As I said in my post last Monday, I will be running a Throne of Glass readalong for the next three weeks or so, and discussed Part One last Thursday. I plan on re-reading the first three books in the series before finally reading the fourth and most recent addition, so I thought I’d turn it into a bit of a blog event and encourage my readers to join in! Whether you’ve read the book before or are reading for the first time, feel free to leave your thoughts! And of course, as this is a readalong discussion post, there will be spoilers for Throne of Glass ahead.
Today I’ll be discussing the second part of the book – chapters 14 to 27.
Part Two sees the first Tests for the Champions begin, but we also learn a little more of Chaol’s background. Cain, who becomes Celaena’s main nemesis, is introduced – and shortly after, the murders begin. One by one, competitors for the King’s Champion are being picked off in an incredibly violent manner.
- One thing I often wonder in fantasy stories is why our holidays are sometimes used. Maas mentions Sammhain (Halloween) and Yulemas (Christmas, although could be a winter solstice type festival).
- We learn more about Celaena’s history with Sam, but there’s still a lot missing.
- Both Dorian and Chaol seem to be falling for Celaena – one quicker than the other. When we see her through their eyes, she seems to be in a more vulnerable position, softened slightly.
- I hate the use of the term Dark Lord! It’s so cliched and overused in fantasy fiction. However, it’s only mentioned once here, and used as a backstory element rather than being a current threat, so it’s not quite as bad.
- The book takes on more of a ‘magical fantasy’ feel when Celaena finds the sarcophagus. Instead of being a book that could easily be set in our world, albeit in the past, it’s suddenly clearer that this is not our world when the magical elements come into play.
Rinn Reads 
Really enjoying this book so far! Definitely a Chaol fan at this stage too. I’m very intrigued to learn more about Sam though… but I didn’t even notice the mention of a Dark Lord! Definitely an overused term which needs to be weaned out of fantasy!
The use of similar holidays is always strange to me… in some ways it throws me back to the real world which jars a little when reading. In this instance it didn’t bother me so much.
I love that the narrative has taken a more magical fantasy feel too. I wasn’t expecting the storyline to progress in this way so any surprises at this stage are good!
I think it was just mentioned the once, but I picked up on it because it bugs me.
Yes, definitely! And it’s the same when fantasy worlds have the same month or day names as ours, which were mostly named after various gods/emperors etc… how does that work?
Glad you’re enjoying the direction it has taken 😀
The ”Dark Lord’ phrase is definitely over-used, but I missed it here for some reason. Almost feel the urge to go back and reread to find out where it was said.
I’m loving that we have the magical element coming in now. For me it feels more like an adventure now and it also feels less predictable. Funny how that happens.
Just one sentence, I wouldn’t go hunting for it 😛
Definitely agree with that! Magic = adventure. 😀