The Alphabet in Books - H

H is for Heir of Fire 

Heir of Fire
Sarah J Maas
Bloomsbury Childrens 11/09/14 paperback
7/10
Book review for Bloomsbury

I loved reading Heir of Fire, I am a late comer to the Throne of Glass series, I missed Crown of Midnight completely and I haven’t read Assassin’s Blade either.

One thing I would say is that Throne of Glass felt a lot more like a standalone book than Heir of Fire.  Not so much because I missed Crown of Midnight out but – and I’m trying not to leave spoilers – but the ending. I invested considerable hours reading all about a set of characters and their adventures only to be left on a cliff hanger? Sarah J Maas had a similar set up in Throne of Glass where there is a learning curve for Celaena, a considerable chunk of training which culminates in a huge fight followed by a cliff hanger for the future. A good technique for a six book series. I need the next book NOW.  

But let’s really get into it. I want to talk about the ladies . . . one of the reasons I love Heir of Fire is how well it portrays women, and how it is set in a NEARLY gender equal society. There are pages and pages of female characters and what I love about them is that there is absolutely no question about 'traditional feminine traits'.  The women do not hold their tongues and do not hide away from battle or hardship. There is no surprise that the most deadly assassin is female, all you need to know is that she can kill you, and she will kill you. 

There are also glimpses of LGBT story lines, which I would have liked to see more of and I'm sure we will in the rest of the series. 

There is a huge number of female leaders in Heir of Fire, and I am all for that, I love that that is possible, that there is power for the women, but there is one niggling issue: The girls seem to need magic to make them awesome, the only cool female human has a fatal flaw which I can't reveal. One of the things Sarah *Yup First Name Terms* does really well is that characters have shades of grey to their characters. No one is totally evil or totally good, they're all flawed, like real people, which is something that is hard to get right. 

I love the new characters of Mannon and the Blackbeaks, their unique social dynamics was brilliant to read, I just wish I knew what happens!!! Hats off to Sarah because she definitely has me wanting the next book already.