The story of The Assassin and the Healer is set almost immediately after The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. After having returned to Arobynn and revealed that she freed 200 slaves, a beaten and bruised Celaena has been banished to train with The Mute Master in the Red Desert. On her way there, she stops in a hellish hovel of a town called Innish where she meets an interesting young healer.
I liked this story a lot more than the previous one. Sure, Celaena is still miserable so there is nothing new in that regard, but Yrene Towers is a darling. I liked her character and her sense of doing what’s right even if she isn’t happy with the outcome of her life so far. I especially enjoyed Celaena taking time to teach the other girl how to defend herself around the aggressive drunks and hooligans of Innish so she knows how to get out of trouble should someone attack her.
I honestly don’t think Celaena has enough female friends, and the lack of a lot of female characters in general is disappointing, so I really liked this story showing two gals being pals, even if it was just brief.
I give this one four out of five stars.
[This post first appeared in Lucien's blog.]