Again, has to be said – i LOVE these prequels.  i think that every time we get another story in the life of Celaena before we came upon her on Throne of Glass, we get to see a bit more into her soul.  and that’s something that truly impresses me.

In this third story – we get to see what her life was like for that month when she was sent to the Red Desert to atone for what she did in betraying Arobynn’s deal with the slaves – so that she could get trained by the Silent Assassin Master.  What she got instead was quite the life lesson.

Celaena finds that there’s so much more to being trained than just showing up.  She has to get to the point where the master chooses to train her and for some, that day never comes.  It’s only through a friendship with Ansel, another beautiful girl who lives in the fortress that she’s able to live – and train a bit while she waits.  It’s through a trip into town on an assignment that things change for Celaena, she’s convinced to steal the Aseterion horse – a masterpiece of a stallion.  We’ve heard the hints of the story throughout the main series but to see what happened to make it come to life is even better.  To learn that it wasn’t her plan to do it – that means so much more since we know that she’s quite ruthless.

It’s how she handles herself when she returns to the fortress that somehow makes the Master decide to train her and from there on out we see how she’s taught the mannerisms and skills of that tribe.

It’s only when there’s a spy amidst them – when we see someone that we trust turn against them all, Celaena is poisoned, the master is as well and so many lose their lives.  What comes of it though is such a sweet ending to it all, and i think that we have seen how that’s woven into what makes our leading lady into who she is.

Honestly, i don’t know where Ms Maas comes up with this stuff, but it’s amazing!