Throne of Glass: Throne of Glass, Book 1
4.4 | 171,875 ratings
Price: 20.55
Last update: 02-02-2026
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- MelissaHurray for a Well-Written, Strong and Intelligent Heroine!I have to admit that this book is probably not one that I would have immediately grabbed after reading the description, but after seeing glowing review after glowing review my curiosity was ignited, so I pre-ordered this one from amazon. I'm so glad that I listened to the reviewers and grabbed this one. What a treat to read!
No summary of the plot that I could write would accurately show just how awesome this story is. There is action and mystery and the supernatural. There is a love story ... sort of. It's pretty subtle at this point in the story. This is a story of survival as well as a story of a society which is potentially at the dawn of a new age. This is the story of a girl who has gotten by in this life by taking care of herself and herself alone for the most part, but who finds herself letting her guard down enough to find friendship and companionship. There are so many things to like about this story. I think I'll boil all of it down to these things:
Celaena Sardothien. What an amazing heroine for this series! She is so strong. So strong. She can kick just about everyone's tail at every turn. She is smart and athletic and cunning. She has a big heart, but she is not in any hurry to let anyone really see that. She finds joy and happiness in life despite all of the hardship and trial that has been thrown her way. I love her because even though she is strong and a capable fighter, she is also emotional and vulnerable at times. She doesn't have to be stoic to show her strength. There is still so much more to learn about her. I can't wait to see what future books in this series reveal about her and her destiny to help her oppressed people. Even she doesn't exactly know how she fits into any grand plans, but I'm excited to see how she moves into her new roles as the series continues. She is fun to read about.
Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Royal Guards. Oh how I loved this character! Chaol is a no nonsense guard who doesn't let his guard down around Celaena because he recognizes her potential for violence and mischief. He sees her strength and her intelligence, and he knows that she would just as quickly slit his throat as anything in order to gain freedom if she could. He trains her diligently and seems to understand her more than anyone else. In the process he seems to grow attached to her, but he never really comes out and says anything. His actions show his feelings more than any words he utters. So many times I just willed him to say what he was feeling, but I'm not sure that even he knows exactly what he is feeling. He was a fascinating guy to read about. I want to know more about him in the future books as well.
Prince Dorian. Yes, there is a love triangle in this book ... sort of. It's not really one I guess because Dorian is in love with Celaena, and Celaena sort of likes Dorian, but Chaol is there too. The only difference is that Chaol and Celaena don't ever really explore their feelings for one another, either to themselves or each other. So it's kind of a weak love triangle. Nevertheless, I have to say that I love the character of Dorian. My heart breaks for him in so many ways. It has to be hard to be the son of such a horrible king. But it seems as if Dorian is beginning to form his own path by the end of this book. There is still more to discover with this character. I just know that I love him with his love of books and his kindness toward Celaena. I have the feeling that he will play a pivotal role in the future of this society if things will ever work out to help the oppressed.
The ideas of this book. There are so many interesting themes that are being thrown about in this novel. I think it was interesting to see the way that the government had tried to eliminate knowledge from the people by destroying books and history. Now that knowledge is being held by the king who could potentially use it against the people. But it seems as if those who are rebelling have kept some of that knowledge, and that will prevent the government from having power over them. Knowledge is definitely power in this world as well as our own I'd say. I think that the idea of freedom in this book is interesting as well. Freedom is a powerful motivation for Celaena, but it is something that Dorian seeks as well. So many people in this society are not truly free, and eventually they will need to make some tough choices to see what they will sacrifice to gain that freedom. There is still so much more to discover as this series progresses.
The pacing of this book was wonderful. Not too fast, not too slow. I felt as if I was slowly unwrapping a Christmas package, layer by layer, slowing discovering the parts of the book that would come together to create such a detailed and layered story. I almost wish that I had waited to read this book until the next book in the series had been published because I want to know so much more. I have definitely discovered a new favorite, I think. Future books will determine whether this one becomes a classic for me that I will read over and over again, but for now I'd say that Throne of Glass is a wonderful beginning to a fascinating and engaging new series. Five stars! - Daniel OswaltI loved it. Who doesn't like to hear thatOkay, first off, I loved it. Who doesn't like to hear that. As of right now, being one book deep in a six book series, I would recommend it. It was engaging and fun and the writing is so freaking beautiful I had to reread things sometimes just for the sake of hearing that again.
As far as story, plot, characters, and what not, I'm breaking it down like this:
PROS
It was incredibly dynamic with lots of plot lines going on consecutively and coherently. Everything flowed together as far as what was happening and the world around them. I enjoyed the subtleties of mentioning names of all the other places like The Witch Kingdom and the different forests and things such as that. Right off the bat I wanted to learn more about those and wondered when the characters would be traveling to those places and what they would encounter.
The language again, beautiful. So clever, so descriptive and super fresh--too me. I felt like sometimes the way she described things may have been frowned upon by and editor or a fancy fancy pretentious reader, but that only made me like it even more. She was creative in the way she described things and I got the vibe that she felt if it sounded right to her she believed it would make sense to her readers.
I almost shat myself a few times. Reading in the dark when the Ridderak was talked about and champions are showing up dead, that got to me. It was awesome.
The world. I loved it. I want to know more about it though. I felt trapped in the glass palace like Celaena the whole time with only whispers of the outside world. I would have liked a little insight, maybe form the POV of another character about the other regions. Granted, I know that will come in the later books.
DISLIKES: (Not cons, just things I did't like as much.)
The characters. OKAY OKAY CALM YOUR SPAZMS. I loved the characters, don't get me wrong, I liked all of them. But I had a few issues with them all as well.
First off, Celaena. The main issue I had with her, was that she's some GREAT and AWESOME and LEGENDARY assassin, and yet, SHE NEVER KILLS ANYONE ONCE! We only hear of the times Celaena has slain someone--we never actually witness it. It's like she's almost a ghost story. A myth. A cover up. I hated that--the entire time I was like when is she actually going to show off and prove herself. I know this sounds rather dark like I'm sitting her wishing for bloodshed, but I just started to get skeptical of Celaena because I only heard of the things she'd done. Like I'd heard of free slurpy day at 7-11. The other problem that I had with her was that she was this killing machine, and her internal thoughts were so harsh off the bat, yet her actions conflicted them, followed by her internal thoughts then conflicting themselves. It's a small thing, but it was rather frustrating--and not frustrating because I wanted her to pursue something more than the other, frustrating because it makes her look like a psychopath. She'd be all murder mode one moment and then all 'Oh his eyes I could drown in them' on a dime. It was a little jaring, but it's a small thing and over all I still rooted for her and loved her.
Chaol. Okay. Get the screams out. You good? Nope? There's more? Okay...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Can-k. .....................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... OKAY. Yes. I Chaol was awesome and a great guy and kind while also being playful and funny and I obviously him and Celaena are gonna end up together or something like that or he's gonna die idk. But the biggest urk (whatever) I had with him, was that (are you ready for this) he's a push over! What I mean by that is the he's THE CAPTAIN OF THE FREAKING GUARD TO THE MOST POWERFUL KING IN ALL THE LAND AND HE BASICALLY GOES INTO A SHUTTER SHOCK AFTER KILLING CAIN. HE'D NEVER KILLED ANYONE?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!??! AND HE'S THE MOTHEjoagjwop;dgjsgao;lkgjao;dljha CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD?!?!?! What's the requirement to be a guard? Uh, hey, can you hold this spear? Yeah, that'll do.
You're protecting the most powerful leader, assigning teams for him and watching his palace and yet, you've never actually killed anyone. I'm sorry but I just don't buy it. Not when The King is such a brute. He would not have soft-hand Chaol as his Captain--I'd expect someone like Cain to be his Captain. Just saying. It's not so much a character flaw as it is a concept flaw--IN MY OPINION. I would imagine you don't get to Captain by fancy sword twirls and daddy's pocket book, I feel like that title is earned through proving yourself as a protector.
Anyways,
Dorian: Eh, I loved em. He was funny and very believable.
And in a nut shell, I really enjoyed it and I already ordered Crown of Midnight, if that tells ya anything!