Synopsis: Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.
While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?
Rating: 6/5 StarsMust read! Must have! Must buy! Must fall in love with!
Genres: High Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Previous books in the series:
Recommended for: fans of Shadow
& Bone, Hunger Games, Grave Mercy, The Girl of Fire & Thorns, Cinder,
Graceling, Game of Thrones
My thoughts:
"Enemy. Lover.
Queen."
Queen."
Heir of Fire is undoubtedly one of the best books I've ever
read. It certainly will be my favorite book of the year. It is gloriously long
and kept me occupied for an entire day (night hours included) making me crave
to find out more, but also stop reading so that the book won't end just yet.
You think
you know Celaena from reading the first two books, right? Oh, but you're so so
wrong. In this book we see her more than broken, relentlessly blaming herself
for the fates and deaths of her beloved ones. She takes down her every shield,
leaving nothing behind to shed her emptiness threatening to shatter her from
the inside out. I believe this was her turning point, the true crossroad in her
life, making her see, accept and embrace all that pain, regret and
self-loathing she carefully kept hidden inside her soul, etched into her dire
and gruesome memories.
“You collect scars because you
want proof that you are paying for whatever sins you've committed. And I know
this because I've been doing the same damn thing for two hundred years. Tell
me, do you think you will go to some blessed Afterworld, or do you expect a
burning hell? You're hoping for hell--because how could you face them in the
Afterworld?”
And gods,
what memories and past. We are able to witness how she became Celaena
Sardothien, how her life changed forever on that fateful night ten years ago.
But by facing all that sorrow and darkness, she's making a stand. She's slowly
becoming a queen, one more powerful and deadlier that you could ever imagine.
Her
character development is phenomenal, because through her new experiences she is
stronger, wiser and more determined. Her fierceness was awe-inspiring and I
loved that she's still the same stubborn, snarky and brave young woman, maybe
with her ego a little bruised. She's not proud of who she's become, abandoning
her kingdom and not fighting for rebuilding it for the past ten years, but
she's ready to throw herself into battle to win back her land. To say that
she's badass would be an understatement.
Celaena
makes the transition from assassin to queen with the help of Rowan, a Fae
Prince and my favorite new addition to the series. Not that he is so eager to
help, but in order to find answers about the Wyrdkeys and how to destroy them,
she has to be worthy of entering Doranelle, the land where Queen Maeve awaits
her to answer her questions. May I shout something? I LOVE ROWAN WHITETHORN. In
the beginning, he's infuriatingly patient and stubborn, brooding and secretive.
But when he opens up? And when he actually smiles?!?
Laughs?? Scrap me off the floor cause
I am hyperventilating.
“Gods, he was brilliant. Cunning and wicked and
brilliant.
Even when he beat the hell out of her. Every. Damn. Day.”
Even when he beat the hell out of her. Every. Damn. Day.”
He's an
alpha-male in all his glory, with the kickass moves that would bring Celaena's
to shame. He's scary and intense, protective and defying, caring, but lethal
when it comes to his enemies. Rowan is the no-nonsense type and I was glad
there is finally someone who doesn't put up with Celaena's bullshit. She throws
a verbal punch? He throws one that will leave her with a black eye for the
entire week. But they develop a friendship and something so important on the
intimate level (not talking about romance) that it will warm your heart to
realize that our girl finally has someone to fully rely on. No secrets, no
barriers, no judging left between them. They would die for each other, kill for
each other, fight for each other. And when they work together, as a pair, as a
team, they're astounding and terrifying.
“I claim you, Rowan Whitethorn. I
don't care what you say and how much you protest. I claim you as my friend.”
Dorian
Havilliard is the same swoon-worthy, sentimental, humble (yet a bit arrogant as
well) young prince. He will win your heart regardless of the "team"
you're in, because in the end he stands up to his father in a glorious way that
had me cheering for him. He is way more mature, weary of everyone and
everything and you can see him becoming a true worthy king right before your
eyes. A lot of heartbreak and despair was in store for him and I guarantee it
will all leave you in a pile of overwhelming feels.
In addition
to his wonderful character development, Dorian is moving on from Celaena. And
I'm not sure I like who he's moving on with. Heck, I don't like that he's actually
moving on. Makes the whole Dorian/Celaena shipping a bit harder. But truth be
told now, as much as I was against his new lady Sorscha, I was glad he got a
little happiness and support to fight his growing loneliness, worries and
magic. And you want to know why? Because freaking Chaol Westfall pretty much
abandoned his friend when he needed him the most.
Yeah, you
read that right. Dedicated, loyal, selfless Chaol was so unable to make up his
damn mind that I was uncounsciously pulling my hair. I was very much irritated
with him until the very end when he came to his senses. In the aftermath of Crown of Midnight, his friendship with
Dorian is left in shambles and things don't get prettier in this book. They
grow estranged, but I'll give it to the captain that he has only the prince's
safety and freedom in interest. But keeping secrets, judging, not being able to
accept Celaena's and Dorian's powers -- all these things make me wonder if he
has any shot left at our heroine's heart, because whereas Celaena would always
pick him, Aelin would not.
“As for Celaena,” he said again, “
you do not have the right to wish she were not what she is. The only thing you
have a right to do is decide whether you are her enemy or her friend.”
We meet
awesome warrior Aedion Ashryver, Celaena's cousin and childhood best friend.
He's all deadly smiles, muscles and wild behavior. Aedion is daring, clever and
doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but himself. Or so they say. But he's
dead set on taking down the King of Adarlan from the inside. When he finds out
Aelin is alive, he makes it clear that he would move mountains in order to see
his true queen back in Terrasen. He's loyal, determined, skilled and I hope he
reunites with Celaena sooner rather than later, because he is in a pretty bad place
at the end of the book.
"A cry went up from the witches, save for
the Thirteen—who stayed cool and quiet. They did not need to cheer, for they were
immortal and infinite and gloriously, wonderfully deadly.”
Another
addition to the newbie characters is Manon Blackbeak, heir of the Blackbeak
coven of the Ironteeth witches and leader of the Thirteen. The witches play a
big role in the King's newest and darkest plans by being the riders of the
wyverns he has created and Manon wants nothing more than to lead them into
battle as Wing Leader. She wants to prove herself and although she is a
bloodthirsty, wicked creature, I completely loved her. She's by no means a
villain, just a different kind of heroine, firm and unyielding, with great
ambition. Her encounters and silent dialogues with Abraxos cracked me up,
because in that moments you could glimpse (besides the wyvern's total
awesomeness) how Manon starts believing there's a chance she has a heart and
soul and that her grandmother's rules might not be the best to follow. 
“Witches didn't need blood to
survive, but humans didn't need wine, either.”
The King of
Adarlan is still the biggest bastard I've had the (dis)pleasure of reading. I
loathe the guy with every fiber of my being. He is wicked to the core,
manipulative and selfish to no end. No, not just selfish, but greedy. Greedy
for everything and anything, exactly like a monster. And what he did at the
end, to my poor baby Dorian, made me wish that once Celaena comes back --
because she will come back -- she won't kill him. Oh no, I want her to keep him
locked in a basement, to visit him everyday and torture him until he breaks,
only to do it all over again the next day, because killing him would be too
much of a mercy for the deeds he has done.
The other
secondary characters were very well developed: the Ironteeth witches, Ren
Allsbrook, Emrys, Luca and Maeve -- they were a testimony to SJM's awesome
writing skills. And I might add that for me the writing style was slightly
different. Improved. Better. More realistic, if you wish. There was a certain
ease with which she used words that enchanted you completely. Plus, the
swearing. I don't mind it one bit, but am I the only one that noticed it
appeared more often than in the first two books? Matured characters, matured
world, matured language, I guess.
The
atmosphere is darker and the pace is thrilling, allowing you to breath for a
bit before another near-death encounter or epic battle starts. The
world-building was another winner, as we were able to see Wendlyn, Doranelle,
the Ferien Gap and Adarlan again. We learn about the past, we meet Queen Maeve
(who's quite a manipulative bitch), we run from terrifying creatures and we
accompany Celaena as she masters her powers.
There isn't
so much romance in the air, besides Dorian's story, because it's the last thing
in our character's mind. And honestly, I don't really know who Celaena is going
to end up with. Chaol still has issues with her and Dorian is currently viewing
her as his friend, but things could still drastically change since there are 3
more books. It seems that even Aedion, her cousin, might have a shot since he
wouldn't deny anything his queen would ask of him. And then there's Rowan who
I'm not sure will actually have a romantic involvement with Aelin, but it's
worth hoping for -- they would be unstoppable.
“He would not apologize for today, or
yesterday, or for any of it. And she would not ask him to, not now that she
understood that in the weeks she had been looking at him it had been like
gazing at a reflection. No wonder she had loathed him.”
Plot wise,
you could say it's action-driven, but I beg to differ: the character
development plays a part as big as the twists and turns and fights. It sure
keeps you at the edge of your seat, courtesy of Sarah J. Mass' amazing writing,
and makes you shudder at some new evil creatures or at the violence, but I
basically view Heir of Fire as
Celaena's healing journey, one necessary to fully accept her legacy.
“So you’d save another land, but not yours. Why
can’t your friend save her own kingdom?”
“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!”
“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!”
The Throne of Glass series slowly becomes a
younger version of Game of Thrones
(with less deaths, but keep in mind that there are worse fates than death...)
and I couldn't be more happier. With the same complexity, a gut-wrenching
intensity and an amazing world, Heir of
Fire brings out the big guns: twists, emotional punches, tearjerkers and
amazing characters, not to mention the wonderfully built world. It's definitely
the best one from the series yet and a total game-changer, so don't be
surprised if it will keep you enthralled from start to finish. Fantasy to its
finest, a story with heroes and monsters, Fae and humans, life and death. Read
it the second it hits shelves, cause you won't be disappointed (unless you're
the type that can't stomach the idea of enduring another year for the next book
and to whom I recommend waiting a bit longer, because there is one hell of a
cliff-hanger).
ENJOY! ©
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