Why You Should Be Reading the Throne of Glass Series

The next installment in the best-selling “Throne of Glass” series is about to be released this September. Here’s why you need to be reading these books.

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Empire of Storms, the fifth book in author Sarah J. Maas’ bestselling Throne of Glass series, will be released on September 6. And if you haven’t gotten on board the hype train yet, it’s time. The Throne of Glass books tell the story of Celaena Sardothien, an 18 year old assassin who attempts to win her freedom by entering a tournament where she must battle 23 other thieves, killers and warriors.

This initial plot description is the tip of a much, much larger iceberg – as you may have guessed by the fact that EoS is part of a fairly large series – but telling you too much more will spoil things. Yes, it’s the lamest excuse in the world – but it’s absolutely worth it to keep the surprises secret. Promise. These books are that good.

Featuring amazing female characters, amazingly layered world building, dramatic plot twists and more, this is 100% the best book series you’re not reading. (If you are reading already; congrats, you know what’s up.)

If you’re not? Here’s why you should start.

There’s an amazing, complicated heroine.

The Throne of Glass series features one of the most compelling heroines in recent YA literature. In short, Celaena Sardothien is straight up awesome. She’s a smart, feisty, capable girl who also happens to be the world’s greatest assassin. She is courageous and intelligent. But that’s not all – Celena has real layers. She’s a survivor, and her life to this point has been full of trauma and loss. But no matter what, she always picks herself up again. She’s scarred – both physically and metaphorically – but the terrible things that have happened to her do not define her. Neither, however, are they glossed over. They’re just part of what makes her who she is.

Of course, as a heroine she is far from perfect. Celaena can be arrogant and stubborn. She is not always kind, and occasionally treats other women poorly. That she learns, later, the error of her ways and rethinks her perception about several of the women in her life is a positive step, but doesn’t exactly erase her bad behavior. But what matters is that she continues to grow throughout the series – she learns from her mistakes, discovers the depths of her own bravery, and makes hard choices, over and over again.

Celaena is allowed to display a level of confidence in herself and her abilities that’s generally restricted to men. She never apologizes for being talented, or for doing an awesome job at a task. And, although she sees her own flaws, she doesn’t dwell on them. Rather, she chooses to celebrate the things she likes about herself, which is probably a lesson we all can take to heart.

Celaena is a challenging, human, messy character – but she is also a hero, and one you can feel great about rooting for at the end of the day.

The supporting cast is full of even more amazing women.

Not only does the Throne of Glass series have an incredible female lead; Maas makes a concerted effort to populate the world of Erilea with plenty of fantastic women besides Celaena. This series features such a wide range of female characters – from princesses to prostitutes to witches to soldiers to everything in between. And while the series’ women are all (very) different – they’re all compelling, and they all come to find their own personal strength, whether that’s physical, mental or emotional.

The U.S. cover of “Empire of Storms”. (Photo: Bloomsbury)

The women in the Throne of Glass series all have significant parts to play in the story at various points. And, most exciting of all, they’re all fully-realized characters on their own. They’re allowed to develop and change, to be imperfect, to make mistakes and be selfish. These women are not plot devices.

Several of their roles – especially in later books – will surprise you. Characters you couldn’t stand will rapidly become your favorites as they take on new roles in the story. Secondary characters suddenly move to the forefront and relationships grow and change, sometimes between unexpected parties. These are, of course, things that male characters get to do in stories like this all the time. That so many women are given key roles – and key relationships with one another – feels especially fresh and exciting.

This is a gorgeous, fully realized fantasy world.

The story of Throne of Glass takes place in Adarlan, a kingdom in which magic is forbidden and everyone is ruled over by a psychotic near-despot who lives in a glass castle. Adarlan is part of Erilea, a world full of many larger countries and stories. And Erilea has its own complicated history of war, revenge, politics, and compromise.

Maas creates a universe in these novels is dark and dangerous and scary. It’s also full of strange and wonderful things, as well as people. The characters all reflect various facets of the world they live in – where they’re from is important , the culture they claim matters, the history of their lands is significant.

Everything feels connected in an organic, realistic way. Erilea feels like a world that might somehow actually exist somewhere. The motivations of its various rulers and the desires of the different groups of people who live there make sense. While we’re most invested in Celaena’s journey, her story is impossible to separate from Erilea’s larger one. And the deft way her story fits into the overall historical and geopolitical narrative of this world is one of the more amazing things about these books.

There’s a truly unpredictable plot.

As a series, Throne of Glass features a little bit of everything – from royal intrigue, to history-based grudges to magic to fairies. There are even dragons, for y’all Game of Thrones types. But if you think you know where the story’s going – after 50 pages, or after you finish the first book, or even the second, you really don’t.

There are so many surprises, it’s difficult to talk about how fast-paced and exciting the plot becomes without spoiling anything. And you definitely don’t want anything spoiled!

There’s adventure and romance and mystery, along with secret histories, hidden identities and other surprises. Enemies become allies. Friends betray each other. The story of a young assassin’s attempt to save herself from captivity becomes something much, much more. And the road to get there is a twisty, emotional mess. You’ll laugh, and cry, and cheer. And it’s an amazing ride.

There are love stories, but they don’t dominate the narrative.

As this is a YA book, no one is going to be too surprised that it features the prospect of a romance between its female lead and several of the very attractive, all-around appealing men in her life. What will surprise you is the way this series handles romance – it’s always the secondary piece in Celaena’s journey and never overshadows her own development. She doesn’t spend the bulk of this series in a tizzy over which man she should choose – and while she often faces difficult choices that impact the men in her life, she makes them on her own terms. This is not to say that there isn’t plenty of romance to go around, and for more people than just our brave heroine. But that’s not the crux of the story, by a long shot.

Bonus: The men in Celaena’s life are also fully realized characters. They have their own histories and hurts and agendas, outside of and apart from Celaena. They even have plot arcs that have nothing to do with Celaena at all! This is incredibly refreshing, since it allows us readers to care about these guys for their own sakes, and not just as halves of a potential “ship” with the story’s main character. Everyone feels feels like someone worth rooting for.

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There are, of course, many many more reasons to make the Throne of Glass series your next book binge. You’ll have to discover them on your own, though. (But don’t worry, you can thank us later.)

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