April 19-June 11

Celaena 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. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed


Review: The third book in the throne of glass has been my favorite so far I loved the storyline and the characters we meet some new ones . Maeve Celaena aunt , Manon a witch and Rowan a fey prince bound to Maeve by a blood oath and now required to train Celaena aka Aelin on her magic and they kinda butt heads . Meanwhile Chaol realizes aedion ashryver is Celaena cousin and he is working against the king and Chaol is helping him only to help Dorian . Dorian meanwhile strikes a friendship and a new lover with the healer she finds out about his magic and helps with tonics . Celena is having trouble with her magic but when Rowan and her almost get killed by skinwalkers she goes in her true form . Manon is an interesting character she is a witch who is forced to work for the king her storyline was interesting I liked her worm creature abraxos. Celaena training is going better she can go in and out of form we learn Rowan had a mate who was pregnant who got killed and he is still mourning her all these years . Celena and Rowan have been investigating the murders of Demi fey they discover its from a
creature by the word key the valg . Celaena fights them but they are feeding on her and her memories her pain but she accepts it and destroys them and her and Rowan become carranam. Rowan and her go back to Maeve to get information and Celaena barters with Maeve to release him from his blood bond with Maeve for a ring and she does it . But then Rowan and Celaena do a blood bond .The king ends up Killing the healer in front of Dorian and he puts a collar on Dorian. Chaol goes free but aedion does not .Celena is off to find the last word key .

Quotes

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”

And then I am going to rattle the stars.”


“Their hands clasped between them, he whispered into her ear, "I claim you, too, Aelin Galathynius.”

I claim you, Rowan Whitethorn. I don't care what you say and how much you protest. I claim you as my friend.”

That was when they noticed that every musician on the stage was wearing mourning black. That was when they shut up. And when the conductor raised his arms, it was not a symphony that filled the cavernous space.

It was the Song of Eyllwe.

Then Song of Fenharrow. And Melisande. And Terrasen. Each nation that had people in those labour camps.

And finally, not for pomp or triumph, but to mourn what they had become, they played the Song of Adarlan.

When the final note finished, the conductor turned to the crowd, the musicians standing with him. As one, they looked to the boxes, to all those jewels bought with the blood of a continent. And without a word, without a bow or another gesture, they walked off the stage.

The next morning, by royal decree, the theatre was shut down.

No one saw those musicians or their conductor again.”


She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius—­and she would not be afraid.

Chaol kept his sword drawn. “I will not go to Anielle,” he growled. “And I will not serve you a moment longer. There is one true king in this room—­there always has been. And he is not sitting on that throne.”
Dorian stiffened.
But Chaol went on. “There is a queen in the north, and she has already beaten you once. She will beat you again. And again. Because what she represents, and what your son represents, is what you fear most: hope. You cannot steal it, no matter how many you rip from their homes and enslave. And you cannot break it, no matter how many you murder.”

One of the reasons that I love Dani Collins is that her characters are so unpredictable. Val and Kiara seem to take that to the extreme. It's hard to get lost in the story when you don't like the characters very much, but I it is possible. A Hidden Heir to Redeem Him is a battlefield for secrets and heartache. Manipulation proves to be a constant theme. Emotions run high with ever page. Val is anything but hero material which makes him all the more intriguing. Kiara is more than a little naive when it comes to matters of the heart and that does a disservice to what could have been an interesting character.

I first read Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy when it was originally published in the early 1990s, and while I retained positive memories of the books I was content with leaving them as a positive reading experience in my memory. The release of Episode IX in the film series, however, led me to revisit what was once the “official” sequels to Lucas’ movies, to see how they measured up to my recollections of them.

Reading them after having viewed the trilogy that replaced them helped to deepen my appreciation for Zahn’s work. Faced with the stricture that he had to work with the survivors of the original film trilogy (something that unfortunately wasn’t imposed on J. J. Abrams as well) but benefiting from a lack of accumulated backstory to accommodate, Zahn creates an effective adventure filled with interesting characters and an enjoyable plot. At the heart of it is Grand Admiral Thrawn, the last great leader of the Empire, who five years after the battle of Endor is determined to rebuild the imperium. His most effective weapon in this effort is knowledge, particularly of the Empire’s secret resources and hidden information. Drawing upon that knowledge, he begins to challenge the New Republic in ways that threaten the existence of that fragile and overstretched organization, which has barely been able to start rebuilding after its years-long fight against Emperor Palpatine’s tyranny.

In Thrawn Zahn provides an effective main antagonist to his central characters. Yet it is the original trio of Luke, Leia, and Han that are at the heart of his novel. Here he benefits greatly from their development in Lucas’s films, which allows him to focus in his first novel on building up the post-Empire world and the characters central to his story. This includes not just Thrawn, but the insane Dark Jedi clone Joruus C’baoth, the calculating smuggler Talon Karrde, and the cunning and driven Mara Jade as well, all of whom went on to become fan favorites. Here they are introduced to readers in a way that hints at a clearly-defined past, rather than presented with undefined backstories that would be filled in randomly and in an incoherent manner. This is undoubtedly a reason why they became as popular as they did.

When combined with a coherent plot that could play out over the course of all three novels, Zahn provides Star Wars fans with one of the greatest stories of the entire franchise. In this he benefited from all of the advantages that I’ve described, yet it is a testament to his skills as an author that he took these elements and crafted them into a tale that balances politics, mystery, and adventure in ways that surpass most of the “canon” produced since. It’s unfortunate that so much of Zahn’s achievement in creating the post-Original Trilogy Star Wars universe has been undone by the later movies, especially considering how poorly they measure up to Zahn’s work. While turning Zahn’s novels into films was never possible, they certainly demonstrate how to do do Star Wars storytelling right.