“Every step. Every curve into darkness. Every moment of despair and rage and pain. It had led him to precisely where he needed to be. Where he wanted to be.” 

*Spoilers for previous books in the Throne of Glass series*

During the events of Empire of Storms Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have travelled to the city of Antica in the Southern Continent in an attempt to forge an alliance with the Khagan. The continent's vast armies may be the only hope Terrassen has to win the looming war. There is another reason for visiting the Southern Continent as well, to visit the famed Torre Cesme and attempt to heal Chaol from the wounds he received in Rifthold. Chaol is dealing with the aftermath of his horrendous injury and as well as continuing to struggle with accepting the new changing world he’s part of. Nesryn has joined Chaol to attempt to build an alliance with the Khagan. The Southern Continent is also her family's home and she is finally able to begin to start to learn more about her heritage.

Yrene Towers is a magical healer at the Torre Cesme. She has lived through unspeakable horror and against all odds made it to the Southern Continent and became one of the top healers there. She has no desire to help the young lord from Ardalan but she has sworn a sacred oath to help everyone. As Chaol and Yrene work together begins to realize that his wounds run much deeper than they thought. 

While Chaol, Yrene, and Nesryn become further entangled in the web of the Khaganate royalty, darkness starts to stir deep in the mountains. In the steppes where great warriors and ruks live, long awaited answers that may offer the world a chance at survival wait. 

The eighth book in Sarah J Maas’s Throne of Glass series was surprisingly good. I was never a fan of Chaol and found his POV boring, but this book really changed that. You get to see him really start to face his problems; he’s struggled with the new dynamic between those with magic and those without, facing the fact that the King he has bowed to was a monster, and coming to terms with his life altering injuries. Yrene helps him come to terms with everything that’s happened and work through his mental health issues. It really changed how I saw him and to see such well-executed character development made me completely change my mind about Chaol’s character. Yrene is such a sweet character, I loved reading about her. She is so caring and helps everyone, we see her not only going above and beyond her job as a healer but also trying young girls in self defense at the Torre Cesme. Nesryn is one of my favourite characters, I loved how Maas portrayed her coming back to her home country. In Nesryn’s POV Maas’s scene building is incredible, the way she describes the rolling steppes, the huge mountains, and the warriors who ride ruks is amazing. 

If you enjoyed this book try the last book in the Throne of Glass series, Kingdom of Ash, or Alexandra Christo’s To Kill a Kingdom.