Empire of Storms, the next installment in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, comes out next Tuesday. That’s only 144 hours away–yes, I’m keeping track! The four previous books have been filled with action, drama, magic, and romance. So you can understand why I had to reread them all before the new one was released.
I know that not everyone has the time for that, so here is a quick recap to refresh your memory. Just in case you forgot anything about Aelin the Fire-breathing bitch–
Throne of Glass
To gain her freedom, famed assassin Celaena Sardothien must compete and win the contest to be the new Champion to the King of Adarlan. Between completing challenges, she makes friends with Nehemia, a visiting Princess of Eyllwe, and meets the ghost of her long deceased relative, Queen Elena Havilliard. She also becomes caught in the middle of a love triangle involving Prince Dorian and the Captain of the Guard, Chaol. As the competition progresses, many contestants mysteriously turn up dead. Celaena begins to investigate these brutal killings and learns about Wyrdmarks, magical runes. She discovers that Cain is responsible for the deaths and beats him in the final match of the competition. The book ends with Celaena agreeing to the be the King’s Champion for the next four years.
Crown of Midnight
As the new King’s Champion, Celaena must prove her loyalty by stopping a rebel movement against the King of Aldaran. She learns that the rebels are searching for the lost heir of Terrasen and decides to help them by faking their deaths. The ghost Queen Elena helps the assassin realize that the Wyrdkeys can be used to open Wyrdgates, which lead to the demon realm. Chaol and Celaena become romantically involved until Nehemia is found murdered. She blames him for her friend’s death and almost kills him. Dorian saves him by using magic that neither he nor anyone else knew he had. A grieving Celaena opens a portal to talk with the deceased Princess but accidently lets a demon into Adarlan. They manage to wrangle the creature back into the Portal where Celaena reveals that she is actually part Fae. Concerned for her safety, Chaol gets the King to send Celaena to Wendlyn where she’ll kill its Fae rulers. It isn’t until after she’s set sail that Chaol realizes that Celaena is actually Aelin, the rightful Queen of Terrasen.
Heir of Fire
In Wendlyn, Celaena meets her Fae Queen aunt, Maeve. The Queen promises to answer any questions she has about the Wyrdkeys after Celaena learns how to control her Fae magic. The princess agrees and is put through hell by Rowan Whitethorn, an ancient Fae warrior who is bloodsworn to the Queen. After having proved her worth by defeating an army of Valg, she journeys to Doranelle to free Rowan and get the answers she was looking for. Afterwards, Aelin decides to journey back to Adarlan to save her friends and free magic.
In Adarlan, Dorian is learning how to suppress his magic with the help of Sorscha Sorscha, a castle healer. They fall in love but she is killed after the King finds out that she was feeding information to the rebels. Chaol meets Celaena’s cousin, Aedion, and the two work together to find a way to bring back magic. The King captures Aedion and Chaol manages to escape after Dorian sacrifices himself to save him.
In the Ferien Gap, we are introduced to Manon Blackbeak. She is an Ironteeth witch who becomes Wingleader of the King’s wyvern army. Her wyvern is Abraxos and together, along with her Thirteen, they fly to Morath to serve Duke Perrington.
Queen of Shadows
Aelin returns to Rifthold to free both her cousin and magic. She has help from Chaol and new friends: Nesryn and Lysandra. Her old mentor, Arobynn, gives her the resources she needs to rescue Aedion in exchange for a live Valg demon. Rowan warns Aelin that Lorcan, one of Maeve’s warriors, has followed her back to Adarlan. With Aelin’s blessing, Lysandra kills Arobynn but is taken captive by the King soon after. They are able to rescue her despite having a near fatal encounter with Manon. The Ironteeth witch saves Dorian by telling Aelin that his human soul is trapped in his possessed body. After killing the King of Adarlan and freeing magic, Aelin returns to Terrasen to rebuild her kingdom.
Empire of Storms will be available for purchase on September 6th. Share your reactions with us by tweeting @WikiaYABooks!