Celaena Sardothien, the most feared assassin in the kingdom, is pulled from the salt mines and given a chance at freedom — if she can win a deadly competition in the glass castle of a murderous king. Throne of Glass is Maas's first series and the foundation of the Maas universe that eventually connects ACOTAR and Crescent City.
Who it's for
Readers who want to read Maas in the order she wrote — from early to mature work
Anyone who wants a female protagonist with genuine combat skills and genuine flaws
ACOTAR fans looking for more world from the same author
Editor's take
Throne of Glass's first book reads younger than ACOTAR — the prose is less polished, the world-building more sketched. But the series is one of the great escalations in modern fantasy: by Book 3 (Heir of Fire) and certainly by Book 4 (Queen of Shadows), Maas has found a scope and emotional depth that matches anything in the genre.
Celaena/Aelin is a more difficult character than Feyre — abrasive, sometimes infuriating, and genuinely extraordinary. The series rewards patience and commitment. By Empire of Storms and Kingdom of the Wicked, readers who stuck with it describe the final books as devastating in the best possible way.
Who this is NOT for
Readers who want the sophisticated world-building of later Maas books from the start — this is earlier work and the complexity increases book by book
Anyone who dislikes first-person voice with a confident, sometimes arrogant narrator — Celaena is not self-deprecating
Readers looking for immediate darkness — this is the lightest entry in a series that becomes very dark by book four
Emotional payoff
Throne of Glass's payoff is primarily set-up for a larger series — the competition plot resolves, but what lingers is the mystery of who Celaena actually is. Maas seeds the identity reveal across books one through four, and readers who continue consistently report the payoff in Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms as worth the investment made here.
1. The Assassin's Blade (prequel novellas, can be read after Book 1), 2. Throne of Glass, 3. Crown of Midnight, 4. Heir of Fire, 5. Queen of Shadows, 6. Empire of Storms (read Tower of Dawn alongside or after), 7. Kingdom of the Wicked.
Does Throne of Glass connect to ACOTAR?
Yes — Crescent City eventually bridges the Maas universe. Specific spoilers aside, characters from both series appear in Crescent City. Finish both Throne of Glass and ACOTAR before beginning Crescent City Book 3.