Throne of Glass Reading Order

The Assassin's Blade is a collection of five novellas set before Throne of Glass. It follows Celaena during her time as Arobynn Hamel's protégé before she ends up in the salt mines. Even though it is a prequel, do not read it first.

The prequels were published in 2014, after Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. Sarah J. Maas wrote them with the assumption that you already know what happens in book 2. If you read The Assassin's Blade first, you spoil a major character reveal from Crown of Midnight and lose the intended emotional impact of both the prequels and book 2.

The recommended order is: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, The Assassin's Blade, then continue with Heir of Fire. This is the order Bloomsbury Publishing recommends, and it is the order that delivers the emotional punch Maas intended.

Some readers prefer to read The Assassin's Blade chronologically first, and that is fine if spoilers do not bother you. But if you want the reading experience Maas designed, wait until after Crown of Midnight.

Start with Throne of Glass. Do not skip the first book just because people say it is the weakest in the series. The first book sets up the world, the magic system, and the characters. You need that foundation for everything that comes later.

Throne of Glass follows Celaena Sardothien, an infamous assassin who has been enslaved in the brutal salt mines of Endovier for a year. She is offered a chance at freedom if she can win a competition to become the King's Champion. But the competition turns deadly, and Celaena realizes something sinister is happening in the glass castle.

The first book is YA fantasy with mystery, court intrigue, and a slow-burn romance. By book 3, the series becomes epic high fantasy with fae magic, war, and a sprawling cast. The tone shifts. The stakes rise. The romance deepens. If you like the first book, you will love where the series goes. If you are lukewarm on book 1, keep reading. Book 2 is where most readers get hooked, and book 3 is where the series becomes the thing people build fandoms around.

Empire of Storms (book 6) and Tower of Dawn (book 7) happen at the same time but follow different characters in different places. Some readers alternate chapters between the two books so the timelines stay aligned. This is called the tandem read.

You do not need to do this. Reading them in publication order (Empire of Storms first, then Tower of Dawn) works perfectly fine. Sarah J. Maas wrote them to be read that way. The tandem read is for people who want the events to unfold simultaneously, but it is more complicated and interrupts the flow of both books.

If you are a first-time reader, stick with publication order. If you are rereading and want a different experience, try the tandem read the second time through.