Heir of Fire: 3 (Throne of Glass)

5 Flaming and fiery 4 stars for Heir of Fire and the best in the series so far. Immersive, captivating and oh so satisfying. Why? Well this one was all about the character development which made a refreshing change but still accompanied with all the beautiful fantastical storytelling, intriguing world building and cleverly plotted events and threads to the story. A continuation of the dark fairy tales that I feel addicted to but am now having to pace because I am running out of SJM books. The Plot - Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King's Guard sends Celaena away to fulfil her destiny, but not as friends - this is a lovers to enemy parting because Celaena holds him responsible for the death of Nimena and not supporting her against the King of Adarlan. Nevertheless, Celaena is on a voyage of discovery that is likely to turn her into one of Adarlan’s toughest enemy. A threat and a woman with a grudge, but then there is an interesting twist. Landing in a new world, Celaena’s powers, prowess and fighting skills appear very ordinary, because here we see “the greatest assassin” (a cheesy title I must confess) made to look very ordinary and flawed. And so, under the watchful eye of Rowan (drool) she is to be trained, weaponised but not just in the fighting arena but also in life, attitude, and in her mind. Review and Comments - I am enjoying Fantasy because it is total escapism!!! Where the imagination has no boundaries - with its magical worlds, dark storylines, and half human characters but with some very real themes of power, greed, love, and betrayal. Then we are dished up ‘Heir of Fire’, with superb character development in the main character Celaena that made this book a cut above the rest. 6 ⭐ for superb character development which was the essence of this book 5 ⭐ for the storyline and world building that just keeps coming in this series 5 ⭐ for the action packed fast pace 5 ⭐ for the writing style that is magical and effortless The universal themes of Love and lust, war and power, friendship and betrayal continue to dominate this magical kingdom created for us to enjoy, experience, and love, and I did love this ‘flaming’ great book.

I can safely say Heir of Fire is my favourite of the series thus far. It was so much fun, so much more than I had anticipated. Honestly, I cannot begin to explain all of the feels I’ve been left with. Even though I know this review will end up rather lengthy, I fear I will forget to mention some things. I really do have that much to say, it really did leave me feeling so much. I don’t even know where to start. So many things, with no idea of where my starting point will be. Due to this, I apologise if the following review seems to jump around somewhat. After finishing the second book, Crown of Midnight, I wasn’t overly crazy about where things were going. I enjoyed the second book and yet everything seemed far too predictable. I still wished to see where things were heading, but I feared there wouldn’t be much by way of surprise. I had this terrible sensation that the series would be like every other young adult fantasy series out there. Fortunately, my fears were ridiculous. This book turned out to have so much more than the two prior books, bringing together so much and leaving me at a whole new level of excitement about where things were to go. This book continued in the same way of Crown of Midnight, continuing to deal with the aspect of the first book that I wasn’t crazy about. Our main character continues to grow into her role of assassin, showing us why the first book was filled with so many references of how amazing she truly is. More importantly, for me, was the way people reacted to her. This time we have views that are more in line with how I feel towards her. People were sceptical of her role. People questioned whether she is as great as she claims. There is still the underlying aspect of her being so much better than everyone else is, but this time we get to see more of her. The second book showed us – to a degree – her role of assassin, and this third book showed us how some people deal with her role of assassin. In fact, through giving us a whole new cast of characters we got a lot of new fun interaction to watch. Personally, I adored the new cast of characters. They offered us so much more, in terms of both the people we are following and the storyline. They were all a lot of fun. Some grew on me more than others did, but I enjoyed where each of their storylines went. They all opened up so many different aspects to the overarching story, each promising something new for the future books. Moreover, through having the characters in difference places it meant they were all given an equal amount of attention as the chapters changed from one to the other to keep us in the loop of what was going on. Through flickering from one character to the other, however, it did mean the story was quite slow in places. The slowness has been a consistent throughout all of the books, though, so I wasn’t as bothered about it as I could have been. In fact, through the regular changes of perspective the book felt quicker than the prior books. There were still some moments in which the story felt as though it was lagging, but it was to a much lesser degree than the last book. Furthermore, the romance wasn’t as overbearing as it was in the prior books. There was more focus on friendship than romance, which was nice to see. There was still romance to be seen, but it wasn’t screaming in your face on every single page. Mostly we dealt with the emotions relating to what had happened in the prior books, hence the focus upon friendship rather than romance. There were some annoying aspects relating to the romance, but I was so happy with how much the focus had declined allowing for the characters to develop so much. Honestly, there really was so much development in this one. The characters all develop in so many ways – both the old and the new ones introduced to us – ensuring that the story moves forward. There really is so much promise as to what is to come in the future books. We’re given so much information, so many questions are answered, and yet we’re still left wanting more. We have ideas of what is going on, we know certain things will come to pass, and yet there are still so many possibilities for the future. For me, this really was the strongest book so far because it gave so much. Characters. Story. Promises for the future. Development of the fantasy aspect. Compared to the first two books, this was such a strong four star read. The first two books were four stars, but low to mid four stars. Book three, on the other hand, is a strong four star. I was so pulled in, completing it in less time than it took me to finish either of the first two books, finding myself unable to put it down. Everything meant something. Everything worked. It really was wonderful in so many ways. The trepidation that had developed when reading Crown of Midnight has evaporated. Heir of Fire has left me positive that this series is worth the hype. This one has left me so excited about what comes next. I need to know where the story heads next. I need to know what plays out for the characters. I really cannot put into words all the promise in this book. There really was so much. I know I’m missing out so much of what I want to say in this review – but it was just so good. I want to share each and every feeling, and yet to do so I know I would start getting too specific. It’s too good to go into specifics. You just need to read it, to experience it, and then you will understand. As I’ve said already, my favourite thus far. I have high hopes of what else is to come.

perfecto

Brilliant series

This is one of the my favourite books in the series, the other one being Queen of shadows. I love the training arc, the further works building, and more secrets that continue to get revealed.

Capitolo stupendo delle saga di Calaena/Aelin, Sarah trovo che sia una scrittrice favolosa, sa come intrecciare le emozioni dei personaggi con l'azione e lo svolgimento della storia. Consiglio assolutamente questa serie partendo dalle prime storie di Calaena e consiglio , sempre di Sarah J. Maas la serie "A Court of Thorn and Roses", il secondo libro della serie e pura magia.....!

Forcée de partir pour Wendlyn, Celaena laisse tout derrière elle : Dorian aux prises avec son nouveau pouvoir qu'il ne contrôle pas, Chaol et ce qu'il représente pour elle, le roi et ses manigances sinistres avec les Wyrdmarks, le mystère des Wyrdkeys… Elle fait face aux terres des Fae, là où la magie est toujours présente et où résident les réponses à ses questions. Ce troisième tome de la série Throne of Glass est incontestablement à la hauteur des deux premiers, si ce n'est même mieux ! Une grande partie du roman est consacrée à l'apprentissage de Celaena, son rite initiatique, en quelque sorte, pour enfin s'accepter telle qu'elle est. Trois nouveaux personnages font leur apparition, et ils jouent un rôle clé. le premier est Rowan, ce Fae au service de la redoutable Maeve, reine des Fae. Dans un premier temps il est assez antipathique, dur et sans compassion envers Celaena, et il s'adoucit finalement pour devenir son meilleur allié. On découvre également Manon, héritière du clan des sorcières Blackbeak. Elle n'est clairement pas du côté des humains, qu'elle dévore avec grand plaisir à pleines dents, mais c'est un personnage que j'ai trouvé extrêmement intéressant. A travers elle, on plonge dans un autre aspect de l'univers créé par Sarah J. Maas, celui des sorcières et de leur culture. Je sens qu'elle va jouer un rôle primordial dans les prochains tomes. Le troisième et dernier nouveau personnage est Aedion, le cousin de Celaena. Il est surnommé The Wolf, et joue un double rôle depuis des années, tuant au nom du roi d'Adarlan mais oeuvrant en secret pour les rebelles, pour le retour de la reine légitime de Terrasen : Aeilin. Tout comme Rowan, il m'était assez antipathique au début, mais quand on découvre la profondeur de son amour pour sa cousine et ce qu'il est prêt à faire, il est plutôt attachant. De leur côté, Chaol et Dorian sont plus développés. Ils n'évoluent plus par rapport à Celaena mais par rapport à eux-mêmes et leurs convictions personnelles, ce que j'ai beaucoup apprécié. Cela les rend beaucoup plus supportables ! Chacun des personnages évolue de manière très visible dans ce roman. le plus marquant restant Celaena, qui devient Aelin en s'acceptant enfin totalement. J'ai particulièrement apprécié pouvoir enfin connaître les événements traumatisants qu'a vécu la jeune femme 10 ans plus tôt. Cela répond à beaucoup de questions et permet de mieux comprendre pourquoi elle en est arrivée là. Encore une fois, Sarah J. Maas nous livre un roman incroyable. Elle maîtrise tous les éléments de son histoire et sait nous les révéler à petite dose, créant à chaque fois stupéfaction et fascination. L'univers se complexifie et on comprends de mieux en mieux ce qu'il se passe, les pièces du puzzle se mettent en place, jusqu'au final qui m'a laissée sans voix, et très heureuse d'avoir le tome 4 sous le coude pour savoir ce qu'il se passe ensuite !