Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire-for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…
She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.
She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.
My Review
This is the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series and I have to admit that I’d forgotten about it! I waited impatiently for it to be released and then when it came out in September, I attempted to download it (I listen to this series on my Audible account) and found that the file was too big for my device. I tried to download it again in January and same problem so I forgot about it! I rediscovered it last week and have been listening to it non-stop ever since.
I love this series. If you haven’t read Aelin Galathynius’s adventures in the previous books, you really should. It’s a series that should be read in sequence (although you probably could start in the middle and get the gist of the book). This is high fantasy and my favourite genre. It is also a “grown up” series: expect lots of suggestive scenes and violence.
Besides having characters that are easy to relate to, Maas shifts points of view enough times that you aren’t lost with so many characters in the cast. As the POV shifts, the reader feels much closer to the each of the characters and their individual motivations.
Having said that, Aelin Galathynius, the lost Queen of Terrasen, is definitely the protagonist of this series. And she continues to play that role in Book 4. It is refreshing to have a high fantasy protagonist who is a strong, independent female and that’s one of the things I love most about this series.
But even with the shifting POVs, I love how Maas continues to surprise the reader throughout this series. Generally, by the time I get to the fourth book in a series I’m starting to get bored but Throne of Glass continues to deliver. At the same time, the fourth book ends with some closure and not on a cliffhanger. There is trouble brewing and the reader knows there will be more but for now one can sit in the calm of the storm and enjoy the fact that the beloved characters are all at a place of peace (despite how surprising it might be as to where they have ended up).
Maas once again delivers with this book. If you love high fantasy, the Throne of Glass series is not one to miss.
Buylink: https://www.amazon.ca/Queen-Shadows-Sarah-J-Maas/dp/1619636042/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463860254&sr=1-1&keywords=queen+of+shadows
