Kingdom of Ash
2018
- imaginary places
- assassins
- magic
- imaginary wars and battles
- queens
- fiction
- fiction, fantasy, epic
- female assassins in fiction
- young adult fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy
- [series:throne_of_glass]
The story
Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . . Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day… With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world. And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever. As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.
What it’s like
Sweeping, cinematic prose built on smoke-grey skies, firelit war camps, blood-red sunsets and frost-glazed stone halls, told in close third person as the narration jumps between several characters, so each chapter lands in a different corner of a war-torn continent. The voice is warm, dramatic and openly romantic, with lots of banter among companions and heavy emotional beats. The pacing swings between brisk adrenaline when armies clash and slow, claustrophobic dread when a captive endures months of confinement. Intensity is high: prolonged torture described in some detail, large-scale battlefield violence with graphic deaths, including of beloved characters, a steady undercurrent of cruelty from villains, and romantic and sexual scenes between adult couples that are fairly explicit in places. It is not gentle. It suits readers who want an epic, emotionally heavy finale to a long fantasy saga, who enjoy a large ensemble and romance-driven stakes, and who are comfortable with dark, intense material in young adult and adult fantasy alike.
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