You’ve probably seen the debates on TikTok or Reddit. People get weirdly intense about it. Some say you have to start with Throne of Glass. Others swear by the "romantic" reading order where you wait until after Heir of Fire. Honestly? They're mostly overcomplicating things. If you want the full emotional weight of Celaena Sardothien’s journey, The Assassin's Blade isn't just a collection of short stories; it’s the foundation of everything Sarah J. Maas built.
It’s the prequel. It's gritty. It's heartbreaking.
Basically, if you don't read this first, or at least early on, you're missing the "why" behind the most dangerous assassin in Adarlan. You see her at her most arrogant, her most vulnerable, and ultimately, her most broken.
What’s Actually Inside The Assassin's Blade?
This isn't a standard novel. It’s a bind-up of five novellas that were originally released as individual e-books back in 2012. Maas wrote these to flesh out Celaena's backstory before the main series took off, and they cover the year leading up to her imprisonment in the salt mines of Endovier.
We start with The Assassin and the Pirate Lord.
Celaena and Sam Cortland—her rival and fellow trainee under the brutal Arobynn Hamel—are sent to Skull’s Bay. They're supposed to be doing business with Rolfe, the Pirate Lord. Instead, they find a slave trade operation. This is the first time we see Celaena’s internal moral compass start to spin. She’s been raised to be a cold-blooded killer, but she can't stomach the human trafficking. It’s the catalyst for everything that follows.
Then comes The Assassin and the Healer. This one is short but heavy on atmosphere. Celaena is essentially grounded and sent to a quiet port town. She meets Yrene Towers, a barmaid who wants to be a healer. If you’ve read Tower of Dawn, you know how massive this encounter becomes. If you haven't, just know that Sarah J. Maas loves a long game. She plants seeds here that don't sprout for five or six books.
Next is The Assassin and the Desert. This is where the world-building really kicks in. Celaena is sent to the Silent Assassins in the Red Desert to learn some discipline. She meets Ansel of Briarcliff. Their friendship is complicated, messy, and ends in a way that haunts the rest of the series. The desert setting is a sharp contrast to the damp streets of Rifthold, and it’s where Celaena truly starts to grow into her own power, separate from Arobynn’s shadow.
The Sam Cortland Factor
We have to talk about Sam.
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The heart of The Assassin's Blade is the relationship between Celaena and Sam Cortland. It’s not just a childhood crush. It’s a slow burn that turns into a desperate attempt at freedom. In The Assassin and the Underworld and The Assassin and the Empire, we see them try to break away from the Assassin's Guild.
They want out. They want a life where they aren't looking over their shoulders.
It’s a tragedy. We know it’s a tragedy because the very first page of Throne of Glass finds Celaena in a slave camp. But seeing the hope they had? It makes the fall so much worse. Sam isn't a perfect hero, but he’s the person who saw "Celaena" when everyone else just saw "The Adarlan’s Assassin."
The betrayal that leads to the finale is one of the most visceral moments in the entire SJM multiverse. It isn't just about a bad guy doing bad things. It’s about systemic corruption and the price of trying to be a "good" person in a world that rewards cruelty.
Why the Chronological Order Wins
Look, I get the argument for reading it third. Some fans like the mystery of not knowing who Sam was until she starts grieving him in the later books. But honestly? That feels like watching a movie with the sound turned off for the first half.
When you read The Assassin's Blade first, you understand the trauma.
When Celaena walks into the palace in Throne of Glass and acts like a bratty, fashion-obsessed teenager, you realize it’s a defense mechanism. You know she’s hiding a level of PTSD that would break a normal person. You recognize the names of the people she mentions. You feel the weight of her losses.
Without this book, she can sometimes come across as arrogant or "too perfect." With it, she’s a survivor.
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The Politics of the Assassin's Guild
Arobynn Hamel is one of the most underrated villains in modern fantasy. He’s not a dark lord with a flaming eye or a wicked sorcerer. He’s a groomer. He’s a manipulative, narcissistic father figure who views Celaena as a possession rather than a person.
The way Maas writes their dynamic is uncomfortable. It should be.
He buys her expensive clothes. He teaches her music. He also beats her and sends her on suicide missions. The psychological grip he has on her is the primary conflict of these novellas. Even when she’s thousands of miles away in the desert, she’s thinking about what Arobynn would say.
This isn't just "fantasy action." It’s a study of how someone escapes an abusive cycle. The tragedy is that her attempt to escape is exactly what leads her into the hands of the King of Adarlan.
A Quick Reality Check on the Writing Style
Let’s be real for a second. This was written early in Sarah J. Maas’s career.
The prose in The Assassin's Blade is a bit more straightforward than what you’ll find in Crescent City or A Court of Silver Flames. It’s fast-paced. It’s heavy on the "assassin" tropes—cloaks, daggers, rooftops, and secret meetings.
Some people find the episodic nature of the first three novellas a bit jarring. You’re jumping from the sea to a small town to a desert. But it works because it mirrors Celaena’s displacement. She has no home. She’s a weapon being moved around on a chessboard.
By the time you get to the final two stories, the narrative tightens up. It becomes a linear descent into the events that start the main series.
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Key Connections You’ll Miss Otherwise
Maas is the queen of the "Easter Egg." If you skip these stories, several major characters in the later books will feel like they just dropped out of the sky.
- Rolfe: The Pirate Lord returns in Empire of Storms. His history with Celaena is crucial to their alliance (or lack thereof).
- Ansel of Briarcliff: Her role in the later war efforts makes zero sense if you haven't seen her betrayal and "redemption" in the desert.
- Yrene Towers: As mentioned, she becomes a main POV character later. Their meeting in the quiet inn is the reason Yrene even has the funds to go to the Southern Continent to study.
Basically, the "Prequel" isn't optional. It’s the blueprint.
How to Approach the Book Today
If you’re new to the Throne of Glass world, don't let the "reading order" discourse scare you off. There is no "wrong" way to enjoy a story, but there is a way that maximizes the emotional payoff.
- Read it first if you want to understand the character's motivations from page one of the main series.
- Read it third (after Crown of Midnight) if you want to experience the "mystery" of Celaena’s past as it was originally published.
- Don't skip it. This is the only non-negotiable rule.
The book is roughly 400 pages, but it moves quickly. Each novella functions like a high-stakes episode of a TV show. You get the world-building of an epic fantasy but the pacing of a thriller.
By the time you finish the last page of The Assassin and the Empire, you won't just be ready to start Throne of Glass—you'll be desperate to see Celaena get her revenge.
Actionable Steps for New Readers
If you're looking to dive into the world of Erilea, here is how you should actually handle The Assassin's Blade:
- Check the Edition: Most modern copies are the "bind-up" which includes all five stories in the correct order. Don't worry about hunting down the individual e-books.
- Pay Attention to the Names: Characters like Lord Donegan or the various masters of the Guild might seem like background noise, but Maas rarely introduces a name she doesn't intend to use again.
- Prepare for a Tone Shift: The jump from the end of this book to the start of the next is jarring. She goes from a high-stakes urban environment to a bleak, hopeless slave camp. Use that jarring feeling to empathize with the character.
- Keep a Tissue Box Handy: The final thirty pages are notoriously brutal. Even if you know what's coming, the execution is a gut punch.
The reality is that Sarah J. Maas didn't just write a prequel to sell more books. She wrote it to explain why a teenage girl would be the most feared person in a kingdom. It’s about the loss of innocence and the birth of a legend. Whether you call her Celaena, Lillian, or something else entirely, this is where her heart—and her scars—started.
Start here. See the Red Desert. Meet Sam Cortland. Understand why she says, "I will not be afraid." It means a lot more when you know exactly what she’s been through.
Next Steps:
Grab a copy of the omnibus edition of the novellas. If you've already started the main series and find yourself confused by mentions of a "Sam," stop where you are and read this immediately. It bridges the gap between the girl who was and the queen she is meant to become. Once finished, move directly into Throne of Glass to see how the fallout of the Guild’s betrayal shapes her first interaction with Prince Dorian and Chaol Westfall.