Throne of Glass
FlumeAward – Throne of Glass Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
This was an Isinglass nom last year. That being said, it’s AWESOME. Lots of action, you can feel how it’s reaching out to a Hunger Games crowd, but the world is very different, since it’s a fantasy especially. It’s more Hunger Games Meets Game of Thrones (says someone who’s never read Game of Thrones). Great set-up to the rest of the series. I think age-wise it’s a good cross-over title. – Liz, Merrimack PL
I was blah about Throne of Glass. Granted, I hate the cliche love triangle, and that particular device is front and center to this fantasy. The fantasy elements didn’t feel special or unique, and I felt as if the author was constantly telling the reader how awesome the main character was without ever actually showing it. It was like watching a food commercial. She even goes so far as to have the main character being told repeatedly to hold herself back, which she is all too happy to do since she’s supposedly suffered a drastic reduction in her power and is now unsure of her own abilities. This should make for an interesting feminist commentary, but it just felt too poorly executed, not to mention undermined by the cliche romance, for such deep aspirations. That’s kind of my feeling about the whole thing though: derivative and undermined. I’ve been pushing it towards fans of Seraphina and Eon as well as the dystopia crowd with a little success, so it has some interest for teens, but this one definitely wasn’t for me. -Danny Lykansion, Rodgers Memorial Library
As this was an Isinglass nominee last year, I wouldn’t rush to put it on the Flume list. While I thought it would be a very interesting story and would definitely appeal to readers fond of medieval type settings in fantasy books, I agree with Danny about the cliche love triangle. It is definitely more Game of Thrones than Hunger Games. I do have to admit that I was not ready for the twist in the ending, though there were plenty of clues. I most have been just going through the motions of reading it and not really concentrating on the story. Which tells me that it didn’t really pull me in. In fact, it took much longer to get through it than it usually does for this length of book. It has only been out 5 times in the year and a half that we have had it in the collection. So it is not pulling in my teens. – Barb Ballou, Whipple Free Library
I just finished this book, and while I found it OK – I also found the first half pretty slow. The second half moved more quickly. It seems it would be better to select a book that catches the reader and keeps his/her attention. (Oh, and that vomiting and LUVVVV) were a bit much: it felt a bit like Hunger Games meets The Selection) ~ Sharon Flesher – Nashua South
I LOOOOVVVED this book, and can’t get enough! I carried this book with me even when I knew there was no way I’d get to read it. I know the last 3 reviewers were unimpressed, but it’s one of my top fantasy recommendations, along with books like Graceling, and the adult books by Terry Brooks & Terry Goodkind (I have a Law of Terrys, in that any fantasy novel written by someone named Terry is automatically an awesome book- see also Terry Pratchett). My fantasy readers have been just as in love with it as me, and now I have a battle going with one to see who can get each new book first. I enjoy the intrigues and questions of loyalty and honor they various characters face, added to the action & supernatural scenes. My only hesitation is that this was on Isinglass last year, but otherwise, I am two giant thumbs up for this book!
-Lucia Von Letkemann
Wiggin Memorial Library, Stratham