Young Adult Book Review - Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass Book 3) - Sarah J Maas

Young Adult Book Review - Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass Book 3) - Sarah J Maas

Recommended for literally everyone. EVERYONE.

I received an ARC of Heir of Fire from Bloomsbury, in exchange for an honest review. I've literally just realised that I never posted that review (though I was convinced I had), so massive apologies to them, as I was so grateful to get to read it early. Letting the blogging world down there...

It's literally impossible to convey just how much I loved Heir of Fire. There hasn't been an author that has excited me as much as Sarah J Maas does in the past decade (or perhaps longer), and this was without doubt my most anticipated book of 2014. Was it also my favourite book of 2014? Hell yeah it was, and for me it's the best of the series so far as well.

It's also the longest, which can sometimes become a problem if you feel that the author is throwing everything they possibly can at you story-wise, rather than picking the most interesting and important parts (hello, ASOIAF...), but here it's needed to really tell Celaena's story of learning to harness her magic with the wonderfully uptight and mysterious Rowan in Wendlyn and beyond, whilst maintaining the danger that both Chaol and Dorian are in back home in Adarlan. The introduction of witch Manon is a welcome third storyline, as is the further exploration of the lore of the Wyrdkeys and Wyrdgates.

the main strength of the Throne of Glass series remains it's characters. I've never known anyone write dialogue that attracts me as well as Maas; it's snappy, realistic, and it's exactly how I wish I could write. Seriously, NO-ONE inspires me to write like she does. I've even written music for the series based on the feelings it stirs (currently at two tracks recorded but with plenty more written...www.youtube.com/bertass). I'm so completely engaged and wrapped up in this world that she's created that it really is hell waiting for the fourth book to come out. I need to know whether the feelings between Celaena and Rowan and just incredibly strong friendship or something more to come; I need to know whether Celaena and Chaol can ever work it out; I need to know just how Celaena is going to save the world and end the reign of the King of Adarlan; I need to know when it's all going to explode in one magic-fuelled battle orgy to rival anything seen in LOTR.

I also need to know when they're going to give the go ahead to the gritty television series starring Taylor Momsen as Celaena, because seriously, that's blatantly her on the cover.

New characters like Rowan and Aedion (pure bad-ass - Chris Jericho?) instantly belong alongside the established ones, building up this pantheon of legendary figures into one of my favourite literary casts of all time, with Celaena still at the head of it all. She would have united the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros by now, AND kept peace in Esos; she would have thrown the One Ring into Mount Doom far before Sam had to carry Frodo to the top; she'd just have given Voldemort the evil stare and he'd have crumbled, Elder Wand or none. To me, she's emblazoned in fantasy heroine law at the very top of everyone else, and I'm desperate to discover the next step along her fateful journey.

There isn't a single author that I recommend to the users of my library as much as Sarah J Maas; there's a whole new army of fans that I've managed to recruit because it's impossible for me NOT to gush about her work. I can feel my face light up and the passion start to brew as I find someone suitable to recommend to, and I'll continue to do it till I'm no longer breathing. If I make it to her latest book tour, I'm going to present her with a copy of all the music that she's inspired me to write for the series, and make sure she knows that without her, I wouldn't have picked up the fantasy trilogy that I started writing seven years ago, and be well on the way to completing it.

The Throne of Glass series is a complete must for any fantasy fans.

5/5

Thanks to Bloomsbury for letting me have an ARC of this, and apologies for the massive delay in putting up this review, which I thought I'd already done. I'm presuming that's why I was denied an ARC of A Court of Thorns and Roses, so now that I've apologise can I please have one?! Pretty please?!