The Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas

Description from Goodreads:

Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can't bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back...

The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king - for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?

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Oh my. That was some ride you gave me Ms. Maas! To be honest, the whole series so far has been quite an adventure and roller coaster of emotions: I liked the first book okay, I absolutely adored the second one, and the third one began phenomenally then reached this weird plateu phase which didn't work for me at all and then finally ended with a bang! I started reading this third instalment of Throne of Glass series when it was first published on September 2014. But guess what? I finished it on Februry 2015 i.e. it took me ages to finish the book! Silly me. I let few slow-paced chapters get to me.

In fact, those a bit more slow-paced chapters weren't even boring - they were fascinating. Maas clearly uses the third book as a means to build up the plot, and introduce new characters who most likely will have major impact on Celeana's life at one point (one way or another). We were introduced to Manon Blackpeak (the heir of Blackpeak witch clan) and Rowan Whitethorn (an elite Fae warrior). While I found Manon to be an interesting character especially due to her brutal witch culture, Rowan was something else. I have always had a weakness towards male Faes and elves. They are often depicted as these determined, wise, and having a no BS attitude. Besides, they are usually very beautiful and elegant race. Rowan, specifically (yes, he's smouldering, but also) seems really aloof and cold, but of course there's always the other side to the coin..

There were multiple point of views besides Celeana's in Heir of Fire. Even though at first I didn't mind the interruptions to Celeana's storyline too much, I quickly became to realise that her chapters still were my favourite. I actually started to count pages until the next Celeana's chapter which admittedly took away some of the enjoyment (which was totally my own fault). Chaol, Dorian, Sorcha (a healer in the Glass castle in Adarlan), Manon, and Aedion (Celeana's cousin) got their own voice heard, and so allowed the readers to know what sort of things were stirring in different parts of the land. I really wanted to like the other point of views, which weren't boring per se, but just lacked that spark that Celeana's narrative always brings. 

But I have to admit that Maas has an amazing imagination. I still can't comprehend how she comes up with these amazing storylines and twists, creatures and cultures. It would be pretty great to see what kind of timeline she has made for the whole series, going back to the events that weren't included in Throne of Glass or The Assassin's Blade. I love the fact that Maas doesn't give away all her goodies in one splash, but sparingly gives them away to the readers who of course are always hungry for more, me included (in the front of the queue). For instance, in Heir of Fire we get a peek to Celeana's past before her time as an assassin which I find really intriguing though heartbreaking too.

I have to admit that Heir of Fire was completely different than what I expected it to be, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good novel. Just different, as the setting and the additional point of views weren't something that I was expecting. The third book once again included action, adventure, thrill, and anguish just like the first two books even though the romance aspect wasn't as prominent as  in the previous books. I personally didn't mind it. I think Celeane needed the alone time to recover from the tragedies that have been hitting her since her childhood, also from her previous lovers, in order to gain some footing on already unsteady ground. I'm 101% sure that the fourth book is going to amaze  us readers, just like the third one, and I'm eagerly waiting to be surprised once again!

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