Liz's Reviews > Empire of Storms

After re-reading a few parts I cannot help but rate it lower. Well, maybe it'll be one of those books that I rate lower and lower with every time I re-read some parts and revise them in my head. Oh, SJM, you could have done it so much better. Why? Pity.

I will start with the flaws.
Well, the "mature" content that reminded me a bit of fanfictions from AO3, not because it was horrible, but because it was given too many pages and written in an over-the-top manner. That said, I am generally not fond of sex scenes in books and after ASoIaF no sex scene can impress me anymore. So the sex scenes were cringe-worthy. Seriously, worse than ACOMAF because in that one there weren't as many.
The writing itself, funnily enough, was at times not at its best either. I gushed about the writing in my QoS review, but due to the 'territorial nonsense' of the Fae in this one and the never-ending repetitions of certain verbs I did not enjoy the writing in this one quite as much but only at these particular moments. Action-scenes were splendidly written. I had honestly not expected that for the simply reason that action/combat scenes are exceptionally difficult to write in a manner that contributes to a build-up of tension and many authors tend to mess them up. But yeah, the emotional parts were very much purple prose, which I am not very fond of.
Oh, and another minor aspect that was more annoying than enjoyable - Aelin and Rowan. I loved them together in HoF and QoS, but in this installment their relationship was at times too much even for me. Too sweet, too perfect, too purple. Ugh.
And not everyone needs to be paired up. This is such a childish move. Such a stupid, obvious and immature move that I do not appreciate it at all. No, not everyone needs a relationship. This endless pairing up every character that appears both in ACOMAF in here is just endlessly annoying.

Now on to the parts that I liked.
As I have already stated - the combat scenes. There are many in this book. Seriously, a good deal of this book is fighting be it with magic or not. But the combat scenes contribute to the overall progression of the plot and character development, so it's not just pointless bloodshed. In addition to the combat scenes, there is the overall suspense. Fuck sexual tension, I didn't care for it, but the tension between the characters who are minutes from gutting each other, that one I loved.
The overall atmosphere of this book is darker, more cruel...more insane than in the previous books.
Then, there is the "girl power". But let's call it - flawed and interesting female characters, shall we?! I am tired of 95% of male characters ruling the realm of fantasy and I love the fact that women are so intelligent and vicious in this series.
I loved Aelin's quiet scheming. All the wrong and right choices that she made. (view spoiler)[Her sacrifice, her silence, broke my heart at the end. (hide spoiler)] Her development was fantastic and it was believable, particularly the reaction to "Nameless is my price", I think I'll never get over it.
It irked me a bit that due to all the action, due to so many things happening simultaneously, there was not much space for SJM to include some in-depth insight into some characters' heads and their emotional turmoils, but I liked their development nonetheless. Apart from Aelin, there is Lysandra. For me, she is hands down the most mind-blowing character in this entire series by now. All-time-favourite female characters? Lysandra and Manon. But seriously this is a minor, but very vague spoiler - so many things would have never worked out without Lysandra. She is the gem of this series.
Perhaps with Manon, who has changed rather a lot since book three. Many changes, particularly those that occur in this book, have been forced upon her by the circumstances and her own past and the possible absence of a future, so yes, she changes visibly, but I did not feel like she changes in a manner that is OOC. Same goes for Dorian. It's a pity that there wasn't much insight into what was going on inside his head, but I still adored him, as much as I did in the previous books. Elide and Aedion were other pleasant surprises. Aedion's development was very interesting, as was his relationship with Gavriel and the other Fae and Elide was just overall one big surprise!
Moreover, many "old friends" make an appearance in this book. (view spoiler)[Ansel!!! ANSEL OF FREAKING BRIARCLIFF!!! (hide spoiler)] I cannot wait to see them in the final installment and how they will work together. Aelin and her "court" are already used to each other, but with so many "new" faces it might be a bit of a struggle to coordinate and get along because so many of them are used to rule, not to obey.
Lastly, the history and myths of the world of ToG. I am a sucker for good world-building and Maas never disappoints in this regard. Many of the old myths come to live again, some are merely remembered, but even that is enough to dive deeper into this fantastic, ancient world. And the time-line of when certain things occured becomes clearer as well, although with all these revelations more questions arise as well. Not that I minded that, I just hope that SJM won't mess it up and won't leave the crucial questions unanswered.

Let's be honest - it could have been so much better. Makes me a bit anxious about the final book, to be honest.
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Before reading:
A year of waiting...