving me this remarkable opportunity to be part of Sarah’s army of badass fans. We’re armed with trailers, reviews, exclusive content and scenes, and bribes giveaways for the coming weeks leading up to the release of CROWN OF MIDNIGHT, the second book in this series, and a book I’ve already had the great pleasure of reading in advance. I know, I’ll try not to taunt you too much; I don’t want to run the risk of having anyone curse me as I’m unbelievably superstitious.

Looking back on my starry-eyed reaction to THRONE OF GLASS last summer and the little teaser reactions I did for the BEA titles I’ve read thus far, one of which included CROWN OF MIDNIGHT, it should come as no surprise that I would take this chance to help endorse one of my favorite series out there. Seriously, I try not to be fool.

I’ve mentioned this before—it’s beyond me to understand the heart of those who could turn away from Celaena and her story, who can’t or won’t understand her and love her. She is much more than the assassin on the new cover, more than a lethal young woman who can take down an arena of criminals in a competition. Small Review describes her perfectly in her recent post on the cover changes: “Sure she probably looks JUST like that cover picture in a few scenes. Rage burning, weapons out, and a look that says, "I.WILL.END.YOU." There are definitely some scenes like that.

But she's also a girl, and I think that defines her much more than her assassin traits.

She's a girl who likes pretty dresses and swoony romances and glamorous parties and emotional music. She plays with her puppy and has giggly tea parties with her best friend. She eats chocolate cakes (like, the whole cake) and she likes glittery decorations. She frequently indulges in shopping sprees. She loves deeply and she treasures her friends (and, please tagline, she does NOT have a "heart of ice"). These are all the reasons I love her as a character and want to be her friend.”

This is why Small Review and I have impromptu sessions of geekdom over the series— because we both love Celaena deeply. It’s my wish that with my reviews for the series, with the coming weeks' treasures related to the series, that you’ll find something in my posts to connect you to this series until you’re nearly without choice about reading it.



For those beastly fangirls of the series, you’re among friends. And I can only imagine how distraught and overcome with jealousy I’d be if others were reading CROWN OF MIDNIGHT before and without me. I don’t know that I can help each one of you with that, but at least you can feel safe in the knowledge that this book will be arriving in your hands next month. And there’s so much to look forward to.

This book takes on a much darker tone. There’s so much more blood, death, and atrocity, the very things that will ultimately push Celaena to a brink she hasn’t visited since before her time in the mines of Endovier. The carnage will be great, but it’s Celaena’s deadly transition sparked by the underestimation from her enemies that serves as one of the major highlights. I encourage you guys to gobble up any reviews you can to get you pumped, because you’ll need that adrenaline to help you through what’s to come.

More, there’s so much more emotion in this sequel as well. More sleuthing and mystery-solving, more sadness and remorse, more scars done to our protagonist. It’s as heartwrenching as it is thrilling, and just as puzzling as its predecessor.



Sarah J. Maas has written one of my soul series. You know, books that speak to something in you, a set of books that are all about the kind of things you enjoy reading. I love reading about girls who actually care about what they wear or what they put on their face because it’s fun, who enjoy being a girl, while still acknowledging and utilizing their own strengths and never allowing anyone to make them forget those strengths. I love reading about magic and books within a book and maps and questing and ancient royalty and piecing together the past to understand how they affect both present and future. I love that Sarah can write romance, and a romance that suits. I love reading about emotions, about the fear that can hinder and the bravery that arises out of that fear, about compassion and loyalty and friendship. It’s all these things that make THRONE OF GLASS and CROWN OF MIDNIGHT equally incredible.

You would do well to check them out. If not now, then allow me to convince you. Because this is a story I would want EVERYONE to try; it’s precious to me, and sometimes I’m not that greedy. This is one of those times. Let me share with you.

PFS2012 Blog Tour - ARC Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass
Story Arc: Series
Publication: August 7, 2012 by Bloomsbury
hardcover: 416 pages
Genre: High Fantasy, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bloomsbury via Netgalley
Excerpt(s): from 85% in e-reader
Content: Murder, Death, Sexual Innuendo, Kissing

After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point...