Review: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Having read and enjoyed the first five Throne of Glass books and impatiently awaiting the sixth, I decided it was time to work my way through the five novellas offered up in The Assassin’s Blade. I’d debated reading these stories at an earlier stage, yet I found myself too pulled into the main story to take a detour. I’m there now, though. I’m holding out that these five stories will tide me over until the sixth book is released.

Having finished The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, I’m not sure whether they will give me what I’d been hoping for.

I’ve always wanted to see the assassin spoken about in the main series, and still she has yet to really emerge. This was the first story showing our main character in her element, truly in her assassin role, and yet it wasn’t the hard-hitting girl we’d been promised. I’m still left wanting so much more from her. I feel as though this story missed the mark in so many regards. The characters weren’t what I had hoped for. The story wasn’t what I had hoped for. As a whole, I didn’t really enjoy it. It was decent enough… and yet it was nowhere near enough.

Having read the main series in one stretch, going back to read these short stories later, I’ve already encountered the pirate lord of this novella. When he makes a reappearance, he – and the other characters – made this story seem so much more than it is. Our main character freed slaves. Hell yeah! Our main character caused a lot of trouble for the pirates. Hell yeah! Our main character made a lot of threats. Hell yeah! But wait – the story doesn’t actually feel that way. These aspects seem to be over and done with so quickly, they barely feel introduced at all. Everything felt too quick, felt half-complete. I feel let down, as though all I’d been promised was held back from me.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. It was nice to see our main character before she became what she is in the main series. It’s a somewhat different side to her. It’s not the drastic change I had anticipated, but you can see the slight difference. Moreover, we get to meet Sam. I feel as though I know so much about him from the main series, that to finally meet him was a bit of a let-down. By the end of the story, though, I found myself enjoying him. I feel as though he’ll grown on me throughout these novellas.

Overall, it was an okay read. It wasn’t what I had wanted, but it did add a little more to the series. My hope is that the other novellas will add a lot more.

View all my reviews