Introducing Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas - and the Importance of Gateway Fantasy

I'm on a mission to help you find your new favourite books.

This is a spoiler free introduction to Throne of Glass, one of the most successful young adult fantasies of all time. This is a gateway fantasy series, ideal for new readers who haven't read much fantasy and want to try out the genre.

I discuss the importance of gateway fantasy novels and the crucial role they play in brining new readers to the genre. Let's deep dive into romance, erotic writing, and a whole lot of sexy Fae characters!

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[melindafoldvari]

It is honestly so refreshing to see a video where the creator isn't just spitting hate and calling gateway fantasy "childish".

[Miluiel]

stumbled upon this video and I really appreciate the "let people read what they want to read" and finding the fun in a book you aren't the audience for... I did not read past Throne of Glass but yes, let people read what they want to read damn it!

[MsLaurenElizabeth]

Throne of Glass was the first fantasy series I’ve ever read. I was 24ish when I read it. I LOVED it. It definitely opened the genre to me. Gateway books are very important.

[maelleth]

"I may not like it, but you might. And that's the more important thing." Instant subscribe! :)

[moirad]

I'm slowly working through Throne of Glass and its my "I want a fantasy but I also don't want to think a lot" series.

[JashanaC]

I am so glad this video was recommended to me! Subscribed!

Seeing a “fantasy dude” talk about books like this without total judgement & pretension is A BREATH OF FRESH AIR!

Throne of Glass doesn’t totally “hold up” for me anymore but man, it will always hold a place in my heart because it is indeed what truly got me into fantasy, many years ago 🙌

[fthell]

It's not that the people aren't archetypes, it's their relationships. How they interact. The most fun part of Kingdom of Ash (last book) is all the different storylines intersecting finally for one goal.

[xlilitu]

I'm biased as a Sarah Janet fan (though I haven't read ToG yet), but I really appreciate your approach in this video! It's positive while also poking fun at the ridiculousness of the series. In general, I think the online book community doesn't understand that you can do both. It's also OK to not like something that others do. It's NOT OK to try to make others feel bad or lesser for what they enjoy.

[madokakaname]

I just want to leave a comment to say that I really like your attitude. I am used to people online insulting other people, saying they have bad taste. It is very refreshing to see someone encouraging others to like what they like, even when it is not what you like. :) This was a good video, thank you.

[Karma]

Such a great message to say that you shouldn’t let other people tell you if you’ll enjoy a book or not. The books I enjoyed the most when I first started reading, were the ones I found by chance and just liked the synopsis/plot idea. It’s actually much harder to do that nowadays without scrolling through reviews on Goodreads and YouTube ect

[Christopherjamesmurphy]

Love your attitude about this. You arent trying to sway us away because you arent a fan. Respect

[ulla]

I haven't read Throne of Glass, but in general, thinking about fantasy romance as it's own sub genre, it's not surprising that they are lighter on the world building and fantasy elements. Getting the romance beats on the page takes space. Many "traditional" fantasy books often don't do justice to the romance subplots they have, this is very common complaint. It's a trade off, something's gotta give because there is only so much space between the covers. Fantasy romance and other fantasy sub genres just prioritize different things

[morleywritesbooks]

i mean, i've been saying similar as i tore apart acotar.
People who'd never read fantasy raved about the world building, but as a seasoned fantasy reader i was standing there asking: what world building?
but the success of it absolutely helped get more people reading, and more people to read fantasy. It's an impressive feat. I despise the book, but the feat is still undeniable.

[CarolineMolyneux]

Sarah j maas always feels like fantasy Jackie Collins to me. It's a bit of an occasional guilty pleasure for me these days. But Throne Of Glass was my fantasy gateway after not reading the genre for 20 years and now it's the only genre I really read. Totally agree with everything you said. Thank you for recognising it's value

[TheJulleful]

Stereotypical "fantasy-nerds" often struggle to see past their own point of view. (Weird, considering that reading has been proven to help develop empathy.) So it's refreshing to hear you talk about the importance of resisting judgement. Back in 2013 I was a 15-year-old girl in Finland who had read most of the translated fantasy that interested me at the time. These books were great for learning fantasy phrases etc in English. If I'd started with J. Butcher I wouldn't be reading in English today.

[furroy]

the most amusing part to me was the main character who is the "worlds greatest assassin" not only never assassinates anyone, but goes out of her way to fake having killed people.

[faithanwuri]

This was a really lovely video. You have such a sweet personality and I personally have no interest in the ToG series, but you approached this in a really nice way that showed issues with it, without being hateful about it. It was really nuanced, gateway fantasy series/books are so important, as you said, everyone has one, we don’t have to tear people down because of it. I really hope your channel grows more, you deserve it.

[carla-mariahovenielsen]

Agree. I really had a hard time liking Cealena it got better later on. But to be fair I think Sarah was a teenager when she started throne of glass and she got better as a writer as the series went on.
It would be awsome of you would make a video like this for the acotar series. 🤞🤞

[freyahadgett]

i’ve read this series multiple times and i love it. i love it when i see it given a proper chance by people who are into the popular epic adult fantasies (sanderson, WoT, asoiaf…) because it’s often looked down on by people who enjoy these series, despite it being entirely possible to love both like i do :)

[likeactualsoulmates]

This video spoke to me! It is I, this series was my introduction to fantasy as a teenager. It's really fun to look back after having read so much more fantasy
Edit because I just got to the reading order part of the video. I always suggest reading Assassin's Blade after Heir of Fire and before Queen of Shadows for maximum pain and suffering