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Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

21/08/2014      8 Comments

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. MaasHeir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #3
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: four-half-stars

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?

I don’t even know where to begin with this review. Just. What. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I wasn’t a huge fan of Throne of Glass. It was good, it was enjoyable, but it was also pretty forgettable. Then Judith forced Crown of Midnight on me, and my interest in this world and the characters was suddenly sparked. I requested Heir of Fire because I thought if it was at least on par with Crown of Midnight, then I couldn’t go wrong. But it blew Crown of Midnight out of the water, and is definitely the best of the series so far.

While Heir of Fire is less action-packed than Crown of Midnight, it has the quiet build up and slow burn that I enjoy almost as much as action sequences. Three quarters of the book novel are one giant build up to an explosive ending, and while I was reading my stress levels kept getting higher and higher.

Because I had grown to really like Celaena in Crown of Midnight, I found myself growing to adore her in Heir of Fire. Gone is the average and cliché girl from Throne of Glass; Celaena is now on her way to becoming a queen and she is amazing and fabulous and badass.

We learn a whole lot about Celaena’s backstory and her family in Heir of Fire, and oh my god, it broke me. Her story is one of the best out there, and it’s what really sold her to me because I was able to understand what happened to her and why she is the way she is. It was beautiful, and some of the scenes made my heart break.

Now I’m going to dedicate the rest of my review to Rowan and Celaena, because I have been holding out on you all. And so has Maas, who clearly had this character and his relationship with Celaena planned pretty early on. Basically, Rowan is the best character in the whole series, next to Celaena. He starts off being pretty closed off, and slowly starts to open up more and becomes more approachable and accepting, and yet at his core he doesn’t change. You just get to know him better.

And the way Rowan parallels Celaena… Oh my GOD, I could write entire essays about those two because PARALLELS ARE MY THING. Back when I was in the Vampire Diaries fandom, I would squeal about parallels all over the place, and then the same thing happened with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Basically, all the best couples have parallels, and Rowan and Celaena have them in droves. And they’re not even romantic! (YET. YETTTTTT.)

I was a Celaena/Dorian shipper in the first two books, but when Heir of Fire happened I quickly switched teams. For several reasons, really, but mostly because Rowan and Celaena compliment each other so fucking much and I cannot deal with the feelings I have for them.

In Heir of Fire, Dorian and Chaol are basically non-existent to me in comparison to Rowan and Celaena. The book was all about the latter pair, with their growth and relationship and everything. Dorian gets a new love interest, which felt pointless and cheap, and Chaol continues to question my mighty queen and make an asshat of himself. The two of them looked like children compared to Rowan and Celaena, and so I paid hardly any attention to them.

There are other new characters who were introduced in this book that are going to make the game interesting later on. There’s one new character called Aedion who showed a lot of promise because of his similarities to Gannicus (Spartacus TV show. Watch it.), but he didn’t really go anywhere by the end of the book. I still love him more than Chaol though. Ha. There is also Manon, who got really interesting towards the end and who is going to be AWESOME in the sequel(s), I know it, and Sorscha, who was dull as crap and not my kind of character at all. Why was she there?

Things you should take away from this “review”:

  • Rowan is the best thing to ever happen to this series
  • Celaena is a QUEEN
  • If Rowan and Celaena don’t become a thing then I will sob into my pillow for eternity
  • Chaol is pointless and can go jump off a cliff
  • ROWAN AND CELAENA ARE OTP
  • Chaol/Dorian would also be a legit ship if the two didn’t seem terribly immature compared to Rowan and Celaena.

I hardly ever share my favourite quotes from books, but I have decided that it’s necessary in this case. BECAUSE CELAENA IS AMAZING. Maybe don’t read these quotes unless you’ve read the book because there are loads of them and you should experience them in context first.

“It was the Song of Eyllwe. Then the Song of Fenharrow. And Melisande. And Terrasen. Each nation that had people in those labor camps. And finally, not for pomp or triumph, but to mourn what they had become, they played the Song of Adarlan.”

dead

“I claim you, too, Aelin Galathynius.”

feels attack

“It was a message to the world. Aelin was a warrior, able to fight with blade or magic. And she was done with hiding.”

atla dead

“And then Celaena set the world on fire.”

yeahhh

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

saved us all

“All of it- all of it for him.”

afsggj

“To whatever end.”

i ship it

“And then I am going to rattle the stars.”

snow weeping

“She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius- and she would not be afraid.”

oh my god i need help

I… may have gone a little overboard. But it’s fucking amazing, you guys. *sobs*

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Judith says

    21/08/2014 at 4:12 pm

    4.5 STARS OH MY GOD THERE’S A BRANCH IN MY EYE DON’T LOOK AT ME

    Celaena is a khaleesi I love her so much it hurts

    I can’t handle Celaena and Rowan. They are soulmates, no matter if they end up together romantically or not.

    I was going to comment more but oh my god those quotes have killed me there are so many tears

    Reply
    • Amber says

      23/08/2014 at 11:50 am

      IS THERE ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE?

      They had better end up being together romantically because after that I don’t think I can handle C going back to Chaol or ending up with Dorian. They’re children in comparison! AND SHE IS A QUEEN.

      Reply
  2. Amber @ Fall Into Books says

    21/08/2014 at 7:02 pm

    Your review is interesting. Most people (myself included) loved Throne of Glass, liked Crown of Midnight, and liked Heir of Fire a bit less. I wasn’t blown away by this novel, but I definitely agree with you about Celaena and Rowan. I really loved their relationship. Great review!

    Reply
    • Amber says

      23/08/2014 at 11:51 am

      Haha, I’m obviously the opposite of the norm in this case!

      Reply
  3. Natalie Crown says

    22/08/2014 at 10:49 am

    UGH

    (TVD REFERENCE….PARALLELS WERE MY JAM)

    Reply
    • Amber says

      23/08/2014 at 11:52 am

      I spent so long looking for and talking about parallels *cries*

      Reply
  4. Mishma @ As the page turns says

    24/08/2014 at 6:54 am

    I am jealous of all the people who’ve already read the book.I live in a country where buying YA books is so hard and if I find a recently released YA book in a bookstore,it would be like finding the holy grail.
    Yours is actually the first review I’ve read of this book,and I am quite shocked.I didn’t expect that there would be a new love interest for Celaena.I am a huge Chaol lover,so maybe I will be heartbroken when I read the book.
    But still,seeing how much you love Rowan and Celaena together,I have some hope that I’ll love them as well.
    Great review,Amber.

    Reply
  5. Taile says

    10/09/2014 at 5:37 pm

    😀 I just finished Heir of Fire… *cries*
    Did what I think happen at the end to Dorian actually happen? I haven’t see a lot of mentions of it so I’m allowing myself a little hope.

    Reply

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