She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.
Celaena Sardothien 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. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.
The king's assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.
The Review
In this third installment to the Throne of Glass series, we see a plot that centers around the character development of its main characters, both old and new. Celaena has arrived in Wendlyn under the guise of an assassination attempt. Her heart has other plans though and we see a shattered girl who has been to Hell and is still trying to crawl back from the pit. There is little fight left in her and I found myself in tears more than once looking at the shade that had been a spitfire I'd come to love. Her depression rattled me to the core and I grew afraid for this woman who has so much weight upon her. How much could she expected to take? When would she break and stay broken? How much damage could she handle before she gave up? Dorian, sweet Dorian is also suffering. Suffering from the loss of two of his friends and witnessing the brutality of his father, struggling to keep his magic hidden, we see a Dorian who has no one left to trust. Chaol all but abandoned him, partly to protect his prince and partly because his heart is broken. Dorian becomes close to a woman who makes him happy, but the cost is much greater than I expected it would be. She helps him learn to smile again and to hope for a better world. He's forced to conceal his magic in a heartbreaking solution in a bid for time. Chaol is a prick. There, I said it. The once noble Captain of the Guard throughout the majority of this book damned Celaena for being who and what she is. I'm forced to question whether the love they had for each other was ever real or if they were kidding themselves the entire time. It isn't until he is forced to choose a side that he does, but there are costs for this as well. I only hope that he answers for what he's done in the next installment. Celaena meets her aunt Maeve, Queen of the Fae in Wendlyn and is tasked with proving herself worthy to enter her kingdom for answers. The Queen is ruthless and holds many enthralled where she uses them in any way she sees fit to. We meet Rowan, the fae prince who is responsible for training Celaena to embrace her heritage and the magic that she is ashamed and afraid of. The progression of Celaena is why Heir of Fire is my favorite so far. Yes, she's broken and battered; yes, she has nothing left to fight for. But she gets up again and again and again. Slowly, painfully she learns that is no monster and the only way to save herself and the countless of others is unleash her power and claim what is hers. Rowan is brutal, he pushes Celaena to that breaking point but ultimately, they become friends, allies and I do hope that they become something more. Manon is an Ironteeth witch whom, along with the other two clans are chosen to be the King of Adarlan's aerial squadron. Initially, I didn't like this aspect of the book but the more I read the more interested I became. Now I hope that she overcomes the cruelty she's known since birth. The scenes with wyverns are the most epic in the book, and I love that they are probably NOT what the king wanted them to be. To wrap up, there are dragons, evil mind-controlling collars and so much character development and darkness that I was weeping. Seriously, I cried and cuddled with my cat. I've read other reviews from people who didn't like the style Maas used in Heir of Fire but I kind of loved it. Getting to see what was going on internally with all of these amazing and awful people was pretty great, especially seeing first-hand what happened to Celaena; the love of her parents, her insane magic, and her heritage. The king is clearly about to unleash an incredible evil on Erilea the likes of which hasn't been seen for centuries. The one salvation is that I'm pretty sure Celaena can handle her shit.
