Bei The Assassin’s Blade handelt es sich um die Vorgeschichte zur Throne of Glass – Reihe. Allerdings ist es keine „Pflicht“ es vorab zu lesen. Ich selbst habe es erst jetzt– nach Queen of Shadows – gelesen.Auf Deutsch ist das Ganze unter dem Titel "Celaenas Geschichte" (1-5) im Verlag "dtv- das junge Buch" erschienen.Kurzer (spoilerfreier) EinblickCelaena Sardothien ist Ardalans beste Assassinin und zugleich Protegé vom König der Assassinen selbst – Arobynn Hamel. Sie hat hart dafür gekämpft und sich alle Narben redlich verdient. Neben ihr, Sam Courtland, der „Zweitbeste“ Assassine und ihr langjähriger Rivale. Doch ein Ausflug nach Skulls Bay verändert alles – nicht nur die Beziehung zu Arobynn Hamel sondern auch die zu Sam. Es ist der Anfang vom Ende von Celaenas Karriere bei den Assassinen, denn während der Mission verweigert sie Arobynn den Gehorsam, wofür beide bitterböse bestraft werden.Unterteilt ist “The Assassin‘s Blade“ (TAB) in insgesamt 5 Bücher bzw. Geschichten, die aber alle aufeinander aufbauen und in einem dramatischen Ende gipfeln. Der Abschluß ist dann wiederum der Anfang von Throne of Glass (ToG) – und somit schließt sich der Kreis.The Assassin‘s Blade besteht aus:The Assassin and the Pirate LordThe Assassin and the HealerThe Assassin and the DesertThe Assassin and the UnderworldThe Assassin and the EmpireFazit: Wer Throne of Glass gelesen hat und liebt, sollte unbedingt die Vorgeschichte dazu kennen. Ich selbst habe es erst spät, nach Queen of Shadows, gelesen. Doch das macht nichts – ich verstehe jetzt so einige Zusammenhänge noch besser. Wer ToG noch nicht gelesen hat, dem empfehle ich TAB vorweg, doch letzten Endes ist TAB eigenständig und unabhängig von ToG und man kann jederzeit im Laufe der ToG Reihe einsteigen.
Let’s be honest, if Maas hadn’t written and released Tower of Dawn, I would never have gotten around to reading these novellas. I read this purely because I needed to before reading Tower of Dawn and, whilst I enjoyed most of them, there are a couple of unpopular opinions heading your way. Also, I should mention that I actually ended up listening to the audiobook of this (shock horror) purely because every time sat down to read it, I was getting distracted by other things – plus it helped when I was ill and didn’t really want to read!The Assassin’s Blade contains all five prequel novellas, which started off with The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. The events of Skulls Bay set the rest of the events in the following novellas into motion which ultimately led to where Celaena (as she was known back then) to where she was at the beginning of Throne of Glass (trying to remain spoiler free, somewhat). I do feel like these prequel novellas could have really all been put into one prequel book, rather than five separate novellas. All the events from Skulls Bay leading up to the ultimate ending happened within months of each other and really followed as a consequence to the previous novella – so it would have made more sense to me to create one larger book, rather than 5 smaller ones.What I really enjoyed about these books was the insight that it gave into Celaena’s character and who she really was and just how much she had grown from who she was then, to what she became in the Throne of Glass series. It was extremely easy to forget, most of the time, just how young Celaena was during these novellas – but then something would happen to show just how naive she was and her age was slap you in the face. Whilst she was mature in some areas (considering she’s Adarlan’s Assassin), she was naive in others (relationships with Sam and Arobynn) and it showed. Her naivety is really what got her where she landed because she put blind faith into someone she knew that she couldn’t trust…I was most excited to be introduced to Sam. We heard a lot about him in the main series, but we can only meet him in the novellas. I was disappointed to find that I didn’t really like Sam and he’s much like a Tamlin, but not as extreme. If you have read the A Court of of Thorns and Roses series, you will know who Tamlin is – before you get your pitchforks out, let me explain. For me, the way I interpreted the book, Sam was very manipulative of Celaena – he often used her feelings for him against her (asking her questions like “Do you want to be with me?”) to get what he wanted. I understand that he was trying to keep her safe and trying to start a new life with her somewhere far away, but I think he went the wrong way about it. He refused to let her come along on a job (which is what she does because she was THE assassin of Adarlan) even though she wanted to – he wanted to keep her safe (understandable), but in the end, it should have really been her decision to make. He also knew that she didn’t want to leave the continent (although he may not have understood why) but he went and made arrangements without consulting her first to move away, and then expected her to accept it. He got angry when things didn’t go his way and he was constantly doing stuff that she didn’t like, and argued with her when she didn’t accept it. The difference between Tamlin and Sam was that Sam didn’t go to as extreme lengths as Tamlin did and Celaena, whilst naive, held her own against Sam. I think, if events had gone differently, the relationship would have turned sour, just like Tamlin and Feyre’s. For me, Sam’s sweet gestures (buying her sheet music) didn’t make up for the rest.I think my least favourite novella was probably The Assassin and the Healer purely because it wasn’t as fleshed out as the others and it was a sort of middle point between what had happened with Arobynn in Rifthold and where Celaena was going for her punishment. It was still enjoyable, but if I had to pick my least favourite, it would be that one.After seeing more of Arobynn and what he was like toward Celaena in these books, I would love to see a novellan from his perspective from this kind of time period, before Celaena went to the Salt Mines. I would be so interested to see what his thought processes were and what he was truly feeling at the end of The Assassin and the Empire, because he was such a twisted character – he definitely added another layer to the story!All in all, I really enjoyed these novellas and the insight that they gave into Celaena’s character and the insights it gave into the characters that came back later on in the series. I am looking forward to seeing how some of these other characters play a role later on in the story! I gave this book 4/5 stars.
