Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
"Aelin was no savior to rally behind, but a cataclysm to be weathered."
The investment Sarah J. Maas puts into her books is impressive. I'm finding that as this series has continued, really opening up with this one, the scope of the series has broadened to an astounding level. The enormity of the world has grown to encompass so much more than the little telescopic view we got from the first in this series, Throne of Glass.
The build and complexity of this plot was incredible and rose to a crescendo at its close. This really was a forward-moving book. Even when there wasn't an action scene or battle scene, I found myself moving through this 700+ page book with abandon. I typically do not care for the ever-rotating POVs so prevalent in YA Fantasy these days, but I must admit that I did not mind it one bit here or in Maas's other stories. Her pacing within the book and with choosing when to end her chapters and switch the point of view is so perfect for me. I loved every single set of narrators and found that the differences in each situation — i.e., a road trip, a turning point, commitment and dedication, and the exploration of the storyline through each of their experiences and points-of-view — made this the best and most developed book in the series.
It would be a mistake for me to not mention an astounding surprise for me, personally. I have grown to dislike all these prequel and in-between novellas and short stories that have popped up like weeds within the YA market. I have found that many of these needn't have been published at all, and that the author is making a mistake in capitalizing on the need readers feel to be satiated, either in between books in a series or after its completion. Just because an author has a completed backstory in his/her head, doesn't mean we, as the readers, need to know it. With the exception of the bridge book, Fairest, number 3.5 from The Lunar Chronicles series, I have rarely found these additions to add anything of merit to the overall series. Indeed, I felt this way about the prequel collection for this series. But I feel I must admit that the brilliance of Maas's world building has shone through here and much of the reasoning behind including these in the published series is displayed in Empire of Storms, where knowing those short stories really packs a punch.
Updated following a re-read in August 2023.
