Book Review :: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
ISBN: 1408872919
Series: Throne of Glass #7
Also in this series: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, The Assassin's Blade
Published by Bloomsbury
on 23 October 2018
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 980
Goodreads

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . .

Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…
With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.

And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.

As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.

Last updated on 20 January 2024

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What is Kingdom of Ash about?

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas is the final book in the Throne of Glass series, and Aelin Galathynius is on a mission to save her people. But it comes at a hefty cost. At the end of the last book, we see Alein locked up in an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae. Now, at the beginning of Kingdom of Ash we witness the horror that she endures being held captive by Maeve. Maeve’s mission is to make Aelin swear the blood oath to her.

Aelin knows giving in to Maeve would mean disaster for both her world and those she loves, so she’s doing everything in her might and power not to give away the secrets that Maeve and the other torturers are trying to get out of her. Her only solace is knowing the Fenrys, in his wolf form, is there by her side.

Meanwhile, the others are tackling their own battles. Some friendships (and relationships 😉) are getting stronger, while others are crumbling. As their paths begin to intertwine once more, they’re able to combine forces and tackle the enemy once and for all. But nothing is every easy, nor is it simple. And if they want to save Erilea, it’s going to be a long and bloody ride.

A few thoughts and my reading history with ToG

Kingdom of Ash was a wild ride. It’s taken me literally years to finish this series, and when people ask me why I don’t really have an excuse. I think because from book 3 they suddenly got a lot larger in page count, and while that doesn’t necessarily put me off reading a book, it didn’t have me leaping to read them. I averaged one Throne of Glass book a year for a long time, and even when to the Sarah J Maas event in Auckland when she was touring with Kingdom of Ash. In 2017.

But I finally finished it and now, at the writing of this review, only have the prequel to go (but I’ve basically finished the series, ya know?).

So was it worth the amount of time it took to read this series? Absolutely. I love this series, it’s fantastic and while the books did get a lot longer (we’ll come back to this) overall it’s probably one of my favourite series.

While I would love to go back to Throne of Glass and re-read them … knowing that I’d eventually get back to the last few and the sheer number of pages and have to read it again … yeah, probably not going to happen. I might re-read the first 3 books, as it’s been so long since I read them, but I probably won’t ever read the entire series again.

Enough on that. What were my actual thoughts of Kingdom of Ash? 

“Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom …”

My thoughts on Kingdom of Ash

⚠ WARNING: I’ve tried to write my thoughts with as few spoilers as possible. There are a few things in the coming paragraphs that you might not like to know, but they’re nothing specific.

I’ve given it 3.5 stars, which is possibly the lowest of all my star ratings for books in this series by Maas. And here’s why: it was unnecessarily long.

Now, I know that that’s a bit of a silly reason to bump something down a star, but honestly, so many chapters seemed completely pointless, so many scenes could have been chopped in half and the impact and the storyline would not have been impeded. It was such a slog getting through the first half, if not 3/4 of the book that I had to force my way through the book just to get it done. And that’s not what you want to be doing in the final book of an incredible fantasy series.

The final sort of ‘battle’ or big event that happens to attempt to save the world was incredibly underwhelming. It seemed too easy, and it was all sort of done and dusted before I really realised what was happening. And again, for the final book of a long-spanning fantasy series where the build-up has basically been the 6 prior books … underwhelming.

Another huge gripe for me was that basically nobody dies. And I know that sounds like a mean thing to say, but if you’ve read any fantasy at all in your entire life, especially a series this huge, then you expect your heart to be ripped out when the author suddenly slaughters your favourite character. I expect that sort of pain in my reading life.

Did that happen? No. The only death of a semi-main character was a bit meh, and I was like “okay, didn’t care for them, whos next?” and the only major death-inducing other scene was really sad and really beautiful at the same time. But again … they were not what I would call a main character.

I’m not saying that you need to kill your darlings in every book … but I for sure thought someone wasn’t going to make it. Sigh.

One final gripe, and I didn’t actually think this until I read some other reviews where the reviewers pointed it out: it was very Lord of the Rings, Helms Deep. Was that a good thing? Meh. I’ll leave that for you to decide.

“Let’s make this a fight worthy of a song.”

Okay moving on. The good things. I have given this book 3.5 stars, which means I didn’t hate it. Overall, I enjoyed it. But I could have loved it if not for the above points.

I did really enjoy the characters, as usual, and it was fun to see some of them interacting more, and some characters who we’ve ‘known’ for books upon books actually finally meeting up here at the end. The development of many of the characters over the course of the series really shown through here at the end, and there were things that characters did in this book that there is no way they would have done even 2 books ago.

The relationships that grow and really find their groove here, some of which have been building up for several books now, were really lovely to read. There are a few different types of relationships going on too – family dynamics, romantic interests, deepening friendships, and new friendships forming. Some past metaphorical wounds begin to heal, and some are made.

I will say that I do love a lot of the characters in this book and series. Dorian and Manon’s arc is one of my favourite storylines, and I do like characters such as Aedion, too. Chaol is a love-hate for me. He’s annoying (and honestly why was his book so long?), but also seems to bug me less in this book than in past ones.

The final line of the book (don’t worry I won’t spoil it) was beautiful and a nice rounded way to finish the series … but predictable.

And I think that’s what sort of sums up Kingdom of Ash. Underwhelming and predictable.

Do I think you should read this book? Absolutely! Especially if you’ve started the series; you’d be mad not to finish it. But I for one didn’t love this final book. I expected more more it, I expected more feelings, I expect more death. Did it end the series? It sure did. And it feels mostly closed (although always room for other stories I guess). Did it end the series well? Debatable.

I really want to know what you thought of Kingdom of Ash! Did you enjoy this final book? Did it live up your expectationcs? Or was it a bit lacking for you as it was for me? Let me know in the comments (and try to keep them spoiler-free!).