Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

HEIR OF FIRE BY SARAH J MAAS
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Audiobook/Hardcover
Series: Throne of Glass #3
Pages: 565
Date Finished: 30.08.15
Rating: 5/5
Summary: Celaena Sardothien, heroine of the New York Times bestselling series, rises from the ashes to burn even brighter than before.

Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak-but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life-and her future-forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?

In this USA Today bestselling third book in the New York Times bestselling series, Sarah J. Maas again delivers the epic fantasy, heart-stopping pace, and heady romance that have won her readers the world over.

"Once upon a time," she said to him, to the world, to herself, "in a land that has long since been buried to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom... very much."

If, for whatever reason, my house was set alight (maybe Aelin did it) there would be three things that I would want to make sure didn't go up in the flames. The first would be the ring I always wear that I inherited from my late grandma, the second would be my laptop (because it contains all my writing), and the third would be my signed and personalised copy of Heir of Fire. Now, I understand how stupid that sounds. It's just a book, and even signatures can be written again.

Heir of Fire is my favourite book, but that isn't really the reason.

I don't know if I'm just weird, but have you ever read a book that just speaks to you on an emotional level? Which makes you strangely proud when the characters overcome hurdles that have been stuck in their way for years, or that can reduce you to tears in the good moments as well as the bad? Heir of Fire is that book for me.

Brace yourselves for a really, really long review. I just have so many feelings, okay?

“It was a long story, and sometimes she grew quiet and cried - and during those times he leaned over to wipe away her tears.”  

Starting where Crown of Midnight left off, Celaena's story turns from a dark and gritty fantasy to a tale of epic scope. A ton of new characters are introduced, and three plotlines are weaved together seamlessly. I'm in awe of how perfectly the different POV's worked together.

The first--and of course my favourite--story is Celaena's, who goes to the land of the Fae to make a bargain with Queen Maeve so she can find out more about the Wyrdkeys. Maeve, being a conniving bugger, won't give Celaena that information until she completes magical training with one of her warriors. Enter Prince Rowan Whitethorn, who may just be my favourite character aside from our heroine.

“Because she is dead!" She screamed the last word so loudly it burned in her throat. "Because she is dead, and I am left with my worthless life!”    

Celaena's chapters don't just introduce Rowan but give us a glimpse at the huge world that Maas has created. Despite all of that, Celaena is completely and utterly broken. Not just about Nehemia's death, but about everything that has happened over the past few books (as well as more backstory that unfolds over the course of the book). Her plotline were great, but that alone isn't the reason why Celaena's story just resonates with me. I don't know why--it's not like I've gone through any of the things she has, or like I understand what she's going through. Maybe it's just down to beautiful writing.

I've said it before, but I've never cared so much about a character than I have Celaena. Whilst it was utterly heartbreaking to see her at her lowest point, watching her get back up again is definitely the most inspiring thing I've ever read. Her strength, as well as her friendship with Rowan, was the most wonderful and inspiring part of this book. I don't want to spoil it, but there were moments where I had to pause my audiobook and just take it in for a second.

I can honestly say that Celaena's (and Rowan's) character arc is the most beautiful thing I have read in a long, long time. Possibly ever.

The other part of the narrative followed a new character, Manon Blackbeak. Manon is the heir to the Backbeat witch coven, and the King of Adarlan has asked the witches to train with wyverns to be his aerial army. Manon is ruthless and heartless--she kills people for the fun of it and doesn't think twice. It's no surprise that I absolutely love her.

“Witches didn't need blood to survive, but humans didn't need wine, either.”  

The Ironteeth society is one of the most interesting and terrifying things I've read about in a while. It's full of interesting, beautiful and brutal characters, women that would gut you if you said one wrong word. Whilst it isn't perfectly clear to how Manon's story will weave in with Celaena's, I'm so excited to see where it's going. There was one line towards the end of the book that was completely and utterly harrowing, and I hope it's set up for a plotline that Queen of Shadows will explore.

I may be wrong (or just a massive nerd), but I'm pretty certain that the witches 'three faced goddess' is a not to Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft. The detail of the worldbuilding is incredible. I alsolove how big the scope of Heir of Fire is, and it's pretty clear that Maas did her research when worldbuilding the witch society, as well as the rest of the world.

"Somehow, that regret made her feel incredibly, heavily mortal."

The third part of the story is about Chaol and Dorian. Both characters have their own separate storylines. I'll start with Chaol's. In Heir of Fire, Chaol is struggling to come to terms with the truth about Celaena, and with what his part will be in the oncoming war. He ends up aligning himself with Aedion Ashryver, Celaena's cousin.

I've read Heir of Fire three times now, and to be honest I've never really cared about Aedion that much. Don't kill me. But with this reread I like him a lot more than I did before and think his character is fantastic. Aedion has been forced to work for the king of Adarlan in shopping rebels in Terrasen, but really he's aligned with rebels. His one wish is to see his Queen, Aelin, alive one more time.

Even though Chaol works with Aedion, a lot of people don't like where his character goes in Heir of Fire because he's struggling to pick a side. Yes, Chaol acts like a twit for most of the book. I know that. I know he hasn't gone through as much, but I don't understand how people are hating on Chaol for taking a while to get his shit together whilst Celaena took much longer and did far worse things.

"He looked to his friend and said what he had always know, from the moment they'd met, when he'd understood the prince was his brother in soul. "I love you."

Now I've got that off my chest, I'll talk about Dorian. In Heir of Fire, Dorian is learning to deal with his magic, as well as starting a new romance with a healer called Sorscha. So many people don't like her and I simply can't understand why. She's brave and defiant and strong, even if she isn't as loud or hot-headed as Celaena. You can probably tell I ship her with Dorian. Sorian? Dorscha?

The last quarter of Heir of Fire reduced me to tears at multiple points. It's a book about worldbuilding, yeah, but really its a story of characters arcs. It sounds silly, being proud for a cast of fictional characters. But I am. For each and every one of them. Excuse me whilst I get laughed off the internet. But still, the last quarter was completely heartbreaking and amazing in so many ways. I can't even express how good it is.

I mentioned this briefly when I was talking about Manon, but Heir of Fire was filled with imagery that was just completely harrowing. I listened to the audiobook and read the physical copy at the same time (which was really weird, but something I'd recommend doing) and that really made me appreciate how wonderful the writing was. I'm still in awe. There were some scenes that effected me in a way I can't really explain.

"As one, they looked to the boxes, to all those jewels bought with the blood of a continent. And without a word, without a bow or another gesture, they walked off the stage."

If you want an answer to why this book, and Celaena, means so much to me it's probably because of that. It just effects (or affects? I never know) me on a level I struggle to comprehend.

Reading this review back, I can see it's kind of a mess. To be honest, I don't think it's possible for me to write a Throne of Glass review that's even remotely coherent. I should stop babbling before this turns into a ridiculously long example of misuse of the English language.

I guess all I want to say is that you should probably read this series.

“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”