Review: Fun, but I expected more out of it
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 4, 2012
Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.The first of four novellas leading up to Throne of Glass, Maas gives readers who weren't around to read her novel on Fictionpress their first taste of Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan's Assassin. I haven't stopped hearing about the author for months now because of how her novel started out, and I was eager to see what all the fuss is about. I can't say I don't see how she got so many fans, but I can say she still needs improvement.The writing craft could use a little work, but most scenes read easily and there were only one or two tripping points. The Assassin and the Pirate Lord was a quick read not because it was short but because it was well-paced and smooth. I couldn't find out what would happen quickly enough! The tension between Sam and Celaena at the start of the novella was fantastic, but the sexual tension it devolved into kind of lost me. I felt they worked better as allies who didn't like each other.Celaena has me worrying the next novellas and the novel will establish her as a Mary Sue sort of character because she comes close to being one here. Being the heir to the current Assassin Guild's leader Arobynn seems like it requires brains and skill because the assassin life isn't just about being good at killing people. Celaena certainly has the skill, as proven by what she pulled off, but her impulsive behavior that led to the scheme in the first place doesn't indicate she has the brains just yet. Based on who she is presented as in this novella, there is no way she should be his heir.In addition, a question brought up about why Arobynn sent them out of Rifthold when he could have sent other people is dropped as soon as it comes up and that loose thread is begging me to take some scissors to it. Will it come back in a future novella or the novel? I hope so.So Celaena is looking like a brat at the moment who doesn't seem to be the best candidate for Arobynn's heir, but there is a good chance there will be some improvement upon that. After all, she's only sixteen in this novella; Throne of Glass begins when she's eighteen and has served a year in the Salt Mines of Endovier. For me, it's on to novella number two: The Assassin and the Desert.