HEIR OF FIRE (Sarah J. Maas) – Long-Winded Book 3 in Throne of Glass

Overview of Heir of Fire

Heir of Fire is the third book in Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. It clocks in at over 500 pages and dramatically continues Caelena’s story as she wrestles with the demons of her past and fights for her future.

Heir of Fire picks up with Caelena in another land – a ploy by Chaol to get her away from the palace and the tyrannical king who rules Adarlan and seeks to dominate all of Erilea. It introduces a host of new characters in a new kingdom with its own culture and social dynamics, while continuing to build on what was introduced in prior novels. 

My Mixed Feelings

I have mixed feelings about Heir of Fire. Let me start with what I didn’t like and finish on a high note of what I did…

What I Didn’t Like

1. This book felt SO slow. I’ll be honest – multiple times, I thought to myself, “I don’t know if I can finish this book. Or this series.” There were moments where the plot moved swiftly, but there were also chapters after chapters where all we had was filler information. In that way, the entire book reads like a stepping stone to the fourth book. I don’t think that is always a bad thing, but I don’t think it’s a good thing either when it is as long and dull as this one was at times. Compared to how action-packed Throne of Glass was, I was disappointed. I definitely skimmed sections just trying to get to something interesting. 
2. Heir of Fire feels a bit like Maas decided to experiment and write a more sophisticated book. Unlike the past two books, it alternates points-of-view more, it expands upon the world, and it tackles some weighty issues of grief and regret. All of these things are fine, but all together…
3. …It led to the book being poorly paced and past characters (and character development) overlooked. For example, while I liked the addition of Rowan’s character, Dorian and Chaol became bland, two-dimensional, and seemed to exist only for their plot points. After two books building them up (especially Chaol!), it was strange to me to suddenly find them boring and unfamiliar. Dare I say, neglected?
4. Speaking of characters, Dorian and Sorschia’s romance came off as forced and/or predictable to me. There was very little build-up, and it seemed to me that Sorschia existed purely as a means to an end. I didn’t think there was chemistry there – or at least, enough to make Sorschia impact the story as a whole, which she was clearly supposed to.  
5. I know the whole witches side-plot is going to be important at some point; I know this. But nothing of consequence occurred in this novel, and therefore, it felt like a waste of pages and a let-down. There was chapter after chapter on these witches that I could’ve skipped over entirely and it wouldn’t have made a difference to this book. This is what I mean by Maas “experimented” and made this book more advanced, but the result in my opinion made it unnecessarily lengthy, wordy, and unfocused. Also, why do we have a king who is so anti-magic but is building an army of witches? Confused.
6. There was – while perhaps justified – a bit too much angst on Caelena’s part, and I quickly got bored of her thought cycle. Yes, she did grow, but most of it happened in short bursts. We could’ve cut out all the whining and drama in-between.
7. Rowan was stereotypical and lacked the charm and complexity I felt Chaol had in previous books, even though I didn’t dislike him as a character. It was obvious from the get-go that he and Caelena would have a thing, and I was a bit annoyed by that. So far, we’ve had three different guys in three books. Can she make up her mind already so we can start growing a relationship instead of just having sparks of chemistry with every man she meets?
8. For being as long and boring as it was, especially in the beginning, the novel followed the exact same pattern as the last two: Caelena trains with a cute guy; Caelena fights with cute guy; Caelena starts having feelings for cute guy; Caelena fights battle; Mystery monster kills people throughout; Caelena wins battle. It’s getting repetitive… 
9. Lastly, please stop with the phrases: “she [or he] purred” and “she [or he] bared his teeth.” I legitimately cannot picture or hear what that means. She overuses this.

What I Liked about Heir of Fire

Okay, after all that, do you believe me that I didn’t entirely hate the book? I said we were going out on a high note! In no particular order:

1. I like the emphasis Maas puts on friendships, loyalty, and sacrifice.
2. I like that she shows the emptiness of pursuing nothing but yourself and the value of honor. I like that she shows consequences for actions and impacts of actions.
3. I like the side characters introduced in this book, such as Emrys, Luca, and Aedion. I don’t feel they all got fleshed out perfectly, but they’re side characters, and that’s okay. Sorschia also was a nice character, but she didn’t get the time she needed to impact Dorian as she was supposed to.
4. I think the plot is interesting and is definitely building towards big, fascinating things. 
5. I appreciated reading more backstory on Caelena and felt like Maas presented and wove the story of Aelin well. 
6. Overall, Maas’ writing/dialogue/descriptions are good and remain engaging. 
7. Her worldbuilding is consistently strong.
8. The book had moments of great action and pacing that had me hooked.

Final Thoughts on Heir of Fire

So, there we go. Eight pros and eight cons I found to Heir of Fire. I do intend to keep reading for now, but I still fear burning out on the series due to the sheer length and wordiness of Maas’s writing style. I am hoping the following book does not spend the majority of its time introducing new people and concepts and rather builds on what has already been presented, especially its characters.

You can find prior reviews below:

• Throne of Glass
• Crown of Midnight

Content Rating: Moderate

for fantasy violence, dark magic, and innuendo

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Copyright Sarah J. Maas and Bloomsbury Publishing. Image from Amazon.