She Would Bow to No One

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

Sarah J. Maas, Heir of Fire

I started off 2021 with something rather unusual happening, as it relates to my reading, and it was reading this book! For those of you who haven’t read this series before, this is the third book in the Throne of Glass series. I had absolutely zero intention of reading this book…and my TBR list is long enough, I didn’t need to add anything to keep myself entertained! And yet I’m glad I did, it was a solid 4 out of 5 stars for me, much to my surprise and delight.

So…what happened? Well, I heard really good things about the Throne of Glass series, and I picked up the first book. I was…underwhelmed. It was just kind of dull and almost formulaic. But the world building was good enough and my desire for Celaena (the main character) to be what she was billed to be was strong enough that I picked up book 2. And I barely made it through it. I wanted so badly for it to be better, but it just wasn’t.

I know, I just made reading book 3 seem super smart, right? Fortunately for me, I have a friend who shares my taste in books closely enough that I usually listen when she recommends things to me. We both read the first two Throne of Glass books at basically the same time and both felt the same way. But she pushed on and told me that it was so much better, so I (slightly doubtfully) gave it one more chance. And yay! She was right.

The tone, pace, and plot of this book were all different than the first two in the series. It follows Celaena as she leaves the king’s lands while heartbroken and perhaps just plain broken inside. This book is far more about building the characters than the weak mystery plots of the first two, and it was a relief to finally get to know the characters better!

Celaena has always been billed as a strong, if brutal woman. The kind of woman who can kill you incredibly efficiently, but deep inside has a heart of gold – conflicted gold, perhaps, but gold nonetheless. This book you finally get to the heart of her. It’s like the author finally decided they actually like the character, and is going to fully invest in her, and that allowed me as the reader to invest in her as well.

There is still an underlying mystery, a world at war, magical dealings, and intrigue at universe-altering levels. All of which I love, and because the characters finally became people I could root for, it made it all the better.

And Celaena isn’t the only one who grew more interesting during this third book in the series. The prince – whom I have really liked through the first two books but have also found impossibly confounding in his strangely conflicting actions – finally shows his colors. Chaol, too, although still somewhat wishy-washy and whiny finally takes a stand. Heir of Fire also introduces characters that weren’t in the first two books that add a tremendous depth of possibility and emotional entanglement. Between her new magical trainer, the queen of the fae, an unstoppable allegiance from her cousin, and an odd witch with tremendous potential for both conflict (and possibly unexpectedly saving the world in future books? Pure speculation on my part here…), the world became much bigger, broader, and more interesting.

The book was definitely a slow burn. But by the end of the book, I was ready to become part of Celaena’s court myself. I think every time I see a strong female character come into her own and finally say “Enough, now I’m ready.” I will cheer. She was absolute fire by the end, and I cannot wait to see her lay siege to the world in the next book.

Have you read the series? If so, let me know what you think!

Nuggets of Gold from Heir of Fire

1. Because what she represents, and what your son represents, is what you fear most: hope. You cannot steal it, no matter how many you rip from their homes and enslave. And you cannot break it, no matter how many you murder. – Sarah J Maas, Heir of Fire
2. You cannot pick and choose what parts of her to love. – Sarah J Maas, Heir of Fire
3. It would not take a monster to destroy a monster – but light, light to drive out darkness. -Sarah J Maas, Heir of Fire