As an avid reader, YA tropes such as a love triangle can become boring once read over 100 times from book to book. I’m currently reading the 4th book in the Throne of Glass series ‘Queen of Shadows’ and I cannot fathom how much the series has elevated since the first book.
Sarah J. Maas’ epic fantasy series tells the story of Celaena Sardothien, an assassin that must fight for her freedom and her people. With each book that is published the story becomes grander, more fantastical elements are introduced and the world becomes bigger than you could ever imagine. Why do readers love this series so much? Well, let me enlighten you.
- Celaena Sardothien is quite possibly the greatest female protagonist I’ve ever read. Maas cleverly has been able to create a female character that balances the standard teenage girl features (love, interests in fashion, makeup, books) with epic battle skills, global respect and a badass attitude that would make any reader feel empowered.
- The world building in the series is second to none. I’ve never read a series where it is elevated to a story so much bigger than first expected. With each book, the reader is introduced to new characters, new parts of the world and new fantastical elements.
- As aforementioned the world of Throne of Glass is SO big which could be daunting for some readers. However, Sarah J. Maas’ writing is so easy to read you never feel as if you are getting lost when learning new features of her world.
The series now on the 5th book has become as grand as other fantasy series such as Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. What sets the series apart, however, is Maas’ incredible way to make an epic fantasy series open and understandable to a younger YA audience. Maas is now on course to become one of the greatest fantasy writers of our time.
https://twitter.com/KidsBloomsbury/status/773042405138309121
The 5th book in the series ‘Empire of Storms’ is due out September 6th from Bloomsbury Publishing.
Your two reasons for why it is liked (protagonist and world) are why I thought it was terrible. The main character is an assassin who claims she can do all this stuff (which she never does, breaking the show don’t tell rule), and she doesn’t like killing (making the character inconsistent). Also, the world building is awful, and it’s unrealistic (in the way good fantasy worlds are).