One of the outstanding books I’ve read this year is Empire of Storms, the fifth installment in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. A part of me was disappointed to finish the book and move on to Tower of Dawn (although I wasn’t disappointed with that book either). I still have to finish Kingdom of Ash, which I’m looking forward to reading this spring.
Aelin is supposed to be the queen of Terrassin, but not everybody wants to see her that way. Even a girl with a queenly bloodline that can incinerate cities as easily as taking a walk through the park needs supporters, and with the dire situation of the world, she can’t exactly incinerate her way onto the throne. Aelin makes some very shrewd decisions that I’m sure will pay off when we rejoin her in Kingdom of Ash.
Empire of Storms spends a lot of time with different points of view. Sometimes I was disappointed in leaving one POV for another, but the story kept on building and it was great nonetheless. There are many great characters in this book, and even though Chaol is gone from the scene (for now), many of them meet up for an epic showdown towards the end of the book.
The ending of Empire of Storms was absolutely crazy. I’m not sure if I had been Aelin I would have made the same decision she did, but she did what she thought was right and I can’t wait so see how everything works out in Kingdom of Ash. It’s an ending where you are left scratching your head and wondering how they’re going to make it.
There is some mature content in this book that isn’t in the previous ToG books, so I wouldn’t recommend this for younger teens. Aelin and Rowan do find some time alone… and end up enjoying it quite a bit.
The worldbuilding here is epic and as a writer… I just hope that I can do worldbuilding even a fraction as well in my books as in these. The territory is so vast that as a reader (who didn’t binge read the series) I sometimes have difficulty keeping track of all the towns and people, but I always have a general idea of where they are on the map, so I don’t really need to. The world is populated with animals and magical creatures that Lysandra (the shape-shifter) must have had a blast with.
The whole plot is so complex and involved that I can tell it took a lot of planning to create it. But real world wars are complex too… that’s why historians write volumes on events like World War I.
If you’ve enjoyed the previous Throne of Glass books, I recommend you continue with Empire of Storms. I thought it was great and can’t wait to finish the story with Kingdom of Ash soon.