Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Mass - ADVISABLE

Mass, Sarah J.  Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3), 569 pgs.  Bloomsbury, 2014.  $17.99  Content:  Language: PG-13 (150+ swears); Violence: PG-13; Mature Content: PG-13.   

Celaena is the evil king of Adrlan’s assassin and when she is sent to the kingdom of Wendlyn to assassinate the Wendlyn royal family, she goes against the evil king and decides to learn more about who she is and what magical powers from the Fae she might control.  While in Wendlyn, Celaena trains with the Fae warrior Rowan and learns to control her power of fire and she also decides what she wants to fight for instead of being an assassin.  There are three story lines followed throughout the book interweaving what is going on in Wendlyn and with Adarlan as well as a new dark power of witches that are training to fight with the Adarlan king.   

As the third book in the series, and it’s been awhile since I’ve read the second, it took me awhile to get into the story because the author makes very little attempt to connect what happened in the first two books to what is happening in this one.  Once I got into it though I loved the world that Mass has created.  Her characters have depth and are interesting, even if Celaena was a bit whinier than usual.  This book felt more like a bridge between the first two books and the rest of the series and it had more magical elements, but it was worth reading and if your readers enjoyed the other two books in the series, they will enjoy this as well.  I believe there are supposed to be six books in the series and I wait for each one impatiently.  The violence is a beheading, and ripped apart bodies.   

MS-OPTIONAL; HS-ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.