Crown of Midnight

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is how you write a fantasy novel. Great characters, development, evolution and revelations. Magic used intelligently, and my personal favourite action. I could not put the book down. I like the way that they characters have their responsibilities and jobs but that is not all that defines them. Celaena has no problem hacking up body parts but she is still a girl who loves to shop. I think even though she is an assassin she sees herself as more of an avenger. She will avenge her friends no matter the cost.

The story Celaena Sardothien won the right to become the King's Champion (personal Assassin) since then she has been charged with dispatching a number of his enemies. In many cases she brings back trophies in the form of severed heads, and family insignias (rings) still attached to the hands. However having no love for the King she has been she has been helping his enemies get away and faking their deaths. The problem is she is too good at it and even her closest friends and biggest supporters believe she has completely turned over to the dark side. Then she is given a target who intersected with her former life in Assassins Keep (Archer) a courtesan (prostitute). This simple assignment sends a ripple effect affecting Celaena and everyone she cares about. They also fills in some history; there is a more detailed account of what Celaena did the day she "snapped" in Endovier. There are also hints that Celaena knows exactly who betrayed her. In the next book I am begging for a showdown with the King of Assassins, but so far Celaena has already made enough enemies to keep her busy for a good long time, which is great news for a long series. The only thing I did find annoying in this book is the right characters suddenly appearing exactly the right moment, but will all the fate and prophecies in the book, this could be easily explained.

I am a fan of Sarah's writing style having chapters of different length, and almost chunking the chapters so information is easy to take in and broken up for me. This might be a fairy tale setting but that is where the similarities stop, this is more the grim story tales type of book, with grizzly deaths, torcher, and harsh language (even though the characters do not swear in print, they usually "unleash a string of curse"). I love the Throne of Glass universe. There are references made to not only the first novel but the eBook prequels as well.

This book is a lot more action packed to the first novel, there HUGE revelations about Celaena and Dorian, (who have a Luke and Leia type relationship), as well as the forces that are using them. A great book. Start it and you will not be able to put it down. You do not need to have read the previous stories to enjoy this one but they do help and after reading this one you will want to go back and read the others.

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