Empire of Storms

Oh Sarah J. Maas what are you doing to me. I am exhausted, emotionally exhauseted after reading this fifth book in the Throne of Glass series. It has taken me a week to get through it, devoting many many hours to losing myself in its pages and at last I am able to try and and pull together my thoughts on this latest installment of the adventures of Aelin/Celena.

I am being very honest that for the first twenty to thirty chapters of this book I really struggled. There is so much movement going on as we follow Aelin and her group around the continent and encounter so many new places and people that I began to lose the plot a little. We have new characters and places flitting in and out as our group split up and go separate ways for a little bit. I especially was confused because I haven't as yet read The Assassin's Blade, the book of novellas about Celeana's time training as an assassin. These haven't been that important up until now but in Empire of Storms they are vital to understanding the back story to some of the favours that are pulled in to help our heroes in this story.

There are lots of intricate plot points going on that seem quite disjointed and don't seem to mean that much on their own but we have to place our faith in Sarah J. Maas that she knows what she is doing and somehow, someway it will all make sense. This means commitment as a reader. It is not a quick read, you have to want to devote yourself wholly to this book. To take the time it needs to fall into the world with Aelin and to have the blind belief that her followers have in her that she will triumph.

And boy oh boy does it pay off in those final twenty chapters. It is so much action, so many big reveals of what has been going on. So many punching the air moments when you suddenly see the light and it all makes sense. It's heart stopping. We are left in no doubt what is going to be our path in Book 6, due for release later this year and I cannot wait to get started. I have heard mixed reviews about Empire of Storms as some people feel we've left behind where we started in this series and moved too far from it but I am a lover of world building and whilst yes this one has been a building on such a mammoth scale it is scary I am right there for it. I love the characters we've followed throughout and am absolutely invested in staying with this series to the end.

And can we just take a minute to talk about how girls totally run this world. Manon is just an incredible character. She has burst into this series and breathed such life into it. I love this fiesty, straight talking witch with a heart of gold. I root for her so much. I love Abraxos her Wyvern and companion and every time I read from her point of view I feel she adds such colour to this story. Lysandra has grown from such a confined character in Book 4 into this ass kicking legend in Empire of Storms. And now with Elide on the scene as well and the way she just totally puts Lorcan in his place at the end of his book we just know these girls are absolutely out for blood. And that's not even counting the biggest badass of them all Aelin, who whilst not always front and centre still holds the whole thing together and whom I think has grown so much from her character in Throne of Glass.

I missed Chaol in this book but reading this has heightened my excitement about Tower of Dawn because I now know I can fill my time between this and the release of Kingdom of Ash in following what has been happening with him whilst Empire of Storms has been taking place. I trust in Chaol, he's never given me any reason not to and I am confident Tower of Dawn will not let me down.

Cannot quite believe that in just under a year I've managed to lose myself in both A Court of Thorns and Roses series and Throne of Glass and join the masses of fans waiting for the new books in both series this year. This is testament though to the ongoing incredible writing of Sarah J. Maas and the worlds she weaves for her readers. I am absolutely a fan of her work and cannot recommend her highly enough.