In the Throne of Glass series, a war is unfolding and the stakes are high. At this point in the series, we get Tower of Dawn, an entire book set in the Southern Continent. Can Chaol and Nesryn carry a story of 600+ pages?
Warning: this review contains spoilers for the previous books in the Throne of Glass series!
In the middle of the war, Chaol and Nesryn travel to the Southern Continent with 2 missions: secure the aid of the powerful khagan and find a cure for Chaol’s injury that has him bound to a wheelchair. But neither of those quests turns out to be easy.
Chaol’s storyline introduces us to Yrene Towers. I haven’t read the novellas yet, but apparently she makes an appearance in one of them, so you might already know her. I didn’t know this before reading Tower of Dawn, but I didn’t feel like I missed essential information. So you don’t have to read the novellas first.
Basically, Chaol’s storyline is a romance plot. I don’t think anyone is surprised by this, and it’s obvious from the moment Yrene first walks into his room. It was predictable, but I really loved it. If there’s one thing Sarah J Maas writes well, it’s this sort of romance.
Nesryn gets her own storyline – with some more toned down romance. She and Chaol are separated for a big part of the book, but I didn’t mind that. I mean, I like Chaol and Nesryn as characters, I just never shipped them together. It was fun to see her in the homeland of her father, with her family and exploring the continent.
Finally some Chaol love
Now, a big part of Tower of Dawn deals with Chaol’s injury. As an able woman it’s hard for me to judge, but I have heard and read from other people who do use a wheelchair that it’s a good representation. I myself have a heart condition, so the struggle with accepting that there are certain things you can’t do felt familiar. But my situation is in no way comparable to being in a wheelchair, so again, I can’t really judge. I just loved Chaol’s character development, because he really grows as a person. I know he wasn’t the most popular character in the Throne of Glass universe, so I hope he gained some fans here.
Just a warning for fans of the series: the other characters – Aelin, Dorian, Manon, Rowan,… – are absent from this book. There is a short epilogue of 2 pages to tease the 7th book in the series, but that’s it. I didn’t mind this, because I’m not the biggest fan of Aelin, so it was refreshing to read a book without her in it.
All things considered, this is bit of an odd book in the series. Why have your 6th book in your series feature only 2 of your main characters and throw them in an entirely new continent? But it turned out to be a great choice, if you ask me, since one of my favourite characters finally got some decent development. So for that and the cute romance I give Tower of Dawn 5 stars.
And now we wait for the 7th book…
Tower of Dawn
Juvenile Fiction
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
September 5, 2017
660
In this companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series, follow Chaol on his own new adventure. Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken. His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica--the stronghold of the southern continent’s mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them. But what they discover in Antica will change them both--and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.
