Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas – One of my Favorite TOG Books So Far

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“So she steeled herself. “I have never told anyone this story. No one in the world knows it. But it’s mine,” she said, blinking past the burning in her eyes, “and it’s time for me to tell it.”

Goodreads / Storygraph

Summary

In Heir of Fire, Celaena finds herself far from Rifthold, sent on a mission that forces her to confront her past and face the truth of who she really is.

As she trains and overcomes inner demons, new characters enter the story, and the world of Erilea expands in much more dramatic and magical ways. 

This book is a fantastic transition with emotional turns, setting the stage for epic battles and even higher stakes to come. 

Thoughts on the Plot

While the plot is still unfolding in this book, this story is far more character driven. 

The King is still up to his elbows in dark messed up stuff and the whole vibe is “shits about to hit the fan”. 

The pace is also far better in this book than the first three (if you choose to read The Assassin’s Blade prior to this book). 

Which was something I really enjoyed considering how much slower the first three books felt. 

The world-building was also much better in this book. Celaena is sent on a mission in Wendlyn, but we also see other places through other characters. 

It really helped to fill out the map more. 

Thoughts on the Characters

Foremost, Celaena’s transformation in this book is amazing. Celaena goes through so much progression and change from the early books to pretty much halfway in the series. 

The way she has to face her inner demons and we finally learn her whole backstory was amazing. 

I also want to say that after Heir of Fire, I will be referring to Celaena as Aelin.

I know that’s a bit confusing and spoiler-y if you haven’t read the series, but with her transformation comes a new identity. 

A truer identity.

We also meet Rowan Whitehorn. He was quite brutish at the beginning and I wish he would’ve spent some time really learning about Aelin before training her the way he did. 

But as the book went on, Rowan began to grow on me. 

His relationship with Aelin is one that I am convinced will rival that of Rhys and Feyre. 

We also meet Manon Blackbeak. The heir of the Blackbeak witch clan as they are drawn into the King’s dark ideations. 

Speaking of the king, I am deeply concerned for my boy, Dorian. 

We get multiple POVs in this book which I found I actually enjoyed. 

Dorian’s POV was a bit mundane at first until I forced myself to really pay attention and then I could see where his POV was heading. 

We also meet Aedion Ashryver who is Aelin’s cousin and a pretty wild card of a character.

But I can appreciate his motives and doing what he needs to do in order to accomplish his goals. 

Choal was still frustrating in this book, but I think once he stopped judging Aelin so harshly, I found him far more likable. 

But I have a feeling Choal and I will always have a bit of a complicated relationship. 

There are plenty of side characters, with Emrys and Luca being my favorite of all the side characters in this book. 

Queen Maeve felt like she was supposed to rival the King of Adarlan for top villian, but she ended up falling a bit flat in my opinion. 

Overall Thoughts

Heir of Fire is my favorite book thus far in the series. 

Which really isn’t saying much considering how much more there is to this story. 

I can feel the emotional toll people keep talking about with this series and I am ready. 

Ready for my heart to be ripped out. Ready to feel all the feels. And ready for my third biggest book hanger over ACOTAR series and Fourth Wing. 

Definitely 5 stars out of 5 stars from me. 

The Assassin’s Blade / Throne of Glass / Crown of Midnight