Heir of Fire by Sarah Maas

By now you know that Nehemia died, Dorian has power and Celaena is half-fae and is Aelin Ashryver Galanthynius, heir to the throne and rightful Queen of Terrasen.

Last time we saw Celeana she was leaving for Wendlyn. The King sent her there to kill Wendlyn's king and his heir and also steal the navy and military plans of the kingdom. Little does the King of Adarlan know that it was Chaol's intention for Celaena to hide among the Fae on that part of the world. Misguided as that might be, Chaol wants to protect Celaena because her being half-fae makes her life more in danger than before.

Celaena, on her part, wants to take this opportunity to seek out Queen Mauve of the Fae. She was hoping to get answers from her on how to destroy the Wyrdkeys because Queen Mauve had been present when the Wyrdkeys were wielded. The problem is the Fae look down on half-Fae, so Celaena is not really that safe in Wendlyn either.

When she met the Queen the latter told her that she cannot enter Doranelle until she proves that she is both gifted and worthy. Queen Maeve is interested in her power, her ability to summon and manipulate flame. In the meantime, she is to train under Prince Rowan and it is him who will gauge if she has conquered her power. During her training she is to live in Mistward, a place where half-faes live while waiting to be deemed worthy to enter Doranelle.

In this book we are also introduced to the witch clans. We know they exist from meeting Baba Yellowlegs before. But this time, we get a peak on their way of life. Particularly, we follow Manon Blackbeak and her Thirteen. Unlike the usual portrait of witches, Manon and the Thirteen are very beautiful but these women are ruthless and dangerous. When the part of the witches focused on Manon, I thought that she will have a big role in the series. I don't know yet is she is friend or foe to Celaena. I wish she will be a friend because Celaena needs all the powerful allies she can get.

You do not apologize for defending the people you care about. - Rowan

Rating: 5 STARS

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Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

So magic is again being used in Erilia - the dark, evil kind. Celaena discovered this when she the spirit of Elena, the first Queen of Adarlan, engaged her help to destroy it. I guess that's no longer a spoiler anymore since that was part of the first book :)

We also know by now that Celaena chose Chaol over Dorian. I do not support this decision, I don't get Chaol's appeal to Celaena. I find him boring and a stickler for rules. I am not sure if he will break his oath to protect the king and the kingdom even if it means saving Celaena from harm or death. And in this aspect, I am a little irritated with her. She made her decision to be with Chaol, but she can't bear the thought of Dorian with other women. Ugh! I guess even the greatest assassin will still act like any other girl when it comes to boys. But it cannot be denied that she and Dorian do have a connection, it may not be enough for her to fall in love with him though. But who knows, the series isn't over yet.

Celaena, as the King's Champion, has to do his bidding which entails killing anyone who stands in his way. Every now and then she would be given a name to kill under the pretext that some crime was committed against the king or the kingdom. Of course Celaena does not blindly follow the King's orders, she doesn't indiscriminately kill people (well, not anymore). Instead of killing them right away, she would interrogate them on why the King wants them dead. And always, the accusations are not true. Then she would give them some time to settle their affairs and secure passage away from Adarlan. She then found ways to make it appear that she killed that person.

Celaena continued to search for answer as to the dark magic that Elena referred to. However, in doing so, more questions are raised than answers found. And it was discouraging Celaena. She was one foot in and the other out with this plan to overthrow the King. For her, it was futile to fight him because he cannot be defeated and she doesn't want to risk her life and the lives of innocent people in rallying against the oppressive monarch. I guess she is just tired of violence and simply wants to live a life of peace. I don't blame her though. She grew up in a life of violence, her being trained by the king of assassins. She later because an assassin herself and was subsequently held the best assassin in all of Adarlan. So I understand if she wants to sit back and not join the fight.

However, I believe that she has to take an active role in stopping the King's reign of terror. I agree with Nehemia when she said that "[t]here can never be any peace - not while he reigns." I believe that as long as he is the one who rules, there will always be fear, terror and intimidation because that's just how he is. That's the only way he knows how to rule.

Two major revelations happened in this book. One is kinda predictable and the other not so much. I don't want to spoil things too much so I will leave it to you to discover what I am referring to. All I can say is they are the good kind and it levels the playing field a bit.

Hide from fate all you like, but it shall soon find you. - Baba Yellowlegs

Rating: 5 STARS

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I love everything about this book! I love that the main character is a female assassin. I like that there's magic and mystery involved in the plot. I like reading novels that are set in a place that the author imagined in his or her head and put it into writing.

The story is set in Erilea, a kingdom ruled by a cruel leader. He suppressed all those who might question the legitimacy of his ascent by conquering their land and banning all magic.

Celaena Sardothien is the heroine in this story and she is my kind of girl. She's an eighteen-year old girl trained by the Arobynn Hamel, the King of Assassins, who later earned the reputation of being Adarlan's most notorious assassin. Aside from her lethal skills as an assassin, Celaena is also attractive and smart (she loves to read!) which she uses to her advantage in being an assassin. I like her because she's badass. She can fight for herself and is not afraid to take on men who are bigger than her.

Her being attractive and smart is what drew Prince Dorian's interest to her. I like them together.  They both like to read and Dorian makes an effort showing how special she is to him. But there's Chaol, the Captain of the Royal Guard. Some thing is there too. I know they are more compatible and maybe a better fit. It will be complicated if she ends up with Dorian, him being royalty and all the complexities that goes with that.

The king is holding this tournament to choose his Champion whose job description is to assist him in dealing with people who are proving to be difficult to handle and Prince Dorian has chosen Celaena to be his contestant in the competition.

The competitors of the tournament started dying under mysterious circumstances though. Celaena suspects that magic is involved but couldn't figure out how that is so considering that magic is banned and all that practice it have been killed or went into hiding.

Though I'll admit that I didn't quite see this coming. And... no matter how frivolous and twisted that competition was, I'm grateful it brought you into my life. As long as I live, I'll always be thankful for that. - Prince Dorian

Rating: 5 STARS 

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