the queen must return

In typical Sarah J. Maas fashion, the last hundred or so pages of this book were just as gripping as I hoped they'd be. One of the most gripping qualities of the book as a whole is the masterful juggling of three different storylines in three different settings. The serie's last installment saw Celaena on a ship set for Wendlyn, leaving Chaol, Dorian, and the remnants of what happened to her friend Princess Nehemia behind in Rifthold. We get to see Celaena (now unmasked as the true heir to the throne of Terrasen, Aelin Galathynius) come face to face with her truly unsettling aunt Maeve and train with a conveniently handsome, though grumpy, Fae warrior named Rowan. Meanwhile, Dorian's falling in love with a palace healer who happens to be (spoiler!) a part of the rebel movement that Nehemia conspired with. Celaena's cousin, Aedion Ashryver, makes an appearance at the glass castle, an intimidating figure who Chaol finds himself aiding in rebel activity. The third storyline seems entirely detached from the first two, but if I know SJM at this point, I know it will intersect wonderfully when the times comes. This setting introduces readers to fearsome Blackbeak witch, and eventual Wing Leader to the King of Adarlan, Manon. I can safely say she's my favorite character in the series so far: fearsome, beautiful, and seemingly unbreakable, she's a true force to be reckoned with. Though the disappearance of magic has caused her to age at a mortal rate, she is powerful, and does everything she can to win the War Games the king has set up to train Manon's coven and other witch colonies to eventually fight in his armies. I wasn't expecting to grow so invested in Manon's relationship with her underdog wyvern, Abraxos, but I love them as an unlikely duo. A lot of this book feels like filler for Celaena to understand and master the depth of her magical abilities she's had to keep under lock and key for ten years. With Rowan's often rough help, we see Celaena blossom until she is a true fire-wielding force to be reckoned with. Until she is ready to face the facts: her duty to stand against injustice as her peoples' queen is not a duty she can ignore forever. And it takes the king's frightening possession of demon princes, residing in mortal host bodies, to unleash the Aelin who'd been sleeping for a long time. I'm so incredibly curious to find out what will happen next: Adarlan's on the brink of war (especially after the king's order to massacre every slave in Calaculla and Endovier), Celaena is now in a blood oath with Rowan (will this relationship end up growing into something more?), Dorian has been trapped by the dark magic of the demon princes, grieving the death of his Sorscha, Aedion is locked in the king's dungeon, Manon is prepared to do what she must to serve the king and eventually take back her stolen homeland, and Chaol is in hiding, waiting for Aelin's return. I feel like all of that still falls short of everything that happens, because a lot happens. And I'm still a little fuzzy on exactly how Fae Aelin is; in other words, is she immortal, like Rowan, if she were to stay permanently in her Fae form, or will she always be mortal? I bought The Assassin's Blade and Queen of Shadows at Barnes and Noble yesterday and decided to continue the series by reading Assassin's before Queen per the suggestion of a friend who is a quite knowledgeable fan of the series. I'm very glad to find things picking up since Throne of Glass' slow beginning.



Some of my favorite quotes from Heir of Fire:

"You cannot pick and choose what parts of her to love."

"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."

"Witches didn't need blood to survive, but humans didn't need wine, either."

"He looked at his friend, perhaps for the last time, and said what he had always known, from the moment they’d met, when he’d understood that the prince was his brother in soul. 'I love you.'"

"These days, I am very glad to be a mortal, and to only have to endure this life once. These days, I don't envy you at all."

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