So it's no secret how excited I was about the third installment of the Throne of Glass series - I've been telling almost everybody know that It's Nearly Out. I loved Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight, at a recent book signing I learned just how lovely Sarah J. Maas actually is, and Heir of Fire promised to be just as wonderful. The ending of the previous book made me desperate to know more... but it's finally here!
Plot summary: Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien's only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan's Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King's Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan's biggest threat - and his own toughest enemy.
While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?
Heir of Fire doesn't have the same sense of instant gratification that was present in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight - I wasn't instantly hooked and didn't feel the same need to keep desperately turning pages that I'd felt before. It's not that it's bad or anything even remotely like it; it's just that all the characters had separated and gone off with new characters that I didn't know or care all that much about. I wasn't really interested. And I don't like fairies. That doesn't help.
It just didn't feel like part of the same series. The most interesting sections were those about the Ironteeth witches and the wyverns, which is a new plotline unique to Heir of Fire. Incidentally, I'd happily have read that story as a separate series - it's really interesting and quite dark.
My final complaint about the beginning of Heir of Fire is the complete lack of recapping. It took quite a while before I could remember what vow was made to who and which battle had happened when, etc. It may be an idea to skim a plot summary before picking this up, unless you happen to have your ever-suffering mother present to answer every irritating whiny question you have about the previous books. Which I did.
However. The book picks up remarkably quickly after about 25% or so. As in the previous books, there is some beautiful prose and some parts that really affected me. It always irks me to archive these books under the 'Young Adult' review section because some of the twists involved in this story are brutal. They're clever and shocking in a way that I've never seen done before, but it's hardly fluffy YA. Oh, and the attention to detail deserves a mention as well. Certain tiny, trivial events happen that break your heart and make you let out a little gasp. Or that might just be me.
She would not let that light go out.
She would fill the world with it, with her light - her gift. She would light up the darkness, so brightly that all who were lost or wounded or broken would find their way to it, a beacon for those who still dwelled in that abyss. It would not take a monster to destroy a monster - but light, light to drive out darkness.
She was not afraid.
I was a bit disappointed that there's little development of Celaena and Chaol's relationship, which was the thing I loved the most about the previous series (which is surprising for me). I did enjoy her friendship with Rowan, although it was slightly 'Insta-Friend' at one point. However, I much prefer to be teased with the hint of a relationship than have it rammed in my face like some YA books are wont to do.
While I enjoyed learning more about Celaena's past, I actually found that all the best parts (in my opinion) didn't involve her in the slightest. Which is odd, but there you go. There's nothing wrong with her but there was just so much going on elsewhere!
Heir of Fire ended up being just as amazing as Throne of Glass and Heir of Fire. The slightly slow beginning meant that it wasn't quite as good overall, but I finished the page with exactly the same desperation for the next book in the series. I'd actually thought that this was the final installment, but apparently not... I'm just happy Sarah J. Maas writes so quickly!
This is going to be a very, very difficult book to review. The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of those books that is possible to enjoy almost in hindsight - I found it quite heavy and almost inaccessible at points, but then the ending was so damn perfect that I'm dying to read the sequel. Looking back, it's possible that I'd enjoy it more now that I know where it's headed and how well it develops.
Plot summary: They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.
Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.
Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.
But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.
The story actually reminded me of The Way of Shadows series by Brent Weeks, only with a more formal tone. Locke and his friends together form The Gentleman Bastards, a small gang dedicated to pulling elaborate stunts and ruses to do what no other criminal will - steal from the nobility. They make an interesting, perfectly balanced group: Locke is the mastermind behind every one of their escapades, Jean cannot be bested in a fight, Calo and Galo are a set of super sneaky twins and Bug is their errand boy, slowly being initiated into the trade.
I genuinely believe that a strong set of friendships can make any book. Royce and Hadrian in Theft of Swords, or Sparkhawk and Kalten in The Elenium series by David Eddings. Even Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in the Lord of the Rings films. When a bond between certain characters is so strong that it's almost tangible, it makes the reader so much more invested in everything they do.
The Lies of Locke Lamora is perfect, in that respect. I found the characters flat and lifeless for the first two thirds of the book but when the narrative began to reveal how they all interlinked, my opinion of the book as a whole went way up. They don't really start to take shape until this point, but afterwards they're some of the best characters I've ever seen. They work together so well and I can't wait to rejoin them in the next book, Red Seas Under Red Skies.
The world-building is unbelievably well thought-out, but it almost goes too far in the opposite direction. The plot is broken up by interludes, which are basically just lengthy, long-winded essays on the city's history shoved in for background information. That's fine in theory, but they're really frequent and usually not necessary or relevant at all. By two thirds of the way through, I'd stopped giving them my full attention and just skim-red.
It's also very jumpy time-wise. For example, we might jump in to the middle of a stunt, then go back to the preparation of the stunt, then back to the middle and then way back to travelling to the stunt. I understand that it's necessary sometimes, in an Ocean's Eleven-style, 'this is how we did it' kind of way. It's just too convoluted and sometimes it's difficult working out when/where you are as the time shifts aren't always clearly noted.
I keep referencing the two thirds point of The Lies of Locke Lamora, I know, but it really does feel like everything changes at that point. I'd struggled to get in to the story, the plot was bogged down by description, the characters were flat... it wasn't great, to be honest. But after that point... wow. It becomes a truly amazing novel. All the problems with it were magically fixed and I didn't want to do anything but sit there and read it.
I bumped up my rating from three stars to four, just on the strength of the ending. It's perfect. Clever and perfect. It's one of the best-written (and perfect!) endings I have ever read. I finished it at 2am and just had to sit there and process everything that had happened. I obviously can't discuss it too much, but it hit me hard in several different ways.
To conclude, read The Lies of Locke Lamora but STICK WITH IT. It is hard going for a while but I promise that it does pay off. It could do with being 100 pages or so shorter (by condensing the interludes, perhaps) but the wonderful characters, enthralling plot and perfect ending easily made it one of my favourite books of 2013.
It's rare that a second book is as good as the first, but Sarah J. Maas has more than accomplished this. I read Throne of Glass last year and completely fell in love with the characters, the plot, the style... everything that contributed to making that book the masterpiece that it was. It's pretty much accepted that the second book in the series is just a filler, just something to build up the tension until we can read the finale, but not so here. Crown of Midnight is an unbelievable story that only adds to what was begun in Throne of Glass.
Plot summary: Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful – the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the King’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. The slavery of the suffocating salt mines of Endovier that scarred her past is nothing compared to a life bound to her darkest enemy, a king whose rule is so dark and evil it is near impossible to defy. Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her heart to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates, or risk sentencing those she loves to death. Celaena must decide what she will fight for: survival, love or the future of a kingdom. Because an assassin cannot have it all . . . And trying to may just destroy her.
Sarah J. Maas is an excellent author. By this, I don't just mean that Crown of Midnight has an okay concept or that her characters are mildy acceptable... instead, every part of both of her books has been pretty much perfect. I don't give praise like this lightly (I'm a natural criticiser, if I'm honest), but it really can't be avoided in this case.
The story is is unique and attention-grabbing, the characters are loveable but believable and even the prose itself is beautiful. Sometimes YA books can have a slightly childish, stilted tone, but this flows as well as any adult novel. It takes skill to pull you back in to a story you left eight months ago, but I was hooked again by the second page.
Part of what I enjoyed about Throne of Glass was that the romantic sub-plot was very, very minor. I loved that the focus was on the action and Celaena herself. Here, the attention has shifted slightly to bring the romance forward and to utilise a lot more magic than was present in the first book. Obviously the previous installment involved magic, but here it's a lot more prevalent. It changes the tone of the book slightly, but not in a bad way - it's just more fantasy-esque than before.
The romance... argh. Other authors should learn from Sarah J. Maas. Because the romance was so minuscule in the first book, I ended up caring so much more and was actually grateful when it was brought up again in Crown of Midnight. It's perfect. So gradual and lovely. Events That Shall Not Be Mentioned almost broke my heart though - I put the book down and it took me a long time to pick it back up again, just because I didn't want to believe what had just happened. I could have slapped Celaena for some of the decisions she makes.
I think that's the essence of what I'm trying to say here really, other than fanatic ravings. I truly cared what happened in this because because it's written well enough to make my imagination believe that this story is really happening. There are certain... things that need to be fixed, and I swear I'm not going to sleep until I've read the third book and I know everything is okay. I need that.
The only aspect that didn't completely click with me was Nehemia, who I felt was a little too preachy to be likeable. Now that I think about it, perhaps her friendship with Celaena was a little rushed as well. I would have liked to see their frienship develop gradually, instead of instantly becoming besties (first and last time I've ever used that word, I swear).
There's a big twist in the end that I didn't like exactly, but I didn't see it coming and it does fit the story, so I don't resent it too much. Again, it's rare that I like that particular... topic (for want of a better word), so it really must have been amazing for me to accept and enjoy it.
Everyone, this book genuinely couldn't be any better. It's perfect for fans of all genres of all ages with all tastes. This is an astounding sequel to Throne of Glass and I'm already desperate for the third installment.
