Book Thoughts: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
““Over and over, she pounded against the lid. Over and over, that song of fire and darkness flared through her, out of her, into the world. You do not yield.””
In the finale to the Throne of Glass series, Maas concludes with a tale of epic proportions, filled with battles waged on a scale unparalleled to the rest of the series. At the start of the story, only a few months has passed since the end of Empire of Storms. Aelin is still imprisoned by her aunt Maeve, and her mate, Rowan, and other companions and cadre, are on the search for her. They must find and rescue her, if Maeve does not break her in the meantime. Simultaneously, Aedion and Lysandra, who is masquerading as Aelin, must lead the battle front for Terrasen, while navigating the messy politics of war and reign. Dorian and Manon are also on a quest of their own, trying to wrangle the witches, all while Chaol and Yrene emerge from Tower of Dawn, anxious to reunite with everyone.
Needless to say, a lot needed to happen in this book. I had a lot of conflicting thoughts about this book, but let me preface my thoughts by saying: I enjoyed this reading experience. One of my favorite things about reading new books is the sense of fear you feel for the characters. You want nothing more than their own happiness, and it’s heart-wrenching to watch them go on their journey. This book truly exemplified this feeling: one day, I was sitting at a coffee shop reading, and with each turning page, I curled up into myself, slinking slowly further and further down the chair. I gave the man sitting next to me a fright, particularly when I turned a page and let out an audible whimper. This book stressed me out.
Overall, I liked the book. I didn’t love it, as I did with Empire of Storms. Finales are hard, in any capacity, and so the story accomplished all it needed to do. I had a good sense of closure, and by the time I got to the end of the story, I realized and appreciated the importance of every plot line. At the start, it seems as if the story is going too slowly - and then all of a sudden, it doesn’t. I love all of the characters, and I love this world, so I savored any and all of the different character interactions, especially as some things that were set in motion in Throne of Glass and The Assassin’s Blade came into play.
There is truly no character I’ve ever come across as Aelin: she is a blur of femininity, embracing pain, exemplifying ruthlessness and selfishness and cleverness, selflessness and beauty and sacrifice. She is all and none of those things at once, and it is so refreshing to see a strong female heroine written like that. Maas is a genius at this - showcasing female strength in different ways; each character is distinct from one another, as Aelin’s strength differs from Manon’s, which differs from Lysandra’s and Elide’s.
I love the relationship between the cadre and the growing relationship between Aelin and Fenrys - it is probably my favorite of the book. Though it is nice to see each character’s development throughout the course of the story, Aelin and Fenrys have a companionship I was thankful to see.
Many of my conflicting feelings about this story cannot be discussed without spoilers, so please do not read ahead if you have not read this book. All of my following thoughts contain spoilers.
First, I might as well start with the biggest problem I had with this book, which is something I had a lot of trouble grappling with. As the story progresses, there are more and more similarities to the Lord of the Rings movies. At first, I could just attribute that to the similar fantastical worlds; medieval/fantasy battles generally use the same battle tactics, so I thought that could just be a coincidence. However, as the book went on, there were so many glaring similarities that I found it hard to overlook. By the middle of the book, I was referring to events in the Kingdom of Ash by their Lord of the Rings counterparts: the dam scene? To me, I just see the Battle of Isengard/Last March of the Ents. In addition to that, there are so many different renditions of Helm’s Deep in this book alone. I could list so many more instances, from when they light the beacons (LoTR version: Lighting of the Beacons), the throwing of heads (Return of the King - battle in Minas Tirith). In certain cases, the dialogue is basically the same between the LoTR movies and Kingdom of Ash, right down to the sequence of events (ex. asking if there is no way for the women and children to get out, then Aelin showing up with a ray of light behind her, compared to The Two Towers scene with the same speech from Aragorn and Gandalf’s subsequent appearance. Also, Manon’s monologue when she answers the call for aid copies exact words from Haldir’s speech before the battle of Helm’s Deep. Some of the dialogue was also reminiscent of Aragorn running, saying, “Gondor calls for aid,” and Theoden responding, “And Rohan will answer!”). I really wanted this to not be a problem; I love Lord of the Rings and I love Sarah J. Maas, so maybe I could just accept it. But while reading, I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I had turned in this book as an academic paper, I would’ve been accused of plagiarism. While I admire Maas for the world and characters she created, it was a blow to me to have such blatant similarities. For me, it went to such extremes that it could barely be called a Tolkien homage; it was much more like a copy.
Another review specifically details the similarities between Kingdom of Ash and LoTR, and they have done a more thorough job than me. They also bring up the issues with representation in this series, something that I want to mention. I’ll echo another blogger’s sentiments, in which if you feel as these books have harmed you, or feel as if you’ve been badly represented, you are completely justified. If you love these books, and the stories have changed and impacted you in some way, you are also completely justified in your sentiments.
Because of the sheer magnitude of the book, it is hard for me to organize my thoughts in coherent sections. Plot-wise, Lord of the Rings moments aside, the ending was too clean for me. I was expecting this, after reading A Court of Wings and Ruin; in that series, all of the characters remain relatively unscathed and alive. Before I picked up the book, I did not have much faith that Maas would kill off any of the main characters. Though my heart truly longed for these characters to be happy and healthy and together, particularly after how much pain and turmoil they’ve been through, this book was depicting a war. The fantastical elements were believable - the fact that all the main characters remained alive while waging a war on this massive scale - was not (I don’t count Gavriel’s death, as for me, it was too obvious and foreshadowed). There didn’t have to be a lot of death, like in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (practically every side character died there, along with some main ones), but in the absence of at least one impactful, heart-wrenching death, the ending seemed too easy.
Some of the battle scenes dragged on; Aedion’s viewpoint of the battle was too lengthy for me. His part did a good job at showcasing how long battles can last and how much you have to endure - but also, nothing really happened. At first, I didn’t mind that he wasn’t together with Lysandra; I understood both of their viewpoints. However, once he kicked Lysandra out of his tent and into the snow naked, that was a turning point for me. From then on, their angst seemed to be comprised of contrived obstacles to keep them away from each other, rather than actual plot points. After all that they had been through, it was starting to feel a little unnecessary. However, I did like the scene where they finally admit their feelings to each other. Overall, though, I could not really keep my interest in this storyline - his perspective was keeping me from other parts I was more interested in.
One of the other more interesting parts was watching Elide and Lorcan’s journey unfold. It was both underwhelming and satisfying, because in my opinion, Elide is the strongest character in this series. She has endured so much, yet remains unbroken and determined, and fights the world with no special powers of her own, which the rest of the main characters have. Because of that, I wanted her to be with Lorcan, since that would make her happy. I predicted that he would have to be near death for Elide to forgive him, and that proved to be right. However, it took nearly half the book to get there, which was at some times, frustrating. If I’m honest, I really did think Lorcan was going to die. Before the story even started, it seemed that if a main character would die, it could easily be him; his death would be shocking, but in the end, really only change the course of Elide’s life. I was wrong - but happily so, since this is my favorite pairing of the series (besides Celaena and Sam - he truly holds a place in my heart).
Another pairing I enjoyed watching was Dorian and Manon. Dorian really proved himself in this book, and I loved watching him shine. He has been a steady favorite of mine, and he validated my love for him. I was constantly anxious to see what he was up to next. I liked his partnership with Manon - how he understood what she wanted and needed, and putting her own needs before his, whether or not that aligned with his own desires. It was also fun to watch their personalities clash - they really are nothing alike. Manon goes through perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of the book: the sacrifice of the Thirteen. That scene was truly one I loved: it showed the high stakes of this battle, and their sacrifice and selflessness broke my heart, both for their deaths and Manon’s loss.
The Tower of Dawn characters took a backseat for me, mainly because I lost my interest in Chaol long ago. However, I loved watching him with Dorian; their reunion was one I had been waiting for, and I was happy to see the steady support they offer each other. Yrene was a badass; I loved the role she played and admired her power. However, since we had only been introduced to her in one short story and a semi-spinoff book, I hadn’t grown as emotionally attached to her as I would have if she had been present for just a little bit longer. Nesryn and Sartaq were barely in this book, but my love for Nesryn still remains.
I must give an honorable mention to the cadre, particularly Gavriel and Fenrys. Gavriel was so easy to picture: a calm, steady presence, with a bit of wry humor and an unwavering sense of duty. He was almost impossible not to love. And Fenrys, with his determination, wit, and new blood-oath - what a man. He brightened up the page even in the darkest of circumstances, and his friendship to Aelin was something that could’ve only been forged through shared experiences. For the sake of their characters, I was glad that each of them had someone to share those horrors with, so they did not have to bear them alone. As I mentioned earlier, their friendship is perhaps my favorite aspect of the book: it was something I could’ve not previously envisioned, but immediately loved.
Finally, to the main pairing: Rowan and Aelin. From the beginning, Aelin’s torture was painful to read - particularly when they erased all physical markings of the pain she had been through, which served as an anchor for her to remind how much she had endured and survived. After she had escaped Maeve, one of the aspects I appreciated the most was how her brokenness was portrayed. As readers, we had seen her at some of her lowest points, but that had been nothing compared to this. The consequences of Maeve’s torture could truly been seen in Aelin’s desperation to get the iron off her; we had never seen Aelin ruined to this extent before. Her humor was a shell of what it had been - and by doing that, it made what she had gone through all the more painful. Rowan’s support for Aelin made me appreciate this couple like I hadn’t before; he understood Aelin so inherently and gave her exactly what she needed. He refused to be parted from her again, and in that, you could blatantly see the strength of their love. Part of me thought that both of them were going to die together, just so that one would not be alone, but perhaps that would’ve been too predictable.
There were two main things that still confused me by the end of the book: the exchange between Aelin and the gods. I had never been too clear on the mythology of the gods or their role in the series. I feel as if the explanations may have been in the earlier books, which I do not remember as well. Because of that, I didn’t really understand the exchange of Elena for Erawan (or maybe it wasn’t, I’m so hazy on this part). The second is a question: was it ever stated that Erawan’s life force was tied to the army? When he died and his army crumbled, I pictured the end of Return of the King when Frodo destroys the ring and Mordor collapses on itself, but I can’t remember any mention of Erawan’s life being tied to all of his forces. Is that something we were just supposed to assume, or was it clarified earlier and I just missed it?
Lastly, I cannot talk about all the characters without mentioning Rhys’ and Feyre’s cameo. Though their actual appearance did not make much sense to me, I loved the thought of Aelin falling through worlds and Rhys helping her out at a moment’s notice, even though the two would have never interacted.
I know I have not addressed many elements of the plot, but the LoTR parallels were so much that it’s hard for me to separate that from the actual plot itself. For this reason, I don’t think I can rate this book. I still don’t know how to consider the book if I simply overlook or accept the LoTR similarities, and without that, the rating would be based on my love for the rest of the series, rather than the book itself.
Also, if you have read all of this, thank you, this was a long one.
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release date: October 23, 2018
