Heir of Fire Review

Chapters 23-28

I need an Aedion and Aelin reunion!!! IMEDATELY! Every time Aedion would think about Aelin he always thought of how he'd failed her when she really needed him. How he was meant to be her protector, to swear a blood oath to her. I assumed from that they had been friends as children but until I read that dream Celaena had I didn't realize how close they were. Aedion was like her brother, her one and only friend as a child and I can't wait until their reunited. Aedion has thought her dead and now can barely wait to see her again but Celaena hasn't given Aedion a single thought except for the dream. There was no mention of him in the previous books or even in this book. Did she simply choose to forget everything about her previous life when she became Celaena? Did she find out about how he apparently jumped ship and was working for the king slaughtering innocents? I need to know!!! I really want to see her friendship with Aedion return in full force and I want him to swear that blood oath to her so he can be at least one person that she'll tell everything to. You know how frustrated I was when Celaena decided to keep major secrets in the first and second books so if Aedion could be a person that knew everything that would make me extremely happy.

Chapter 23 with Manon and the choosing of the wyverns was absolutely FANTASTIC! I loved how she ultimately chose her wyvern not because he was the biggest and most trained, but because he was a warrior. Despite the circumstances, the runt of the group defied the odds and killed the alpha bull, along with some help from Manon.

"The Wyvern blinked at her, Titus's blood still dripping from his cracked and broken teeth, and Manon had the feeling that he had come to the sam decision. Perhaps he had known long before tonight, and his fight with Titus hadn't been so much about survival as it had been a challenge to claim her.

As his rider. As his mistress. As his."

I'm so excited to see Manon and the wyvern, who she named Abraxos, bond and train together. Claiming Titus would have been a show of power. Claiming Abraxos is a show of resilience. Despite the wishes of her matron and the disapproval of all the other witches, Manon will train Abraxos to become the best wyvern and together they will be resilient, beating out everyone else. I also love that that Manon ordered that Abraxos be given iron teeth and that his tail spikes be tipped with iron since they'd been cut off. Instead of thinking of the wyvern as a pet Manon makes Abraxos part of her clan by getting him the iron. I am concerned though that she hasn't been out flying with him. There is a mention that his wings have been ruined but I really hope they aren't too bad. The human trainers believe the wyverns to be no smarter than dogs but it is very obvious that's not the case. My question is if the other witches have noticed that yet. Being capable of recognizing that her wyvern is extremely intelligent has allowed Manon to bond a bit with Abraxos and will most likely give her an edge when in battle. If both the beast and the rider can communicate and understand one another they can work in unison and harmony guaranteeing a win. Honestly, the Manon chapters are quickly becoming my favorite, I adore them!

I don't know how to feel about the whole Dorian situation. I think he honestly believes that Celaena has wanted to reclaim throne ever since the fall of Terrasen and that she would do anything to get it back, including killing Dorian. If only he knew how much she has rejected that part of herself. I understand where he's coming from and I understand that he's pissed as hell at Chaol because he is allying himself with Aedion, but I wish he would've heard them out. What he heard about his father is a truth that I think deep down Dorian already knows. His father is evil and Dorian has to do something to stop him. When Dorian said that part about Chaol only teaming up with Aedion because he wanted Celaena, that was a low blow. Don't forget Dorian you were also in love with her at one point and happened to be friends when she left for Wendlyn. And then when Chaol told Dorian the reason he didn't tell him the truth was because there was a chance he would run to his father, that was a low blow as well. What concerns me most though was at the very end of that scene

"He ripped his cold magic from the air and turned it inward, wrapping it around his heart."

I really, really hope that Dorian isn't going to do anything he'll regret. This is the time I'm really happy Sorscha is a character that Dorian can turn to. She is there for him even if it's only an hour per day. She is actually striving to help him instead of shutting him out and keeping secrets from him like everyone else is. I can see why it would piss him off that the people he loves and trusted are treating him like a child who needs to be sheltered. When Dorian let the cold seep into his heart I got really scared. He can't let his brightness and justness be stripped from him. I am really hoping that Sorscha can be the person who keeps that cold from permanently seeping in.

Ok, did Arobynn train Celaena to be an assassin and a detective? Honestly, every so often she just pops into detective mode and checks out a dead body in an attempt to figure out who killed the person. Rowan brought her out to see this dead body because he couldn't figure out what killed her. Similarly, Chaol brought her to see the dead body in the first book and she used her handy detective skills to examine the scene. One question I have is how did Rowan know that she might have an idea who killed the woman? He doesn't like or trust her plus she doesn't know anything about the types of creatures that live in those woods, so why in the world would he bring her? Regardless, we did learn a little about the goddess of light, learning and fire, Mala, and the Deanna keeper of the Moon. One thing that has stood out to me in this conversation was when it was mentioned that a symbol for Mala was a Stag with a star in between its antlers Remember back in COM when Celaena had the dream about the chasm and the Stag on the other side beckoning to her, what if that is her power beckoning her to close the gap and talk control of her power. I thought that it was symbolic of Mab aka Deanna aka Celaena's great-grandmother because she is the goddess of the hunt but now I think that it's more representative of Mala who is the goddess of Light and fire. I don't know if we'll ever get to see Celaena dream that she actually crosses the chasm but I was making connections while I read. Another thing that surprised me in this section was the banter between Rowan and Celeaena, well more so the fact that there was banter. Up until now they really haven't done anything but throw insults at one another but now they are showing some civility to the other. Celaena has only decided that she can't hate him because he saved her life but what about Rowan? Why has he stopped being so nasty? Was it because she admitted that she feels like her life is worthless compared to Nehemia's? Is it because of that night with the skinwalkers? Is he starting to warm up to her? Will, they actually get somewhere and become allies? So many questions! All I can say is that they are heading down a path that will lead them to become friends and I don't want them to hop off it. Please, please don't have something come between them, Sarah. Not only does she need his help to emotionally heal herself but I think she could help him heal as well. I'm already attached to him and can't stand to see him so broken and soulless. The scene when they were racing in the forest and he smiled at her gave me so much hope and filled me with happiness.