Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas (2018)
YA/NA Fiction | Fantasy
Blurb:
“The final battle is here.
Aelin Galathynius has vowed 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. The knowledge that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, but her resolve is unraveling with each passing day…
With Aelin captured, friends and allies are scattered to different fates. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever. As destinies weave together at last, all must fight if Erilea is to have any hope of salvation.”
–Goodreads
Book One: THRONE OF GLASS
pooled ink Review:
So it actually took me forever to finally crack open this book and I think it was for three reasons:
- As badly as I was suffering after the cliff-hanger in Empire of Storms, I admit I was a little nervous for what would happen in the big series finale.
- I read Tower of Dawn as “book 6” and honestly it cooled the addictive fires that had me binge-reading the series and I ended up distracted with reading other books on my TBR as my mood shifted.
- Kingdom of Ash (like most of the books in the series lol) is a massive book at 980 pages and my life was getting so busy that I kept putting it aside to try and get smaller tasks done, shorter books read, but days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months…
But now here I am! I’ve read the epic conclusion to the Throne of Glass series and I HAVE EMOTIONS.
Kingdom of Ash made me cry, laugh, rage, cheer, gasp, and flail helplessly as everything barreled towards the brink then launched into an explosive conclusion. From the get-go I was invested. It didn’t matter how much time had passed between reading book 5 and 7, I was invested. Every character, every moment, every beat, my eyes were zooming across the page as I remained by their sides needing everything to be okay. And they were…and they weren’t (hence the tears). I won’t give away any spoilers of course, but do be prepared from some emotions. I mean, this is Sarah J. Maas so the ending is overall quite a happy one (YAY!!!) and for that you can be relieved, but she is not afraid to pack a punch to the gut and while a part of me applauds the realism, another part of me will never cease pouting as I wipe away my tears.
The book begins with our beloved group split up: Aelin and Fenrys somewhere with Maeve and Cairn being tortured; Rowan, Lorcan, Elide, and Gavriel across the ocean in Wendlyn on a rescue mission; Dorian, Manon, and the Thirteen in the frigid mountains hunting Crochans and keys; Lysandra and Aedion with Ren, Murtaugh, Evangeline, and Terrasen’s soldiers battling Morath; Chaol and Yrene sailing towards Erilea with aid; Nesryn, Sartaq, and Salkhi flying towards Erilea to honor Aelin’s plea. Then of course there are all the other sneaky little groups Aelin had managed to secretly rally and await the signal to strike. Oh! And don’t forget all that terribleness brewing with the witches and demons in Morath. Ummmm so yeah, there is a lot to keep track of in this book!
Honestly, I think it helped me a lot to have read these back-to-back because otherwise I’d flounder a bit. There is just so much to remember! Lots of who’s who, what powers do they have, what did they do, what position are they in, who are they related to, where are they going, why are they doing that, who knows what, etc. There’s just a lot haha. I will say that if you are not used to reading high fantasy with such intricate plots and numerous POVs then this series does help build you up to it. Throne of Glass was mostly just Celaena’s POV and you only knew what she knew, but with each book we get more POVs, more time in the POVs, and more threads to hold onto and keep straight so that by the time you arrive at this monster of a book you’ll be used to juggling the magnitude of the situation and the details required to know what the heck is happening.
Because it is a monster-sized book. Nearly a thousand pages!! Each and every page was intricate, purposeful, and driven…yet perhaps it was a bit too long. There were so many characters and POVs to keep up with and each had so many emotions and thoughts to share plus there were the endless battles and obstacles that they had to face and in the end it almost threatened to wound the breathless pace at which this series raced. Everyone was on the edge awaiting their final fate and yet even as the book funneled into that last epic stand against evil, my own attention had begun to wane just a touch.
So yes, perhaps it was a bit too long. The many many battles were dragged out with bloody realism but instead of building up that final fateful battle in Orynth it almost made it a bit tiresome. After reading as these characters have bled, fought, and even died during battle after battle after battle I just felt a bit tired of it all (not as much as I’m sure they were) and in all honesty I kept feeling a bit compelled to skim through pieces of it because it got to the point where it was really just more of the same: fear, weariness, slaughter, and hope that kindles and wanes. There were highlight moments that drew me back in (the Thirteen’s attack, Gavriel at the gate, the southern army’s arrival, Aelin’s face-off, the gate…) but in-between these there was a lot of…time. The southern army is traveling, still traveling, still traveling, and the northern army is fighting, still fighting, still fighting. Maas has a talent for writing a compelling scene no matter the subject, but I admit my attention often felt tempted to wander. Realistic as it all was, as a book it became a bit much to cling to.
Regardless, the ending was epic, emotional, and assuredly satisfying. I couldn’t have asked for better other than to plead for the lives of those taken. Everything is wrapped up nicely in a dawn breaking full of hope. Something I really loved about this series and this book in particular was how it truly showed a group effort. It wasn’t one person who saved the world, it was all of them. Royals, common folk, healers, assassins, fae, witches, beasts, and more. It took unity, it took every soul binding together to make a stand and fight together for their home and that was something truly beautiful to behold. Cast all else aside and whittle it down to a common dream worth allying and fighting to the death for: a better world. And that is indeed what we surely end up with.
Kingdom of Ash concludes this truly phenomenal saga of the lost Queen of Terrasen and Faerie Queen of the West. A girl dead then reborn, shackled then raised in blood, broken then forged in fate…ghost, assassin, rebel, Fireheart, Queen. But more than that it is a saga of unity as a world allies together to defend their home for it takes more than just one feisty royal to save this world and she would be the first to admit so. Emotion will well in your eyes as you behold the final threads of this tale and watch each trial that wrenches at the souls within it. Yet when comes that final page all you will be left with is a sigh, a soft smile, and an accepting nod to the hope that blooms in the blood-fed battlefields that cry out no more. Well done, Maas. Well done.
Cheers.
Purchase Here: Kingdom of Ash
Check out the rest of the series: Throne of Glass (book 1), Crown of Midnight (book 2), Heir of Fire (book 3), Queen of Shadows (book 4), Empire of Storms (book 5), Tower of Dawn (book 6)
Side Note
Throne of Glass seriously has one of the best fandoms haha. The memes, Tumblr posts, etc. never cease to entertain and new ones are being made every day. I love it! Here’s one for Kingdom of Ash…😂
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