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The Assassin and the Desert (Fantasy)

Citation:  Maas, S.  (2012).  The assassin and the desert: A throne of glass novella.  New York, NY:  Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers.  Tr.  $0.99.  ISBN:  9781599909851.  Format:  eBook (iPad).

Annotation:  In The Assassin and the Desrt, Celaena heads to the desert to train with The Silent Assassins.  She is glad for the training until a traitor is discovered. 

Book Talk:  Celaena is being punished for her actions at Skull’s Bay.  She must travel the desert to reach the fortress of The Silent Assassins.  When she reaches the fortress, she must train there for one month and return to King Arobynn with a letter of approval from the Silent Master.

While Celaena is training, strange things catch her attention.  Soon, she will discover that there is a traitor among them.

As she swallowed the large mouthful of wine, she had two thoughts.  First was that [her] eyes were now filled with unmasked sorrow.  And the second-which explained the first-was that the wine tasted strange.  But Celaena didn’t have time to consider what poison it was before she heard her own goblet clatter to the floor, and the world spun and went black (p. 169).

Who is the traitor among them?  Celaena must figure it out before it’s too late.

Awards:  None

More: 

To read more about the author and her other books, visit http://sarahjmaas.com/

The Assassin and the Desert is the second of four novellas that lead up to the novel, The Throne of Glass.  Check out the other three novellas and the novel if you loved this book!

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Fantasy)

Citation: Maas, S. (2012). The assassin and the pirate lord: A throne of glass novella. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers. Tr. $0.99. ISBN: 9781599909547. Format: eBook (iPad).

Annotation:  In The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, Celaena is only a sixteen-years-old and is being sent on a mission to collect a debt from the Pirate Lord Rolfe.

Book Talk:  Are assassins defiant? Celaena isn’t. She is well trained and follows every rule of her master, King Arobynn, king of the assassins.

Celaena is about to embark on a mission to Skull’s Bay, home to the Lord of the Pirates, Captain Rolfe. Her mission is to collect what the Pirate Lord owes King Arobynn for the loss of his men. But when Celaena arrives, she learns that payment is to be made in slaves not money.

What will Celaena do? She does not agree with this brutish payment. Will she collect the slaves for Arobynn as he is ordered? Or will Celaena be defiant?

Awards: None

More:

To read more about the author and her other books, visit http://sarahjmaas.com/

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord is the first of four novellas that lead up to the novel, The Throne of Glass. Check out the other three novellas and the novel if you loved this book!

Wicked Lovely (Fantasy, Romance)

Citation:  Marr, M.  (2007).  Wicked lovely.  New York, NY:  Harper Collins.  Tr.  $16.99.  ISBN:  97800061214653.  Format:  Hardback.

Annotation:  Wicked Lovely is a dark story about Aislinn and her link to the realm of faeries.  Aislinn is being stalked by faeries and is about to become a pawn in a long awaited war between courts.

Book Talk:  Aislinn has avoided faeries her whole life.  She has been taught to ignore them.  They are becoming harder and harder to ignore, especially since they are breaking the rules of the faerie realm.  Aislinn meets Keenan, the Summer King, and she too begins to break the rules.  Keenan is dark, he is mysterious; Keenan is Wicked Lovely.

Some points about the book…

Aislinn has been taught to not look, talk, or touch faeries.

Aislinn is being stalked by faeries.

Aislinn has feeling for Seth, a human boy.

Winter is becoming stronger.

Summer is losing its hold.

Keenan is the Summer King.

Keenan’s mother is the Winter Queen.

The Winter Queen is containing Keenan’s power.

Keenan wants Aislinn to be his queen.

Aislinn has feelings for Keenan and Seth.

The Winter Queen is becoming too powerful.

  

Awards:  Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance (2008)

 

More: 

To read more about the author and her other books, visit http://www.melissa-marr.com/index.html

Once you read Wicked Lovely, you'll want to check out the rst of the books in the series!

Check out the trailer for Wicked Lovely!

Tithe (Fantasy)

Citation:  Black, H.  (2002).  Tithe: A modern day faerie tale.  New York, NY:  Margaret K. McElderry Books.  Tr.  $17.99.  ISBN:  9780689849244.  Format:  Hardback.

Annotation:  Tithe is a dark, modern day faerie tale about sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch, who is used to living on the road.  She and her mother return to her home town to live and Kaye discovers a new world where she becomes torn between sides in a war of faerie realms.

Book Talk:  Is Kaye a normal human girl?  She has always had the ability to see faeries, especially as a little girl.  Now after her mom’s boyfriend attempt to kill her, she is moved back to her hometown for safekeeping, where she begins to see her old faerie friends again.

Kaye saved the life of a faerie called Rioban one evening, and this one act of mercy changes her life forever.  Kaye becomes the eyes and ears of the faerie world in the human world.  As Kaye becomes more involved with the faerie world, she begins to be torn between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of the faerie realm.  Why do they need her?  Why is she able to see the faeries when no one else can?  Is Kaye a normal human girl, or is she too a faerie?   

Awards:  Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature (2008), ALA Teens' Top Ten (2003), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2008)

More: 

To read more about the author and her other books, visit http://www.blackholly.com/index.html

If you like Tithe, check out the other two books about Holly Black’s faerie realm!