Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5)

by Sarah J. Maas

• ISBN10: 1639731024
• ISBN13: 9781639731022
• Publish Date: 14 February 2023 (first published 6 September 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 21 January 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
• Edition: Adult hardcover edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 720
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kait ✨]

oh my god. i knew this was going to be amazing and still i wasn’t prepared for this book. so many feelings, so much left unanswered before the final book. but, a few thoughts:

every book in this series just gets better than the last. this was just BRILLIANT and Maas’ plotting was top-notch. the best part of these books is Aelin’s insane machinations & plotting and it just keeps getting more and more ridiculous but i’m with them 100%. i did not see any of Maas’ twists (and trust me, there are several and they are pretty huge)—it’s why i stayed up until 3:30 am finishing this sucker.

i thought for sure this book would take place entirely in Terrasen, but it doesn’t and i like that there was still a lot of build-up required before the big battle we all know is coming.

the ending was completely devastating, though it felt kinda Harry Potter- / Game of Thrones-esque to me at the end there when Aelin gets put in the box. totally sobbed through that part and if Rowan does not find her i will never forgive Sarah J. Maas.

while i loved the developments with Lysandra and Aedion, Lorcan and Elide, and Manon and Dorian, i also kind of don’t like how everyone is pairing off?? it just feels so neat and tidy and i feel like that could have been handled a little more subtly perhaps. speaking of ships though, i am 100% Team Rowan and have been since the beginnings of [b:Heir of Fire|20613470|Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460846511s/20613470.jpg|25128502] so the outcry about this book baffles me a little. i never saw Celaena and Chaol as endgame and that other people are still so hung up on that relationship is kinda confusing to me. i liked that they had some distance in this instalment. the echoes of [b:A Court of Mist and Fury|17927395|A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485259138s/17927395.jpg|25126749] in this book were maybe a little too parallel for my taste, but it’s a formula Maas does really, really well, and for now i like it okay???.

to me, this is an absolute triumph. part of me wants to be more critical but at the same time Maas’ plotting is so insane that i literally can’t stop to think about anything else at all when reading her books. she never takes a misstep with her books and after Empire of Storms, it’s clear the last book is going to be an insane little ball of explosive fire that will wreck us all.

anyway, my heart is in tatters and waiting till next September is going to be excruciating. BUT IT’S WORTH IT. over & out.

[Ashley]

I think this was my favourite in the series so far!! ♥

[tellemonstar]

Sweet baby Jesus I hate cliffhangers. But I loved this book. But now I really can't wait for #6.Although now I can start on A Court of Thorns and Roses.

[KitsuneBae]

This review also appeared on Wayward Kitsune.

Up to this moment, I am still at a loss as to what happened with Empire of Storms when Heir of Fire finally upped the game followed by Queen of Shadows that sizzled with so much amazing goodness. It was Maas’ momentum to finally steer the ship into the “fantasy” direction and then, Empire of Storms happened. Suddenly, I am at a loss at why Maas took the sudden turn towards erotica when we’re finally getting what Throne of Glass series promised us—a full blown fantasy with badass characters. Empire of Storms was still some sort of a satisfactory read but a fantasy book it is not. It was so fan-servicey—there was a lot of romantic drama in the book and a lot of ships and potential ones—that at some point, the real message of the book got lost on me.

I also hated the “The Queen That Was Promised” thing because it felt like a godawful parody of GRRM’s “The Prince That Was Promised.” Like why can’t we stick with the Fireheart stuff and had to resort with all these weird overly glorified names? The sex scenes didn’t fare any better. I mean, I’m really glad that Rowan and Aelin finally crossed the bridge instead of teasing us as to when they would do it, but for Pete’s sake, does the sex really have to be that weird? Is there really a need for lightning to occur and palm trees to be cut down from the sheer force of their orgasm? I know it’s fucking fantasy (fantasy erotica actually) but Maas is overstretching it. Yeah, it somehow reminded me of those dino/orcporn books, ya know.

The characters also kind of suffered from a personality makeover or worstover whatever you call it. Dorian. Dorian. Dorian. A favorite of mine and he’s now reduced to some bland, cookie cutter character that it was hard connecting him to the once vibrant and womanizing Prince of Adarlan.

Except for some parts of the plot, there were so many things in Empire of Storms that went wrong. The fucking length (seriously, if I’m gonna take out all the fillers in this one, a tree or two could have been saved), some overly dramatic and written parts, the can’t-suspend-my-disbelief sex scene, the numerous and unnecessary ships (just how many romantic affairs can you cram into one book, Maas?), the OMG-you’re-actually-my-mate-stuff (because ya know, Rowan and Aelin’s relationship was more meaningful when they got together after going through the hate-to-allies-to-friends stages than being with each other because they were fucking soulmates), and so much travelling (every POV character seemed to be suffering from a severe case of wanderlust).

Comparatively, Empire of Storms, is by far the weakest book in the series though it covered a lot of significant plot developments which I really enjoyed. But in the end, there was just too little enjoyment to make up for the pain.

2.5 stars

[neddieb]

WOW WOW WOW!!!! What a book. Great writing. Loved the storyline, the revelations, relationships, the story coming together!!!! I cannot wait for the final showdown in the next sequel.

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

Alright, I've been trying to wrap my head around my thoughts for Empire of Storms and I've been finding it a bit difficult.

I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this series. I wasn't the biggest fan of the first two books Throne of Glass & Crown of Midnight, but I fell in love with Heir of Fire and book four Queen of Shadows is my favourite so far. So Empire of Storms had a lot to live up to. Do I think it made the cut? Did I love it as much as I expected to? Did it surprise me? Well if you saw any of my goodreads statuses while I read this book then you may already know.

I loved:

I loved the point of view changes chapter wise. I really loved getting to see what each character was up to and how their story was going to converge with the overall story. Switching POV every few chapters kept me interested in the story and interested in each character.

I loved Elide's chapters the most. I guess because her story was really only just starting, she was fighting to get to her queen, she was bad-ass, and I actually just liked her. She was likable and I could connect with her.

There was a satisfyingly slow burn romance. I don't want to spoil who the romance was between, but I loved that it was slow burning. It wasn't a surprise at all but the characters didn't pine after each other, in fact they mostly hated each other until they started to understand each other. And even then, the romance crept up on them.

Mannon was still bad-ass but I loved watching her character growth. I've loved reading Manon's chapters the last few books. I've loved getting to see her change and grow, I definitely think Mannon is the character that has grown the most in this series. And while I think Maas planned it this way, I still really enjoy reading her chapters.

There were surprises that I really hadn't even thought of. Empire of Storms had a number of surprises. A lot of them felt like they were there to fill the story and to make something happen. However, there were a few surprises that I loved and were so intelligent that they blew my mind.

Maas is a very smart storyteller. Maas has clearly planned this series very, very well. She set things up right from the beginning, things that happened in earlier books suddenly only make sense now. It blew my mind and it made me respect Maas' storytelling skills.

The ending had me on the edge of my seat. By now I know how Maas likes to end her books. With a shocking surprise that no one could see coming, and a cliffhanger that has a few loose ends tied up but with just enough left loose that you still want to read the next book straight away. So while I wasn't surprised that the book was going to end with a cliffhanger, I was still surprised at how it ended.

Meh:

I couldn't connect with Aelin and so I did not like her. She became this near untouchable character that knew she wasn't really in any danger. I felt like she was never in harms way. I felt no connection to her at all and lost my interest in most of her chapters where we read her point of view. Am I crazy?

Aelin confided in absolutely no one. She kept too many secrets and it constantly felt like we were missing out on mostly everything Aelin was thinking, until the moment she revealed herself. We were completely blind and each new reveal was a surprise to everyone in the story, except Aelin. Nearly no other character had any idea what she was planning.

The story came together but I didn't like how 'planned' everything was. I didn't like that Aelin was barely ever surprised, because apparently she was able to think of nearly everything that could ever go wrong, and plan sufficiently for it. This bored me. I mean there were a few unexpected events, but even then I felt like Aelin had still planned that something might go wrong.

Dorian is meant to be a King yet he practically holds no authority, unless Aelin agrees. I really wanted Dorian to have more of a say, more authority, and more of a voice. He was so silent throughout the book, he just went along with the ride and tried to help as much as he could. We got to understand more of what role he was playing in this story, but he nearly felt like a different character.

Dorian's and Aelin's relationship did not exist. Where did their friendship go? Where did the love for each other go? Where was their connection? They barely looked at each other let alone talked to each other. Aelin saw him more than nothing but a pawn in her plans, I felt like when she was with him she did not respect him as a King at all. This bothered me a lot.

Nearly everyone is paired up. Yep. I mean it was nice and all, but it also felt too strategic.

I lost respect for Rowan. How? Well when we first meet Rowan, he's this bad-ass fae warrior who listens to no one. Well unless Maeve calls on his blood oath then he physically cannot ignore her. My point is Rowan was his own man, he was independent and was following his own path as much as he could. In Empire of Storms I felt all of that went out the window. I hate to say this but I really felt like he was Aelin's underling. He would do anything for her, and while it was nice that he loved her this much, it also felt like he lost his independence. He could do nothing without her, in fact he did not want to do anything without her. I feel so conflicted about this.

There was a lot of action but the story still felt like it was moving at snails pace. Is this weird to think? I felt like there was so much action and there was always so much going on. However, I felt like the overall story was relatively slow. Not a lot happened to make the story progress as fast as I wanted it to, the action actually felt like it delayed the story from progressing.

Did I love it or not?

Honestly? I've been feeling so mixed about this! There are many things I loved about Empire of Storms but also, there are a very many things that I really did not like. So I have to say that I did not absolutely love this book. But I also did not hate it.

I've thought about it and I've decided I actually really enjoyed Empire of Storms. I had fun reading it, I loved some characters more than others, and I was surprised at a number of times. However I do have to acknowledge that I did not love Empire of Storms like I expected I would, I cannot rave about how amazing this book is. But I definitely can't wait to see what happens next in book six.

Empire of Storms is a satisfying read, and also a frustrating read. It moves the story a long enough that book six can actually not come fast enough.

What did you think of Empire of Storms? Did you like it? Were you disappointed? Were you surprised? Did it live up to your expectations?

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

After a month, I finally finished it! Overall good book. Quite excited for the next one!

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

View on The Audiobookworm

4.75★ Audiobook⎮That ending gave me chills!

As my earlier reviews indicate, I didn’t start out as a huge fan of the series. For me, it was an acquired taste. I still have issues with it (detailed below), but I’ve made it this far and I seem to be enjoying each installment more than the last.

Empire of Storms is one of the longest audiobooks I’ve heard. 25 hours is a whole lot of listening, but somehow it didn’t feel like that at all. The first 20% or so was a rocky start. Maas creates incredibly complex worlds and doesn’t offer many “memory refreshers”. For those like me who don’t have spare time to reread previous installments before new releases, it can be rough. Like trying to remember how to ride a bicycle when you haven’t done it in years. It comes back to you eventually, but the beginning is still frustrating.

That has been my experience with every Maas book. Her world building and character development are excellent, but also a little too complicated. My only complaint (let’s take care of it now) is that it’s all just too much. There’s too much to remember. Too many characters and too many places. I consider myself fairly intelligent, with an adequate memory, but her books make me feel ridiculously overwhelmed. I’m sure super fans who eat, breathe, and sleep Throne of Glass have a very different experience, but for an average fan like myself, it would be nice if she lightened up on the pressure a bit and made things easier to follow along with from book to book.

Okay, now that’s out of the way, I’ll tell you why I still rated Empire of Storms so highly. Because it was freaking awesome. Diving back into this world was like pulling a blanket over my head and making the real world go away. Fantasy offers the best kind of escapism. I really feel like Maas is in tune with what her fans want and is more than willing to oblige. Which probably explains why she has so many fans! You can tell that she loves her readers, as well as her characters.

There were several milestone moments in Empire of Storms that I won’t describe (as River Song would say “Spoilers!”), but it was a unifying experience to know that everyone else reading this story was most likely “fangirling” right along with me.

By the way, I’ve vowed to start rethinking the way I categorize certain titles. If this is to be considered “Young Adult”, it is without a doubt “Upper YA". I’m not even sure anything Maas is a YA author. There tends to be age-related confusion surrounding that label. Maas’ series also tend to contain pretty graphic sexual content. I don’t know exactly where the line between YA and NA (New Adult) is, but I’m pretty sure this book toes it. Just FYI.

Narrator Review: Elizabeth Evans returned to narrate her fifth audiobook in this series. Her narration isn’t necessarily something I have acquired a taste for as much as the story. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s definitely tolerable and she provides passable character distinction, which is definitely better than none. I’ve heard samples of her narration for other audiobooks and I much preferred them. The tone she takes for the Throne of Glass series is hard and flat. She changes it up for some characters, but the majority of the audiobook’s narration is not pleasing to my ears. I get that she is probably channeling the feel of the story, but I wish she would soften her narration a bit outside of the dialogue. If I were rating the narration separately, I’d give it 4 stars. ♣︎

[Nessa Luna]

Warning: This review has spoilers in it for the previous books in the series. Proceed with caution. (There are also some spoilers for this book, but they're all tagged.

Damn, I've been bad at keeping up with reviews lately, so I thought I'd try to keep up by writing one for the last book I finished. Empire of Storms is the fifth and next-to-last book in the Throne of Glass series, and at the moment the biggest one as well. Throughout this series, we've followed Celaena Sardothien as she became the king's assassin, and on her trip to become who she was born to become - Aelin Galathynius, the true queen of Terrasen. But after defeating the king of Adarlan in the previous book, trouble is far from over for Aelin and her court. In fact, it has only just begun.

I was really scared when this book arrived at my house, because the last SJ Maas book I tried to read, I had to put away after a while. A Court of Mist and Fury ended up not really being what I wanted to read at that moment, and I have yet to pick it up again. Still, I started EoS almost immediately after it arrived, and I am glad to tell you I managed to finish it without putting it down for longer than a day.

Empire of Storms takes us back to the world of Erilea; where Aelin and her court are on their way to Terrasen. Also on her way there, is Elide, who escaped from Morath with the help of Manon and her Thirteen. Back in Adarlan, Dorian has to pick up after the events of the previous book. He is now officially the new king of Adarlan, but trouble is right around the corner.

Like with the previous books, EoS is written from multiple perspectives, and I do believe this works best for stories like this. Still, I would have loved each character to just have one POV chapter, and not for the POV to change halfway throughout a chapter. There are of course people who enjoy this, but honestly I still find it really annoying. I do now know all the characters who have POV's in this book, so that makes it a little more bearable, but I don't think another character/POV should be added in the upcoming book.

This book was full of action, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It didn't feel at all like a 700-page book, and there were only a couple of moments where I felt like not continuing for a moment which were the sex scenes. I knew they would be in there, and I was honestly hoping they wouldn't be somewhere in the beginning, because that was the reason I put down ACOMAF, but they weren't but other than that I really enjoyed this book. I was feeling a bit down while reading this book, and there were enough parts that made me sort of come back to life.

Please don't hate me, but I still don't like Aelin and Rowan, and I still kind of root for my ship to happen, though I now know that will just not happen anymore. But I don't know, I just don't like Rowan that much, at least not him being with Aelin. He's kind of grown on me as a character throughout this book, but yeah I don't feel anything at all when they have scenes together, sorry not sorry. It was such a shame Chaol wasn't in this book at all, by the way. I know he's hurt and on his way to the Southern Continent, but still I wanted to know how he is. I liked him being mentioned by several characters in this book, but I honestly hope we'll see more of him in the next book!

LET ME JUST TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT ENDING THOUGH BECAUSE SARAH WTF YOU DO THAT TO ME?! I knew this book would end in a cliffhanger, because I believe the previous two/three books did the same. But I had never expected this. And then all the people from the previous books showed up, like Ansel and those monks from the Red Desert and the prince from Wendlyn and I CRIED BECAUSE OH MY GODS.

Sarah's writing was amazing, as usual, and I honestly flew through this book. It's kind of made me want to give ACOMAF another try. I recommend this bookseries to everyone who loves Game of Thrones and YA literature. Because honestly, I think we can call ToG a sort of Young Adult answer to Game of Thrones, right?

My opinion in one gif:

[Kelly]

In her much anticipated fifth installment in her Throne of Glass series, Sarah J Maas has woven an immense storyline that will consume readers until the final page. Sultry and fierce, Empire of Storms was magnificent but it could have been extraordinary.

Aelin is tenacious, decisive and a fierce competitor. Throughout the series, she's grown into a leader among men while still maintaining a sense of humility. Her journey has been remarkable and her character forged by those who aspire for freedom. Aelin will need to call upon her allies against the dark forces that oppress her Kingdom while deprived of her title as Queen. While in previous installments I enjoyed the dynamic between Aelin and the Fae warrior Rowan, in Empire of Storms, Rowan was dispensable. He contributed scarcely throughout the storyline, discounting the sexual tension.

Elide is a character who I find intriguing and absolutely delightful. Having escaped imprisonment and aided by Manon, with only her senses and a token from the depths of Rifthold, Elide is determined to return home to Terrasen to assist her Queen. While being hunted, Elide and Lorcan form a partnership. Lorcan, Maeve's blood sworn Fae warrior has been deceived by Aelin but along their journey he begins to care for Elide. Although I wasn't an advocate for Lorcan previously, I enjoyed the tentative bond between he and Elide. She's intelligent, kind and thoughtful, while Lorcan is fiercely faithful and begins to understand Elide's harrowing journey that has forged the young woman she is today. I admired how their relationship was based on a mutual appreciation and although both characters are a complete contrast of one another, it felt authentic and I adore Elide for her courage and compassion.

Dorian is destitute. His Kingdom of Rifthold left devastated and in ruins, forcing the young King to retreat. Lysandra and Aedion have established a connection and while I adore Lysandra and her moxie, Aedion is incredibly tedious.

Manon is incandescent. My goodness how I love her character fiercely. Her character development has been magnificent and although I was hoping for a satisfying romantic interest for her narrative, she's a character that has transformed herself from cold, brutal and bordering on savage to a fierce young woman who is beginning to allow herself to experience emotion beyond the pleasure of blood lust. Her storyline utterly captivating. Manon and her Thirteen have been the salvation of Empire of Storms and I'm anticipating her own personal journey in the finale.

My affliction with Empire of Storms was the romance, primarily how it threatened to overwhelm the storyline. Each character has been allocated a potential love interest and given the circumstances, some seek solace sexually in one another. While I applaud authors who write sexually positive experiences, the scene between Aelin and Rowan felt farcical and left me longing for Chaol.

CHAOL.

The storyline foundations were absolutely brilliant, Aelin calling upon former associates and adversaries to amass against an empire of darkness and oppression. While her motives may seem narcissistic, Aelin will unite the Kingdom of Erilea. Beautifully written, Sarah J Maas wields words like weapons, intoxicating and enticing readers. I cherished Empire of Storms regardless and now eagerly await what promises to be the most anticipated finale in young adult since Mockingjay.

But you know, no pressure or anything.