Nonfiction and Nonsense

This book was almost one thousand pages and I still wish it had been longer. While a great deal happened and the important loose ends were tied up there was still so much more that I wanted. But overall, it was everything I could have wanted and I especially loved the very last sentence. 

My biggest frustration is over Eyllwe. After Aelin’s anger and regret over the death of her friend, princess Nehemia, and knowing of Aelin’s desire to protect the Ytger family and their land as a means of honoring her friend, we never really get to go to Eyllwe or meet any of the royal family. We only ever see its shores and hear about what is happening inland and I was a little disappointed in this. Nehemias sacrifice was made with the intention to push Aelin into action so that she could potentially end the war with Erawan, and I was really looking forward to Aelin meeting her parents to express her love and gratitude for what their daughter did. 

While the battles sequences were important to the storytelling, the back and forth between the southern army marching towards Orynth, in order to provide much needed aid, and the active massacre occuring, was so incredibly long and exhausting. It made me feel as though the end of the book was rushed because so much text was spent on describing the battles as well as the despair of both those fighting and those trying to reach them on time to save the city. It leaves you wondering what went on in the following weeks as all the main players began to rebuild the city, heal the wounded, and figure out how they were going to rule. I would have enjoyed reading about the aftermath, it would not have been as exciting as the battle sequences but it would have been interesting to me. 

Besides all of that, I did enjoy the way the series ended. I was left wanting more, in a good way, but I am happy that the book had a mostly positive ending for the people trying to do right by the world.

I loved getting to go to the southern continent, of which we have heard about in all of the preceding books. Like Wendlyn, magic remained here when it was wiped from Erilea, but it is a different type of magic than what we saw in the eastern continent as there aren’t Fae here. While reading it gives you the impression that the author was inspired by Asian, South American, and Native American culture that I hope to see represented if this ever becomes made into films or a series. I had an amazing time reading the story through Nesryn, Chaol, and Yrenes’ eyes and I really look forward to hopefully getting to experience more narrative from  their perspectives in the seventh and final book. Learning more about the magic of the southern continent from Yrene, rooting for Chaol as he tries to get the use of his legs back, and experiencing adventure with Nesryn had me finishing Tower of Dawn in three days. This is impressive even for me considering that it is over six hundred pages. They were six hundred of the best pages I have ever read and I might even say that it could be my favorite book in the series after Empire of Storms, which I also loved. Come back next week to see what I have to say about the final book, Kingdom of Ash.

This book is almost non-stop action. There are multiple battles, main characters constantly separating to complete tasks and then meeting up at designated locations to join forces, and endless secretive plots planned out and put into effect by former assassin for hire turned hopeful future queen of Terrasen, Aelin. Also, there are several budding romantic relationships that come to fruition or are set up to possibly occur in the next two books. There are plot twists, multiple enemies, and tragedies that make you groan in frustration with the unfairness and suffering of the people that have to endure them. 

While I did enjoy the book a great deal, the entire time I was reading I was wondering when we would get a chapter from Chaol and Nesryn’s perspective. When I reached the halfway point I started to think that there wouldn’t be any of their storyline laid out here, and I was correct. Then, knowing that the next book in the series is the only one that does not have a picture of Aelin on the cover, I am predicting that book will narrate what occurs on the southern continent during the events of Empire of Storms. I am very eager to see what happens to the now imprisoned Aelin but I have been missing Chaol and I want to see what blossoms between him and Nesryn. When we last heard from them in Queen of Shadows they seemed to have admitted that they were interested in transitioning from a guarded friendship built on a previously casual intimate relationship they had a few years ago to a serious romantic relationship. I want to power through the next book so that I can read the final book in this series, but I also want to take my time and enjoy the story. As soon as I am finished with this entry I will be picking up the next book, Tower of Dawn.