Heir of Fire by
Sarah J. Maas
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
Prince Dorian finds love again with a young healer (Sorscha). He begs her to leave and travel to safety but she refuses to leave him. Unfortunately, the fact that she is spying for Ren will come to light and the King will have her beheaded in front of Dorian. In an attempt to save his allies, Aedion Ashryver (Aelin's cousin) confesses to being a spy and is thrown in the dungeon to await execution (the King didn't actually know about him it was Sorscha he had proof was the spy). Aedions's arrest and Sorscha's beheading leads Chaol (Aelin's ex) to declare his allegiance to Dorian and Aelin. When the King orders his death Dorian uses magic to allow Chaol to escape. Expecting to be killed for aiding his friend he is horrified when his Father places a Wyrdstone Collar on him like the ones worn by those things in the Dead Islands. Chaol takes Fleetfoot (Aelin's dog) and Damaris with him and tells Mort (the doorknocker) where he is going. Ren and Chaol flee the city.
Manon upends her Grandmother's plans when she chooses a bait wyvern (Abraxos) to be her wyvern after it saves her life. Against the odds, Abraxos is able to dominate the other wyverns and allows Manon to become Wing Leader as her Grandmother planned. While their daring rescue of Petrah after Iskra orders her wyvern to kill Keelie (Petrah's wyvern) wins the admiration of the other witches the show of compassion disgusts her grandmother. Keelie used every bit of her energy to keep Petrah alive and stay aloft long enough for Abraxos and Manon to rescue Petrah, even knowing she was going to die. The loyalty of Keelie and Abraxos toward their riders has Manon rethinking the way she was raised. The King orders Manon and the Thirteen to Morath.
Aelin decides to seek out Maeve for answers about the Wyrdkeys, but before she can she is kidnapped by Rowan on Maeve's orders. Maeve meets with her and promises to give her answers after she is deemed worthy by Rowan. Rowan sets about training her and eventually, their animosity toward one another turns into friendship. During one training session, they discover a cave where a lake creature lurks in the depths and a cache of weapons left by those the creature has devoured. Aelin (aka Celaena) claims Athril's sword (Goldryn) that Brannon left in that cave along with a ring. When the Valg Princes along with the King's army attack Mistward (home of the demi-Fae) Aelin attempts to hold the darkness outside the fortress back with her fire while Rowan helps them fight in the tunnels that were opened for the invading army by a traitor. But when Celaena's fire starts to burn out it is only the arrival of Rowan's five friends that has her holding on long enough to get them inside Mistward so they can help Rowan. When Gavriel tells Rowan the shape Aelin is in he leaves to go to her side, Gaveril and Lorcan stop him believing it will be a futile effort, as the darkness swallows Aelin whole but then Aelin's memories lead her to the realization that it was the King who caused her meltdown while the court was dining at the Castle and that lead to her parents being at the Manor house with her basically alone and undefended. And that the Amulet of Orynth her Mother gave her that night was the 3rd WrydKey and that she couldn't have lost it in the river or she would have died, that Arobynn Hamel had taken it and kept it without realizing the power it contained. She also realizes that it will be light that drives out the darkness, not a monster, and that she can be that light. The realization that she wasn't to blame for her parent's death gives her the strength to keep fighting. Knowing that she has to be running low on power Rowan uses Gaveril and Lorcan's momentary distraction to rush to Aelin's side and bond with her so she can use his power. This allows her to incinerate Narrok and the other Valg Princes, all that remained of them was the Wrydstone collars they wore.
Even though he is enslaved by Maeve (like Rowan) Gavriel warns them they need to be careful when they face Maeve as Rowan's friends will be forced to report on Aelin's abilities. Rowan warns her that now the King will know she is alive as everyone will hear of what happened at Mistward. When they face Maeve, Aelin learns that Maeve briefly had the wyrdkeys before Brannon took them from her with the help of his friend Athril and that if someone possesses all three of the keys their power is absolute. Maeve realizes Aelin knows where the third key is and has Rowan whipped to compel her to tell, but it sets Aelin on fire and she reveals to Maeve that she knows that she is the one who killed Athril not the Valg. Maeve demands that Aelin hand over Goldryn and get out but Aelin refuses and allows her to see the memory Narrok had given her as she burned him. Aelin realizes how much the amethyst ring Chaol gave her means to her and she gambles that the gold ring she found in Goldryn's scabbard will mean as much to Maeve. When Maeve demands she give it to her she offers to trade it for Rowan's freedom from his blood oath. Maeve agrees but to Aelin's dismay, Rowan insists on taking a blood oath to her. They immediately leave Doranelle and Aelin sets out to Adarlan leaving Rowan to help in Mistward
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