Tower of Dawn

Without a doubt, my favorite book of the series so far. I was hooked from the first chapter. Chaol Westfall was never a favorite character of mine. I didn't dislike him, but he wasn't my favorite. Here, he absolutely grew on me. I loved getting reacquainted with Yrene Towers, whom we were introduced to in The Assassin's Blade. Sartaq and Nesryn absolutely enhanced the book.

I loved the setting. The Middle Eastern/Arab vibes of Antica were so different from other settings in the series. I've seen this book described as a psychological thriller. And, boy, let me tell you, it was all that and more. The twist at the end was one I didn't see coming.

I read this book in tandem with "Empire of Storms", and that made for such a richer reading show more experience.

This book deserves the highest praise. show less

4.5
This was Chaol's book, but his sad whining sob of a story was shadowed by some fantastic new characters and an exciting twisty twist. Yup, I'm still not his fan girl. I just can't forget what a dumb twig he was. He finds some answers, and perhaps some happiness at least for a moment. Yeh, rah rah, meh who cares.
4 for the book the extra 5 was for the sexy beast known as Sartaq. I loved this character and his giant chicken. :P Another character that stole the book from Chaol was Nesryn, she is a force that made me stay up at night reading till just before dawn. I could have read a whole book with just these two and their adventures.
Finally we learn what the what is going on and who is who behind that mask. Finally, I am so excited, show more things are bad, very bad which makes for a very good edge of your seat read. The separated world is headed into a war that will out horror any previous wars seen, unless.... Oh I wanted to punch that face at the end- BAM !
Well Ms Mass, you tortured me yet again, bravo. show less

Note: Slight spoilers for previous books in this series.

This is a "parallel novel" in the excellent "Throne of Glass" fantasy series. This book focuses on a mission to Antica, capital of the Southern Continent, undertaken by Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq. Their main goal is to gain military assistance for the struggle in the North. Their pursuit takes on increasing urgency when they discover evidence that the forces of evil - the Valg, led by Erawan - have already infiltrated Antica.

Chaol, 23, has a second goal besides that of convincing the Khagan and his heirs to lend their armies to help fight Erawan. Chaol is now paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. He would like to get the services of one of the renowned healers of show more Antica - home of the finest mortal doctors in the world, who possess magic and who, he hoped, could help him walk again.

Yrene Towers, 21, is the healer assigned to Chaol; she is one of the best, and in fact is the Heir Apparent to be named Healer on High. At first Yrene resents Chaol, because it was soldiers from his country of Adarlan who burned her mother alive. But she discovers that Chaol, in spite of his government position, is not at all the same as the men she hates.

Moreover, when Yrene puts her hands on Chaol’s back, she encounters an “echo in the bone” - magic not from this world. Chaol won’t talk about what happened to him though, and it stymies Yrene’s attempts to heal him:

“I need to get past that echo. Or beat it into submission enough to have space to work on you. …. This shadow, this thing that haunts you - your body. It will fight me every step of the way, fight to convince you to tell me to stop. Through pain. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

“That if you are to succeed, I will have to endure that sort of pain. Repeatedly. Do what you have to do.”

“‘And you,’ she said quietly. ‘You will have to fight it as well. It must be feeding upon something within you.'”

Indeed, darkness within Chaol does feed the parasite, giving it control. Yrene insists that Chaol has to acknowledge it and face it. He has to decide whether he wants to fight back. And therein lies the problem: Chaol isn’t so sure.

But Yrene works on Chaol nevertheless, and they literally go through hell together, which brings them closer.

Meanwhile, Nesryn has gone off on a reconnaissance trip with one of the Khagan’s heirs, Sartaq, commander of his father’s ruk riders. The sensation of flying over her country of origin on a ruk enchants her, as does Sartaq. And he, clearly, is attracted to Nesryn.

These developments are complicated by the fact that Chaol and Nesryn had an informal commitment to one another.

The four main characters discover much about each other, including the important realization of what they want in life and where they consider to be “home.” They also find out dark truths about the Valg, and the struggle for dominion over their world.

Evaluation: I think this is my favorite so far of the books in this series. The depiction of the developing relationships among the four protagonists is lovely, and the information that comes out during their quests explains much about what has happened in the previous books. Maas is a master of fantasy, or what one hopes and wishes is fantasy: her descriptions of the intentions of the evil Valg to change the world for the worse seem all too real at times. show less

It's pretty funny because I keep going into all these Sarah J. Maas books expecting to dislike it for some or maybe all the reasons I an come up with. I mean, it just FEELS like it should be ridiculed if not put on a pedestal because it's so much GIRL POWER, you know? Like it should be some kind of trendy whatnot that will be quickly forgotten once all the rabid fans have tired of it.

And yet.

Sigh. I keep liking these books MORE each time I get to the next in the series. This one, in particular, is an odd duck. It's just side-characters! Chaol, anyone? I mean, sure, he was pretty big in the story until he lost it when his favorite assassin princess blew his mind, but then he's been pretty much out of all the Big Epic Story since then. show more Until now.

And what do we have?

A slowed-down tale, but well-written. Don't laugh, ya'll, but this is totally a soap opera novel. Can you say Romance between the misunderstood hospital patient and the nurse with a grudge? I can. And I will. I mean, sure this starts out as a fishing expedition to get more support for the assassin's righteous war, but it quickly becomes nothing more than physical therapy sessions and a bit of deep, deep healing for poor Chaol. His healer has her issues, too, and golly she's mean, but as I said, this is a SOAP OPERA.

It also happened to be rather fun. A nice change of pace. The extra reveals regarding the much larger plotlines were solid and the side story among the wyvern tribes and the spiders was a great change from all the sweaty, sexy, nurse-action going on.

But above all, this entire book was a nice change of pace from THE REST OF THE SERIES. It just goes to show that Maas can mix it up. :) show less

In honor of my review of Empire of Storms, I have decided to rename every book in this series:
0.5 The Assassin's Blade AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Cross-Country Murder Spree
1 Throne of Glass AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Weakest Love Triangle
2 Crown of Midnight AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Most Mood-Swings
3 Heir of Fire AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Book She Remembered What Her Real Name Was
4 Queen of Shadows AKA Aelin Galathynius and the Sudden Romance With a Previously Platonic Character
5 Empire of Storms AKA Aelin Galathynius and the Horniest Road Trip Ever
6 Tower of Dawn AKA Chaol Westfall and the Book That Was Good Because Aelin Wasn't In It

Ok, but in all seriousness, this book was good. And not just because Aelin was only show more physically present in the very last chapter as a teaser for the final book. It was good because it took everything that was effective in all the previous books—the sneaking and sleuthing from ToG and CoM, the self-discovery and battles against personal demons (quite literally in this case) from HoF, and well, not much from EoS because it was mostly atrocious and the few things that were good were really just okay—and joined them into one volume. It felt like a return to form, but smoother and better.

The inclusion of more diverse characters with the Khagan's children and Nesryn's family was much appreciated. I am not usually too bothered by a lack of diversity, but when Maas established this world as somewhat of a real-world 1700s equivalent with the fashion and technology, and with vast empires and globalization, it really was a problem that there wasn't much diversity, because in such a world, there would be a great deal of diversity.

The characters were fantastic. They felt so real and believable, with understandable motivations and intentions. Chaol has always been a favorite of mine, being just about the only character who wasn't an idiot in all the previous books, and his absence from EoS might have contributed to it being trash, and in this book, he only got better.

He had not healed. Unmoored and raging, he had not wanted to heal.
Not really. His body, yes, but even that...
Some part of him had whispered it was deserved.
And the soul-wound... He had been content to let it fester.

His battle with the demon residue left in him from his epic battle with the Adarlanian king (did he have a name? I really can't remember him having a name) was reminiscent of Celaena's in HoF when she reclaimed herself as Aelin. HoF was my previous favorite book in the series for that fact alone (as Celaena/Aelin was at her least annoying then), besides the lack of much obnoxious romance other than the short-lived and rather forced Sorscha crap which brought my rating down a star. I've felt what Chaol felt before, that self-loathing that makes you want to curl up and wither away, and his perseverance over it, both on his own and with much-needed help, was fantastic.

Nesryn was interesting, because she had not been a perspective character before, and her reserved nature had made her seem rather boring in QoS, but she really became a new favorite, because I found myself relating to her a lot as well. She was complex and introverted, not boring. While her romance with Sartaq felt a tad forced and stalker-y, her character growth felt natural.

Yrene was also a great character, which surprised me because her introduction in The Assassin and the Healer was kind of boring tbh, and she was just too similar to Sorscha (a healer from Fenharrow who's a love interest for an Adarlanian) but much to my surprise, she become an interesting person, not just someone for Celaena to ~astound~ and ~utterly mystify~ with her ~gloriousness~

I was worried I wouldn't like this book, because of EoS bringing down my expectations, and because I disagreed wholeheartedly with Celaena in CoM when she hated him for what he "did" that allowed Nehemia's death. I was afraid this would be a pity party book, not for Chaol, but for Aelin. That he would feel so bad for her, when she's actually just a crazy person. But it wasn't. It was a journey of self-discovery. Of learning to rely on yourself, but also to rely on others. To learn what the balance must be between the two. It was exactly what I needed right now, and I'm so glad I read it.

This review went on for too long lol but I LOVED IT SO I'M NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE show less

I'll be honest. I was MAD when I started this book. I was furious. Empire of Storms ended on the most heart breaking cliffhanger for Aelin and Rowans story. And after not hearing about Chaol and Nesryn for a whole book, I wasn't invested in them. I didn't care about their story and the thought of slogging though 660 pages just to find out what happened to Aelin was excruciating. But just 1 day after starting, I've devoured the book and I'm practically begging for more. The twists and turns took me on an absolute adventure, and as always, Maas's ability to make me love a character, new or returning, is unparalleled. We certainly didn't get enough time with the supporting characters to form a connection with them but the depth that this show more book added to Chaol is worth it on it's own. Not to mention the multidimensionality that its plot will certainly bring to Aelin's storyline in the final book! Overall I was so please to be wrong about my first impressions of this book and am so happy to have it! show less

3.2 / 5

i had to step away from this series for a while. this series has utterly abandoned the character i loved the most. and now it’s time for his redemption arc. after sticking with aelin for so long, now we’re here: with CHAOL. and i have some serious thoughts.

all the reviews said this book would redeem chaol. this wonderful, dynamic character that i loved from book 2 who just DISSIPATES after aelin leaves for wendlyn. i am nEVER the type of bitch to like a male main character more than a female main character… but i loved chaol. and then SJ MAAS just GIVES UP on him. he has zero direction for most of this series. and then she gives us TOWER OF DAWN as a consolation prize, like “here’s the character development from chaol show more that i refused to put in the rest of the series teehee.”

90% of this book is boring filler. 8% of it is romance. 2% is actual long-term plot-related content. but then again, i always knew what this was: character work. this was SJ MAAS’s one shot to redeem chaol, a character that has sustained considerable trauma and has processed none of it. i could talk about antica (the setting for TOWER OF DAWN), i could talk about the worldbuilding, i could talk about how expansive this installment is, but what i really want to talk about is SJ MAAS and trauma. what chaol works through in this book is trAUMMAAA.

***spoilers ahead***

i’m brave enough to be controversial. you wanna know what i really think? the real endgame should have been chaol and aelin. i think it was a tactical error to introduce new romantic partners for them. i genuinely, wholeheartedly think that if SJ MAAS had had the gumption, the bravery, the writing chops, a chaol and aelin endgame would have been better than whatever the fuck this is. they have such visceral emotions for each other, and the foundation from the second book is so strong.. obviously they needed to spend some time apart, obviously they needed to grow up, but i wish SJ had given us the chance to see chaol and aelin reconnect.

to me, these are her two most important characters in this series. chaol is earthy and grounded, aelin is tempestuous and flighty. they are the yin and yang of TOG. i think it was a cop out to create new characters for each of them, characters that somehow perfectly complement chaol and aelin without actually being interesting at all. yrene and rowan are BORING. the real drama, the REAL tea, would have been forcing chaol and aelin back together. i can’t in good faith support the latter half of this series, because in my heart of hearts i think chaol and aelin would have been more interesting long term.

the depth of pain and hurt that is between chaol and aelin… it’s one of the most touching parts of this series. the scene where yrene is healing him and he starts working through his feelings about aelin?! it was so satisfying to watch chaol come to terms with his resentment. GOD he hates aelin. but he hates her because she changed everything. this was easily my favorite scene in TOWER OF DAWN - i’ll admit, i shed a tear.

i never include quotes but this was very impactful for me:

“he had called her a monster. for her power, her actions, and yet… he did not blame her. he understood. that perhaps she had promised things, but… she had changed. the path had changed. he understood.”

something that bothered me about this book - the romance didn’t feel natural. and i think it’s a pretty shitty thing to suggest that healing can happen, but only through developing strong feelings for someone new. i almost think SJ MAAS uses romance as a crutch. chaol could have and should have done this healing, with or without yrene. their relationship didn’t have to happen. he didn’t need a soft, gentle woman to lead him through his emotions (like he’s a toddler). i’m not saying he should have done it alone, but the romance cheapened the healing process for me.

i also want to talk about the way disability is treated in this book. it’s a sticky tricky thing to write about, especially in fantasy where there are no accommodations easily made within the world. there were times when i felt like chaol’s disability was a metaphor for his internal trauma, which … didn’t strike me well. there were also moments where chaol’s shame about his disability is too intense. also, to magically heal him of his disability and undo the consequences of previous books? it just didn’t feel like an intentional, thoughtful usage of a disability. if you’re going to give your character a disability, you can’t magically undo it. it cheapens it. there’s nothing wrong with not being able to walk. i don’t know man, it just didn’t feel totally right to me.

***spoilers ended***

this book did not capture me in the way i needed it to. i appreciated the reprieve from aelin, because i honestly needed a break from that bitch. but i could not STAND the endless expository bullshit in TOWER OF DAWN. none of it feels important.

i don’t need to talk about nesryn, because she simply isn’t interesting enough to warrant brain power. her chapters aren’t BAD, but they’re boring. i don’t feel connected to her. she’s just fine.

i enjoyed the ending at least, and i see why this book exists - there’s pieces in this installment that matter, but by and large the book is exposition. 3.2 / 5. show less