Best of the Month: March 2015: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #3)

Celaena has left Adarlan, traveling to the overseas kingdom of Wendlyn on a mission for the king to assassinate the country's crown prince. Of course, that's only part of the reason she's traveled so far from the palace. Chaol now knows Celaena's greatest secret, and he has gone to great lengths to ensure that she is as far away from the man who murdered her family as possible.

While in Wendlyn, Celaena is found by a fey soldier named Rowan who takes her to Celaena's aunt, the fey queen Maeve. Maeve wants to see what her niece is capable of, but Celaena knows that there is a reason her parents never introduced the two of them. However, Maeve may have the answers that Celaena is searching for about the wyrdkeys, so the assassin is inclinded to stick around for a while. Maeve agrees to help Celaena on one condition. If Celaena wants answers, she will have to train, learning to use her powers. Maeve wants exactly what Celaena does not: The monarch wants her to seize her rightful throne. Reluctantly, Celaena agrees to stay and hone her skills, trained by Rowan.

Meanwhile, Chaol and Dorian have plans of their own back in Adarlan. Dorian feels betrayed by Chaol for not telling him about the plan to send Celaena away, but he two have bigger worries. Chaol is digging into the king's past, trying to discover how he managed to stop all magic in the realm. To do so, he will have to enlist the help of Aedion, a general who resents the royal family. Dorian is trying to harness his magical abilities and keep them hidden from his father. The king has schemes of his own, raising a terrifying army of witches to fight for him. And over it all, the people are beginning to fight back. A rebellion is brewing.

Celaena's character development was a bit concerning for me. She has become very depressed, and it's painful to see her wallow in so much self-loathing. I think Nehemia's death really pushed her over the edge, and she blames herself for her best friend's death. No amount of revenge and crying seems to have done her much good in the long run. Even more disturbing is that she has zero hope. Celaena just wants to be left alone, and she doesn't care about anything anymore. It hurts to see such a strong character treating themselves so harshly. Celaena doesn't want her throne because she thinks it will tie her down, and I get that. I'm not so sure she would be an amazing queen. She wants to be free, and she would hate sitting on a throne all day.

Chaol and Dorian aren't as important in this installment, and I didn't see a ton of development with them, Dorian in particular. He sort of gets pushed out of the spotlight this time around in the story. Chaol is still loyal to Dorian, but I wouldn't say they're really friends. Between everything that happened with Celaena and all the secrets they're keeping from each other, such as Dorian's powers, it's hard for them to work together anymore. I miss the little team they had, although I think Celaena really completed them, and she's gone now. Dorian strikes me as frightened, feeling like he doesn't really have anyone to confide in with his powers. I hope they play a bigger role in the next book.

Aedion is the first new character. He's actually Celaena's cousin, and you can totally see the resemblance! Like Celaena, he's clever and a born leader, but he can also be insolent and obnoxious, like when he's tripping Dorian into a rosebush. He hasn't forgotten the slaughter of his people all those years ago, and he certainly hasn't forgiven. Aedion is very angry about what the king has done, and while the king uses his anger to try and control him, I think he should be more carefull. Aedion might snap.

Rowan and Celaena have a interesting relationship. Rowan constantly pushes Celaena to be better, sometimes being very hharsh when she's not good enough. Either he doesn't understand what Celaena's going through or he doesn't care, because he's only making it worse. I dislike him for that, and I wish that he would be a little kinder. Rowan is actually a lot like Celaena, which is one reason they might not get along. He's very antisocial and blames himself for the death of a loved one, closing himself off from other people and generally being as sour as a granny smith apple. Of course, much like an apple, he's good for you in some ways, and Celaena's powers do increase under his watch. By the end of the book, they have a sort of grudging respect for each other, and they constantly throw insults back and forth without having any real venom.

One of my favorite new things about this book was the witches. The witch who's POV is in the book is named Manon. She's a little sadistic and enjoys other people's fear. The witchs are possibly some of the most scary people in the book. There are three tribes. The Blackbeaks are the most alarming, being disciplined, obedient, and ruthless. Blackbeaks have a strong handle on their emotions and will to anything their leader orders them to do. The Yellowlegs are also violent, but they're less disciplined than the Blackbeaks and are a bit headstrong. Even when one Yellowleg lashes out at a Blackbeak rival, they aren't really punished, just scolded. When that happens, they don't learn and the fights between the tribes continue. The third and final tribe is the Blueblood tribe. The Bluebloods are religious and distance themselves from the rest of the tribes, keeping to themselves. They are a bit lofty and, on the surface, appear more laid-back than the other two tribes. I think they scare me the most sometimes, probably because while they don't seem very violent, they are no doubt capable of being brutal and are just better at hiding it from their fellow tribes.

The POVs rotated between Celaena, Chaol, Dorian, and Manon, which helped me get a better sense of everything that was going on and the characters' emotions. The addition of the witches was interesting and helped the plot thicken, while the witches themselves are chilling and characters to tread very carefully around. The plot had tons of action, and I loved watching the rebellion slowly build. There's just something awesome about knowin that it's coming. The ending of the book was a huge cliffhanger, I have to warn you, and it was shocking! I was totally swept away by the suspense, magic, and action in the book, and the ending left me desperate to get my hands on the next Throne of Glass novel. 5/5 stars, easily! While some people are saying that this is the final book in the series, it is not. (Thank goodness!) Book four is called Queen of Shadows. If you haven't read Throne of Glass yet, I highly recommend it to any fan of fantasy and adventure.

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