Thoughts: Prequels, Novellas, and Short Stories with @amyewingbooks @AlterKates @SJMaas

  Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of discussion on what order you should read things.  As well as if Novellas, Short Stories, and Prequels are really worth the effort to read.  So what say you? 

One of the biggest questions for this is the Throne of Glass series.  If you decide to read The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass 0.1 - 0.5) by Sarah J. Maas where should you read?

Contains all five novellas.
Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out. 

I guess that people have been told that if they read this first that they will be spoiled for Heir of Fire.  Which if you look at the book on goodreads you will see that that is not the case.  The novellas in this bind up are all set before Throne of Glass even starts.  So the reading order would be The Assassin's Blade then Throne of Glass then the rest.  But it seems that this is not the only series that has the same issue.

And then there is the flip side of do you really need to read them anyway?  

For me I read them all.  And for the most part I think they really bring a lot more to the story.  Such as The Strange Case of Finley Jayne(Steampunk Chronicles 0.5)

by Kady Cross which is the novella short story set before the main book The Girl in the Steel Corset.  This novella gives a lot of inside information about the MC Finley that you do hear about in the first book but of course without reading this short you wouldn't know everything. 

Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'. Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined.








And let me tell you its a doozy!! One of the best Novellas I've ever read. Only second to The Jewel Novella.  The House of the Stone (The Lone City #1.5) by Amy Ewing.  If you read the Jewel you don't really know what happened to Raven.  Well in this Novella it gives you all the insider information you were afraid to ask.  This is one of the most heart wrenching stories I've read.  And it shouldn't be missed!!! 

In The Jewel, we followed Violet in her servitude under the Duchess of the Lake. Now we'll hear Raven's story and her time as a surrogate for the Countess of the Stone in this digital novella from Amy Ewing.

When Raven is bought at the Auction, she knows immediately that things will not go well. And when she arrives at the Countess's palace, Raven quickly discovers that the Countess is much less interested in having a baby than experimenting with Raven's mind and body. Raven can only hope for an escape…and to see Violet again, all the while reminding herself that she is Raven Stirling, and she does matter.

HarperTeen Impulse is a digital imprint focused on young adult short stories and novellas, with new releases the first Tuesday of each month. 

So there is my take on all of the novellas, short stories, and prequels that go with series.  So what is yours?  Do you read them? Do you pass them by?  Let me know in the comments! 

"All opinions are 100% honest and my own." 

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