The Assassin and the Desert

This is a prequel novella that takes place before the events of the first novel, Throne of Glass. It was originally published as an individual e-book before being compiled alongside four other prequel novellas in the collection titled The Assassin's Blade.

Key characters introduced during this desert training arc, such as Ansel of Briarcliff and the Silent Assassins, return to play significant roles in the later novels of the main Throne of Glass series.

Yes. Ansel returns in Empire of Storms (book 5 of Throne of Glass), where her history and her continued pursuit of her homeland's liberation become relevant to the main plot. Her reappearance pays off the seeds planted in this novella about what happened to her after leaving the Silent Assassins.

While it can be read first chronologically, many readers recommend reading it as part of the compiled anthology, The Assassin's Blade, either right before starting the main series or after finishing the second novel, Crown of Midnight, to maximize the emotional impact of the character arcs.

The Red Desert is a vast, hostile region south of Adarlan, home to the Silent Assassins — a centuries-old order of killers who train in austere desert conditions and communicate in near-silence. They are considered more disciplined, if less infamous, than Arobynn's guild. Their fortress and customs are described in detail across this novella.

Arobynn sends Celaena to the Silent Assassins as punishment following events in The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, where her decision to free the slaves defied his orders and created diplomatic friction. The assignment is framed as a gesture toward reparation, but Arobynn's motives are never straightforwardly benevolent.

The letter is Celaena's official credential from the Silent Assassins, confirming she completed their training and earned their recognition. It functions as a kind of professional endorsement in the assassin world, one that carries weight precisely because the Silent Assassins are notoriously selective about who they acknowledge.

Maas drew broadly on North African and Middle Eastern desert aesthetics for the setting — the heat, the fortress architecture, the training culture of the Silent Assassins echoes historical warrior orders. She has not named a specific real-world analogue in interviews, but the cultural texture is distinct from the more Eurocentric Adarlan setting.