In a land without magic, assassin Celaena Sardothien is summoned to the castle to compete against twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors. She hopes to win her freedom: if she wins the contest, she will be released from prison to serve as the king’s champion.

Danger in the castle

The contest draws Celaena into the court’s shifting relationships: the Crown Prince provokes her, the Captain of the Guard protects her, and a princess from a distant country becomes her friend. When competitors begin dying mysteriously, the struggle for freedom turns into a fight for survival and a search for the danger hidden within the castle.

The opening of a series

Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass opens the series of the same name, bringing a contest to become the king’s champion into a story of courtly connections and a growing mystery. As Celaena fights for freedom and then survival, she sets out to root out the evil in the castle before it destroys her world.