Blog #23: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn (Tandem Read)

  SPOILER WARNINGS

    So I decided to listen to the TOG fandom, and did the tandem read of Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn. It was definitely a huge task to tackle, and took me a good minute to finish it. Empire of Storms was 75 chapters, and Tower of Dawn was 68 chapters. I really loved Empire of Storms, it had a lot going on with many different characters. Tower of Dawn was okay, but it was slower paced. I’ll be discussing these books individually in the paragraphs below.

Empire of Storms

     So, I have to say that Empire of Storms was a great read. There was a lot going on, though I will some spots are hard to follow because there’s so many different characters doing so many things. Just to put in perspective, here are a list of characters that are main characters in this book: Manon, Dorian, Rowan, Lorchan, Elide, Aelin, Aedion, and Lysandra. Each of them shines through as a main character and sometimes it’s hard to follow, but it was a fun read.

    I found it odd that the Heir to Terrasen was not recognized as the Queen by Darrow and the rest of the land based on a vote. She is the Heir and Queen, and a powerful queen at that, and since when do these rulings come from the lords of the land and now the Heir? I felt like they should’ve welcomed Aelin back, but instead they threatened her if she did come back. Thankfully we don’t really see Darrow again after this.

     I wasn’t a big fan of the witches, but now I love them and the Thirteen. The Thirteen being a group of witches that ride wyverns into battle. Witches are beautiful creatures, but have iron teeth and nails. They gut people or rip out their throat. Very powerful and again very beautiful creatures. As a group the witches were strong, and following the matriarchy. That’s why it was so shocking when Manon refused to kill her friend, as requested by her Grandmother who is in charge, and instead she lashed out and attacked her grandmother. She herself sustained some major wounds as well. Once she was well enough to recover she started to look for the Thirteen and Elide.

     And did anyone else love Manon and Dorian? That was some good spice, and a couple I didn’t see happening. I want more of these two.

     Speaking of Elide, what a useless character. She doesn’t really do anything, and yet she gets people fawning over her. Lochan falls for her and becomes attracted to her. Manon feels responsible for her, and finding her. She has no way to fight or protect herself, and she’s a terrible liar. I feel like if you removed her from the story, nothing would change at all. 

     Okay but also, Lysandra turned out to be such a badass! She may have been a sex worker before, but now that magic is restored, she can be who she truly is. A Shapeshifter! A powerful, god damn, shapeshifter! She attacks a boat as a water dragon, using her teeth and tail to bring down ships. And later, she shifts into a snow leopard, and she destroys people by ripping their throats out and gashing their bellies. It was a lot to shift, and very tiring, but it was so cool! I’m hoping to see more of her and her powers in the Kingdom of Ash.

     Now on to Aelin’s badassery! Her fire can decimate valleys and hordes of enemies. But not just a wave of fire. She also burned a man from the inside out. That level of power is amazing. If she does too much she gets worn out and needs to rest and rebuild her strength of magic power. But it was so cool to read. Just burning someone alive, just so cool.

     I also will say I love Aelin and Rowan together. They did it for me, from enemies to him doing the blood oath with, her and then they have sex in the ocean and then get married. These are the scenes I love from Sarah J Maas, not overwhelming spice, but a good amount when needed. A sprinkle of spice instead of a wave haha! 

   SPOILERS

     So we finally have the big naval fight scene. We have Maeve and her vast army, and what army Aelin and friends have to fight. Rowan flies to his cousins on her boats, and pleads with them to turn on Maeve and help them. Which many of them did.

     But what no one knew is that Maeve was at shore side, and had taken Elide. Again, why would she matter? So many other better people to choose from, even powerful people. When they realize Maeve is at the shore, they all quickly get there. Aelin agrees to go with them, as long as she spares Elide. The agreement happens, and the boats that were there fighting them disappear. They tie Aelin to a pole and whip her until she counts. From there, her back torn to shreds, they bring out a metal coffin and place her in, still bloody from being whipped. They then take her back onto their boat, and leave.

     Overall I really enjoyed Empire of Storms, I like how it all flowed together. I liked all the characters and the battle at the end. I’m curious to see what Maeve will do with Aelin now that she has her.

     We will see.

 Tower of Dawn

     Okay so I enjoyed Tower of Dawn, just not as much as Empire of Storms. It was a much slower pace, and mainly focused on healing Chaol’s back injury. Him and Nesryn come before Khagan to plead for boat aid to Aelin, and for their amazing healers to try and fix Chaol’s back.

     He is told that it is up to the healers on who they heal, and he could need to ask the healer themselves if they would fix him. Knowing where he comes from (Ardalan), and how a particular healer needed to heal herself through healing him, the head healer asks Yrene to heal him. She disagrees at first before finally deciding she would heal him because it was the right thing to do.

     I really enjoyed this aspect, that the healers have their own bodily autonomy, and aren’t forced into healing. It’s more like a journey within themselves. I just thought that was pretty cool.

     With Chaol’s injury we learn that this type of magic injury is more like a memory. A memory and also like a brand, specifically his type of dark magic used against him internally and externally. When Yrene looks into it and tries to heal it, she sees what happened that led him here. It gives her a bit more compassion for Chaol, and seeing him as a person, not a soldier. And slowly Chaol’s back is healed and he is able to walk with a cane again.

      I did not see the romance between Yrene and Chaol being a thing, but boy do I love it! Some good spice between them, and I like how she doesn’t coddle him. To get him to stand she even goaded him, and stayed out of reach just to piss him off until he stood. And he did! 

     I did not like Chaol as a character very much, but him with Yrene just works. I didn’t get him with Nesryn, it just felt awkward. And maybe it was supposed to, to show how incompatible they were, and how easy it was for Yrene and him.

     SPOILERS

     The Valg are parasites! They use their darkness and black jewelry to entrap people, and they take over their host body and control everything while the person is trapped in their bodies and witnessing everything but can’t do anything about it. But now that we know that, and Yrene knows how to attack the parasite, they can start aiding in the war and healing people that have been taken by the Valg. I like this approach, them as parasites, and how they can teach healers how to help people.

     I did enjoy Tower of Dawn, just not as much as I liked Empire of Storms. Tower of Dawn was a slow burn between Chaol and Yrene, and a slow pace to learn how to fix his injury and himself. 

Tandem Read Conclusion:

     So, would I recommend the tandem read for people? You really don’t need to, but it was a fun little adventure. Some stuff that happens in Empire of Storms comes up later in Tower of Dawn. Like I said it was a fun little journey, and I’m glad I did it, though I can see why it’s not for everyone.

Signing Off,

Fenisha Estes