This is a really hard review to write. Heir of Fire was my most anticipated book of last year. After 'Crown of Midnight' which is one of the best books I have ever read I was DYING to get my hands on this book. When I finally got it, it took me a month or more to get through. I figured I would savor it because if I rushed to finish I would be whinging because the next one wouldn't be out for a year.
Initially, I gave it a five star rating but didn't review it. Manon Blackbeak's storyline alone was worth five stars. Some of it was very moving. This is my favorite fantasy series. I've reread the other books more than twice. I started reading them all again this month. On a re-read of Heir of Fire, I have come to the conclusion, it is just not as good as the other books. Its very long winded.
Second time I read it I read it in just under a week. Its certainly better reading it all together and quickly. But it was just...boring. For the most part hardly anything seems to happen. Celaena is one my favorite fantasy heroines and its her snarky arrogance that I love the most about her. In this installment she drove me up the wall. Yes, she has been through some truly terrible things. Its certainly shaping who she is as a person. But for christ's sake woman, stop bloody whinging! I just wanted to slap her for most of this book.
She's been sent across the sea to Wendlyn where the Fae live. She's going to obviously learn about how to control her powers and come to deal with yet more of her tragic past. Though the more terrible things keep happening to her, the less sympathy I'm feeling for her. The other thing I don't get is the fangirling over Rowan, the Fae warrior who's sent to train her. All they do is bitch at each other. Though it was fairly entertaining to see Celaena get knocked off her high horse more than a few times.
Back in Adarlan, Dorian's still struggling with his magic and gets involved with some random healer and has an affair with her. It seemed to be a need to get him over mooning about how he could never make it work with Calaena. The King is still brutal prat. Chaol is dealing with having to go back to Anielle and the fact he sent Calaena away which turns out might have been the stupidest thing he's ever done. He gets involved with the rebellion to return Aelin Galathynius (I don't think I've spelt that correctly) to the throne. But Chaol of course knows who Aelin really is and where she is.
Meanwhile there's a side story about the Iron Teeth witches training beasts called Wyverns. Something to do with the King of Adarlan wanting riders for the Wyverns. Introducing the delightfully wicked Manon Blackbeak. The witches are all just...evil. Brutal. This was the most interesting storyline. Great tension building. And none of the witches were likable in the slightest. They are bad through and through. And I kind of can't wait to see what happens when they come into contact with Calaena and her possy.
Despite the fact that I found Celaena's training story to be very dull, it did pick up towards the end as her relationship with Rowan develops. Its thankfully not a romance, more of a friendship and trust thing, which does become very moving. There was some wonderful emotional build up as Celaena finally gets her head out her ass and stops wallowing in self pity and steps up to the plate. There are some truly horrific things that happen thanks to evil Adarlan King prat, which kick her into gear.
Then a rush of action towards the end which makes me remember why I love Celaena so much. Some of it was bleak, but so well written the emotion moved me to tears.
This was not a particularly brilliant installment, I can see why the things that happened in this novel happened the way they did, even if it was very slow for the most part. It feels like a filler. Even so, I am still highly anticipating the next book in the series.
Fire on Cover or in Title square for Summer Bookish Bingo 2015 challenge
Silver Lettering for Story Sprites Round 1 Challenge
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