Heir of Fire currently holds the spot as my favorite of the Throne of Glass novels. I mentioned in my review for Crown of Midnight that this series feels like a completely different story from Throne of Glass, and I definitely still stand by that. This series is slowly starting to fill itself with so much magic and fantasy elements and I’m really here for it. There was a lot to enjoy about this book, but I think the most important thing so far is that none of the elements from books one or two, have been forgotten. So far everything that has been brought up has proven to be important somewhere along the line.

There wasn’t anything too wild about the plot in this book, it is honestly just a lot of filler and character development, with some twists scattered throughout to keep the story from dragging. Thankfully I’ve always believed that well done filler never hurt anybody, and I think everyone knows by now how there are few things in books that I love more than a solid character arc. So despite the fact that 75% of this book is unimportant, I still really enjoyed it. I want to clarify that the slowness of this book doesn’t mean that anything that happens is unimportant, it is just that the events of this story feel very disconnected from what happened in book 2, and what I expect to happen in book 4, aside from the fact that the events in this book push the character development. I think that everything that happens here is important to get our characters into the places where they need to be (both mentally and physically) for the series to continue.

Heir of Fire is broken up into three different sections. We have chapters with Celaena, chapters with Dorian and Chaol, and chapters with a new character, Mannon.
Chapters featuring Celaena started off the same way they always do, and by that I mean I was annoyed with her character until she has one of those moments where she remembers what she is capable of and pulls it together. Her chapters also introduced my husband Rowan. I love Rowan because he pushes Celaena to remember the things she doesn’t want to remember, he calls her out while she wants to feel sorry for herself and makes her feel the things shes tried so hard to ignore. This is so important because to be honest my biggest issue with this series is Celaena’s character. In this book it becomes clear that we don’t get to see all that she is capable of because she keeps trying to hide the amazing parts of herself away. Rowan doesn’t let her do that, he pushes and pulls and gets her to feel the things that she needs to feel in order for her cope with all that she has lost and also to finally take control of her own life. This is important because it becomes exhausting reading about Celaena constantly talking about how great she is, and then failing to deliver on this greatness because she gets hurt or is afraid. While I totally understand the portrayal of her character, it just starts to fall short when it keeps happening with no solution to her problems. I’m glad we finally see our MC properly grieve and feel things, and I think it is really promising for what is next to come for her in the rest of the series!

As for the chapters with Dorain and Chaol all I really wanna say is I WAS SO BORED. I love love love Dorian’s character in books one and two, and I this one he is reduced to some lovesick puppy who is afraid to do anything for literally 90% of the story. He totally steps up to the plate at the end of the book and much like my anticipation to see what is next for Celaena, I cannot wait to see what comes next for him. As for Chaol, I’ve never been a big fan of him. I didn’t mind his scenes with Celaena because they were really cute, but like other than that I wasn’t super into him SO it is no surprise that in this book while they are separated I was pretty not into him. His character is pretty complex because he is struggling to decide where his loyalties lie/how much of a role he wants to play in the events going on, but ultimately I’m pretty tired of his inner monologues while he tries to decide what is right and what is wrong. Just pick one pls. The chapters with these two also introduce Aedion, who was pretty fun but didn’t serve too much of a point in this book, other than to show us what was going on with the rebels. His character seems like one I could eventually enjoy, and I love his connection to Celaena, but right now I’m just left wondering whether or not he will be worth caring about.

Mannon chapters were surprisingly great for me? I love the introduction of witches into this story. I love her, I love Abraxos, and as of right now I’m pretty into the idea of the thirteen. Since she’s a completely new character at this point I’ll skip going into details about her because spoilers and all that, but basically I’m REALLY pumped to see what she will bring to the table in the rest of the series.

This book has a lot of exciting tidbits that happen throughout the story which are all fun to read about and watch the characters deal with. There are some major things revealed through back stories, and lots events that set us up for what will hopefully be an incredible fourth book. I am looking forward to continuing on with the series!