Empire of Storms

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT, because FEELINGS.

Throne of Glass continues to prove itself to be the most devise series in YA, in my opinion. It is not the differences in opinion that cause this, but the amount of vitriol surrounding about series, and the petty bitterness and sometimes nonsensical criticism and praise. To all you Chaol (ugh) people out there, please don't rate this 1 star because “OMG HOW CAN CHAOL NOT BE IN THIS BOOK WTF!” I had deep problems with how Maas dealt with Chaol in QoS, but there is over 100 pages of only Chaol and Nesryn, so you can all gush over that with praise. TO be fair, the style, and my perceived intended audience has shifted greatly in each book, so that may be the root of this anger from some.

A continued return to form by Sarah J Maas after disappointing me in A Court of Thorns and Roses and Queen of Shadows. The things that annoyed me in QoS are severely toned down, though the sex is toned up, although I must say I enjoyed the Manon and Dorian. Maas finally breaks free of the shackles of writing fluffy early-YA fantasy (whilst somehow handling topics such as rape and slavery, which created an odd contradiction), and if the wish fulfillment that is Aelin and Rowan's relationship the cost of that, so be it.

A schism has be caused by Maas' writing maturing into something that can have multiple POVs and plot lines and make it work. This book strays into adult fantasy at times, and I think it's really good. The fans of the light fluffy nothingness that was most of Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight with its pre-teen romances and attempts to deal with adult themes whilst appealing to 12 year old girls is gone, replaced by a more maturity, for the most part. Oh, no, here comes my Aelin and Rowan discussion.

Forewarning: I ship Aelin and Rowan, but that 5 star rating comes at the cost of forgetting those sex scenes. I accepted them in ACOMAF with a heavy heart because the series never pretended to be anything more than a soft core erotica book first (with a far more sexually focused and animalistic fae race) and a surprisingly decent fantasy book second. But, please, please leave these scenes to the fanfic writers, Mass. You think you're good at them, but you really aren't, and they ADD ABSOLUETLY NOTHING to the plot. I am a huge fan of off scene sex scenes, especially when everything else is so bloody good. I could accept them if they weren't averagely written wish fulfillment that is of barely better quality than fanfiction. I do accept Dorian and Manon's scene because was that an insight into the both of them, or what.

Also of huge annoyance, as always is the fae, “fight me” mentality and the whole thing with sex and relationships that turns a centuries old immortal warrior into a horny teenager, with an alpha-male complex. But it has been written into the series since the first appearance of the fae, so I'll ignore it and still give a 5 stars because....

EVRYTHING ELSE IS SO GODDAMNED GOOD. Finally Aelin is someone who I think I'd like love; she has dropped the mask of arrogance that she wore as Celaena, except for when it's needed; she has lost every part of her mentality I disliked in QoS: the superiority, the complete confidence. These traits made a fun, exciting and badass assassin with no responsibilities, but Aelin now has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and also needs to grow up, because it is still very annoying. Darrow was much needed.

And as I said, Maas' writing has matured. The plots lines have just the right amount of complexity, and are smart and clever. Maas has made me care about this wide array of characters and the drama and plots twists are beautiful and terribly EVIL.

edit: chapter 38 is a great example of shitty metaphors for sex and sex-related things. if you are interested in writing shit soft-core erotica, chapter 38 is essentially your dictionary!