Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3)

by Sarah J. Maas

The third instalment to the global #1 bestselling series.

As the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, Celaena Sardothien is bound to serve the tyrant who slaughtered her dear friend. But she has vowed to make him pay. The answers Celaena needs to destroy the king lie across the sea Wendlyn. And Chaol, Captain of the King's Guard, has put his future in jeopardy to send her there.

Yet as Celaena seeks her destiny in Wendlyn, a new threat 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?

This third novel in the THRONE OF GLASS sequence, from global #1 bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, is packed with more heart-stopping action, devastating drama and swoonsome romance, and introduces some fierce new heroines to love and hate.

• ISBN10: 1408839121
• ISBN13: 9781408839126
• Publish Date: 11 September 2014 (first published 2 September 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 September 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Bloomsbury YA
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[Ashley]

Second read: October 2017 / 5 stars

WOW! I enjoyed this so much more the second time around. I think for two major reasons:

1) The first time I read this, there was like a year between reading Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire. The second time I read this, I read Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, and Heir of Fire all back to back. I think not having a year long gap between CoM and HoF allowed me to enjoy HoF so much more. I was firmly in the zone of this series, if that makes sense. I wonder if I didn't enjoy it as much the first time because I'd forgotten details and just wasn't totally in the right frame of mind.

2) I think knowing what to expect helped me enjoy certain parts of the book. The first time I read it, I hated Manon's chapters. I just had zero interest in them. But the second time I knew they were there and tried to be more open minded about them. I gave them more of a chance and read them more carefully. I think I ended up really loving them as a result of that.



First read: May 2014 / 2.5 stars

This completely BREAKS MY HEART!!

Above all, I thought Heir of Fire was boring. :( The book was 569 pages long and for AT LEAST 400 of those pages I was bored out of my mind. Nothing was happening, just a lot of training, waiting, plotting, waiting, more training, etc.

Then, to make it worse (for me—maybe not you) there was ZERO romance. The romance was one of the things I loved most about Crown of Midnight.

Those first 400-450 pages were like a 2 star read for me. I started out kind of liking it, but I think that's mostly because I was waiting for it to get good and I so desperately wanted and EXPECTED to like it, so that made me kind of like it. But then that "pretending" fell apart and I realized just how bored I was.

Then, towards the end, things finally did pick up a bit and it was more like a 3.5 star read (maybe with glimpses of 4 stars here and there).

I'm so disappointed! :( I feel like I read this book wrong because WHY DIDN'T I LOVE IT?!?!

[Pigpen.Reads]

This had a very slow start. So much so, I had to put it down for a few months.
Once I got halfway through, it really picked up. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

[Rinn]

I received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

Are you looking for a magical fantasy series that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, wishing you could somehow teleport yourself to this fantasy land and live out your days frolicking with various mythological beings?

This is not that series.

Instead, it is a series that will draw you in, have you turning page after page long after you probably should have stopped for the night, cheering on Celaena, hoping that X and Y get together – and then it will tear your heart out and stomp on it.

When I first started Throne of Glass, I had high expectations that it most definitely lived up to, but I never expected to get so emotionally evolved. With Heir of Fire, I was more invested than ever and that meant that every little bad thing that happened actually hurt. The way that Celaena’s responses to grief were written were both wonderful and heart-breaking – I could feel her pain, her utter hopelessness. It’s not often that a book really grips me emotionally; I mean sure quite a few books have made me cry, but this was something else. Certain moments just left me with a hollow feeling in my stomach, a disbelief that they’d actually just transpired.

From the very beginning of Heir of Fire, Celaena was tougher than ever, and after the past two books it was no surprise that she was so much more bloodthirsty. I don’t want to describe my favourite scene because there will be some major spoilers in there, but my respect and love for Celaena as a character pretty much skyrocketed at that point, and with no other way to put it – she was a MAJOR badass. And with even more of Celaena’s history opened up to the reader, you can’t help but love this fierce warrior of a girl, with her determination and loyalty.

But it’s not just Celaena who is in the spotlight this time. I loved that we got to see the different points of view of Chaol and Dorian, as well as Manon – who I can’t wait to learn more about, especially to see how her story weaves into the bigger picture. Like Celaena, she was violent and determined, but in a huge contrast also brutal and vicious. I felt her chapters also gave the book more of a fantasy element than the previous two books.

It is books like Heir of Fire that remind me just why I love the fantasy genre. With some truly beautiful prose, heartbreaking moments as well as others that make you want to punch the air in triumph, Sarah J. Maas has done it again with this absolutely fantastic addition to the Throne of Glass series – and boy am I glad it’s not over yet.

Originally read and reviewed in September 2014 - re-read in May 2016.

[Katie King]

Not as good as Crown of Midnight. But I love Manon! Also, I got tired of hearing about Nehemia. I didn't feel like her and Celaena were actually that great of friends. Plus Rowan and Celaena were nowhere near Chaol and Celaena.

[neddieb]

Loooovvvveeeedddd this book. A little too long, but damn it was good! We get a better insight of that horrible night that Caleana' parents were killed.

More insight of Maeve her evil aunt.

I also enjoyed the storyline of the witches. It was interesting to read about the witches and their life. They are some cold hearted witches! Can't wait to read more about them.

The storyline between Rowan and Caleana, awesome!

Chaol, Dorian, and Aedion storylines are somewhat a little boring in the beginning, but it does get better and more interesting as the story progresses.

The ending of the the book, wow!!!! Can't wait to read what happens in the next books. It was action packed and fast paced.

Loved it!

[limabean74]

My Review:

I wanted to go into amazing detail with how much I loved this book and I loved the first 2 books, I even loved the novellas. I am not 100% sure what happened. I struggled through the first half of this books and was hoping for an epic second part but that wasn't what I got. It was interesting but just dragged by the time I got to about 75% the book it picked up and I was excited at the end and one point completely shocked. So when this was over I sort of felt lost as far as what to write in this review and what to rate the book. As much as I loved the addition of the witches and wyverns, I wasn't feeling the story between Celaena and Rowan, I understand that it was a build up to what I can assume will be an epic battle in the next book or two but the process was just way to long and at some point I kind of lost the point of why I need to know or really care at all. The POV switches was ok but as much as I missed Chaol and Dorian I just wasn't feeling what was going on with them either. **bangs head on desk** I really wanted to love this book but it wasn't my favorite.

I have every intention to read the next one in the series only because I LOVE this series and just because this book didn't have the WOW factor I was hoping for doesn't make me hate or abandon the series. I know a lot of people that found this slow and some that loved the entire book. I just believe this wasn't what I was expecting and the action in the first two book seemed to be lacking in this one.

If you read the first two books please don't not read this one, just because I found it slow and had gone in a different direction than I thought it would doesn't mean you wont like it, I think this is a total set up for the next two books so if you love this series like I do read this book!

This book sat at 2 stars for me until the second half then it sat at 3 by the end I only added a half because I loved the series. This is why I gave it 3.5 stars

Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my review

Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

3.5
For some reason, the first half of this was a little bit slow for me. I read a few books in between Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire and I think that's why it took me a little while to get back into this world and the characters. But at least I've learned to continue straight on with a series (whenever possible) for maximum enjoyment, which is why I started Queen of Shadows immediately after finishing this one. This installment was action-packed! The third installment in a series tends to be my favorite and this is no exception. I loved the change of scenery and introduction of new characters to keep the plot fresh. It's already evolved so much from the first book. Maas' world building skills are wonderful, in my opinion, and I've enjoyed her take on character development. Recent plot twists make me want to reread the first two books. I feel like I didn't enjoy them as much as I could/should have. Those saying that this series only gets better with each new installment are not lying!

Beautiful! Love the new characters introduced! Celaena is such a wonderful character, just wish she would be so self-destructive. But overall a great read!

[Sam@WLABB]

After I finished book 1 and book 2, I just couldn't wait to find out what happened next. My daughter had an ARC, and I have to admit, I was rather intimidated by the size of this book, but once I started reading, I had to keep going. I loved learning more about the Fey, and the magic, and Celaena's past. They way Maas conveyed Celaena's past brought tears to my eyes. I truly felt her pain and anguish. When Chaol bargains to have Celaena sent across the sea, he thinks it is for her own protection, when actually, this is such an important turning point for her. It was incredible to be part of this journey as Celaena finds her past, her purpose, and herself. Another great Throne of Glass book.

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

I love the previous books in this series. But I think this one has become the new favorite. We've seen Celaena fresh from the slave mines. We've seen her fighting to become the King's Champion. Fighting not to lose herself completely, and to save her friends. But we haven't seen her as broken and unmasked as we do in this book.

Here, she does a complete 360. From being so broken down and despairing all she wants is to die, to truly living up to the name of the book. Memories that have been alluded to in previous books, but never told play out for us in this one. We get to see what happened after she woke up in her parents bed that morning 10 years ago.

Quite a bit happens that I won't even touch on so as not to give spoilers. But this book was just about perfect. I love Rowan. I can see why so many people ship him and Celaena. And if Chaol doesn't get his head out of his ass and accept every part of Celaena, not just the parts he wants to accept, I'll be perfectly happy if she ends up with Rowan. I don't see that happening since Rowan found his mate and lost her already. But you never know.

Chaol spends a great deal of the book unable to make up his mind and stick to his decisions. He's conflicted about Celaena, because while he loves her, he can't seem to accept certain things about her. Like how 'easily' she kills, or the fact that she is really a Queen. He also has managed to all but sever his friendship with Dorian. The Prince having magic threw him for a loop, and while he says he's keeping his distance so as not to have anything Dorian's father can torture out of him, it does nothing but strain their friendship to nearly the breaking point.

Celaena does a lot of growing in the book. And so does Dorian. He moves on from his infatuation with Celaena, and falls in love with a healer in the palace that we've met in the other books. He turns into a man more worthy of the title of 'King' with every page.

And Rowan? He starts off as a near-silent, intense warrior. He believes Celaena to be a spoiled princess at first, and so he treats her with little to no respect. He expects her to earn her weapons as well as her title. When she lashes out verbally or physically, he easily strikes back. And along the way, they become friends. A closer friendship than she's ever had in some ways.

I also really liked Manon Blackbeak. So much so, that I'm keeping my fingers crossed she ends up supporting Celaena and not Dorian's father. Long shot there I know, but I can hope!

The ending is such that if you don't already own the 4th book, you will want to put off finishing this one until you do. But don't put off reading this one for long, it is AMAZING and you need to have it in your life.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon