The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Throne of Glass, #0.1) by Sarah J. Maas (2012)

Description from Goodreads:

A Throne of Glass novella.

On a remote island in a tropical sea, Celaena Sardothien, feared assassin, has come for retribution. She’s been sent by the Assassin’s Guild to collect on a debt they are owed by the Lord of the Pirates. But when Celaena learns that the agreed payment is not in money, but in slaves, her mission suddenly changes—and she will risk everything to right the wrong she’s been sent to bring about.

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I have seriously fallen in love with Throne of Glass series. So much indeed that after reading the actual novels, I had to also buy all four e-novellas which tell about Celaena's life before the book one. The Assassin and the Pirate Lord is the first one, and in a typical Maas fashion we get a lot of action, humour, and  Celaena's arrogance in 70 pages.  

I really liked the first novella. We learn about the younger 16-year-old Celaena who still thinks she is invincible and isn't afraid of anyone. She challenges everyone and everything, and always longs to be the best, no matter what the price. Even though some might find Celaena's confidence annoying, I think it is a nice fresh breeze for the YA books' heroines. She is nothing like we have seen before.

Assassin and the Pirate Lord is fast-paced, straight-forward moving novella for the lovers of Throne of Glass. What I liked the best in the novella, was the fact that we get to know Sam, who is one the assassin colleagues of hers. He is the complete opposite of Celaena and of course that is bound to create some  friction between them. I simply cannot wait how the relationship between two of them develops, even though we all already know the outcome. Aborynn, Celaena's ex-master, is another character I'm dying to know more about. He seems really ominous yet charismatic, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how Maas has written his character.

Of course 70 pages isn't a lot, so we can't get incredibly deep story. It was nice rebound read after I had finished Crown of Midnight, the book 2 of Throne of Glass, as I craved more stories of Celaena's. So if you are in a great need of more Throne of Glass, these short stories should do the trick!

"The first guard didn't notice she was upon him until her hands were around his neck, striking the two points that sent him into unconsciousness. (After all, she was an assassin, not a murderer.) He slumped to the deck, and she caught him by his filthy tunic, softening the fall. Quiet as mice, quiet as the wind, quiet as the grave."

☆☆☆