Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas - A Review

What was supposed to be a novella ended up being a whole new book to add to the Throne of Glass Series. Tower of Dawn is the first book in the Throne of Glass Series that doesn't follow protagonist Celaena Sardothien, but instead Chaol Westfall, and takes place at the same time as Empire of Storms. This review will contain spoilers for the other books in the series so far, so if you have not read them yet please be aware of that. I have written reviews for the other books in the series, you can find them here:

• The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas - Click Here
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas - Click Here
• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas - Click Here
• Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas - Click Here
• Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas - Click Here
• Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas - Click Here

Photo Credit: @DreamingandReading

Arriving in the shining city of Antica, Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Flaiq are on orders to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea's last hope. They have also travelled for another purpose: to seek healing for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold at the famed Torre Cesme. 

Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan after enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need - and will honor it. Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and soon Yrene comes to realize they could engulf them both...

Many of the fantasy novels out there in the world seem to tell fantastic stories about heroic men and evil men and men who couldn't leave the house without a second breakfast; I have always felt like there was something missing from these books. Something that is important in real life that these novels forgot exsitsed - Women. Something I absolutely love about the Throne of Glass series is that Sarah J Maas has introduced us to so many powerful, inspiring women. 

Tower of Dawn is set after the events of Queen of Shadows, and the story happens simultaneously to the events in Empire of Storms. Chaol begins the story seriously wounded, since he recieved a fatal blow to the spine during the battle at the Glass Castle. King Dorian has sent Chaol as an ambassador to the Southern Continent to convince the Khagan to join their side in an upcoming war against the Valg. However their trip has another goal, to heal Chaol and help him down the path of recovery.

As we discover the unfolding secrets and twists, we are once again launched head first into Maas' epic world. She is able to keep you guessing, which is one reason why I absolutely love her writing. You think you have something figured out, but then it is tipped on its head and suddenly everything you thought was right is actually wrong. Tower of Dawn is no different to her other books, it is filled with plot twists that have you looking back through the previous books for clues that this was coming. 

Chaol goes through an immense amount of character development in this book. He is a neutral pessimist, so he does not always look on the bright side of things. But, he learns to find hope in this story, as he knows the likely hood of him being able to stand again is slim. Furthermore. he tries to gather allies to help them with the huge war that is inevitably brewing in the north. Neither of these tasks are easy, and we see the struggles that Chaol goes through, especially dealing with a court as stubborn as the Khagan. But most importantly, Chaol learns to deal with his own inner turmoils.

The book may focus on a male point of view, but the female characters really stand out in this story.  We are introduced  to a wealth of strong female characters who will do anything for the people they love and to protect the world they know. 

There is Yrene Towers, who makes her first appearance in the series after the events of The Assassin's Blade. She is willing to go to war so that she is able to save lives with her gift. 

Yrene Towers is a character that I loved in the novella The Assassin and the Healer - I mean, she was a healer in a time when magic was banned! Tower of Dawn made me fall in love with Yrene even more, she was sassy and smart but still the gentle soul we met in The Assassin's Blade. This book gave her the chance to become a fully developed character, we delve into her past and learn of the prejudices she faces! She is easily one of the best characters that we encounter in the whole Throne of Glass series.

Additionally, there is Nesryn Faliq, who is an archer known throughout the world for her skill. Unfortunately, in Queen of Shadows, I felt like Nesryn was introduced just o be Chaol's love interest. Shes not the centre of attention in that book as it is not her story - that was part of Celanea's story. However, we see so much more of her in this novel. We are introduced to some of her family, as many of her relatives are in the Southern Continent. She is a resilient character, keeping her head held high despite the many issues she has faced in life. I appreciated that in this book we saw another side to her, and that she was more than just a two dimensional character. 

Furthermore, we are introduced to a more diverse cast in Tower of Dawn. Most of the characters are PoC, which makes sense since it takes place in the south where the skin colours are darker than where the rest of the story is set (still, not really the best excuse for not having more non white characters in the story before now, but it's better than nothing). We are introduced to more gay characters - with one of the more principal royals identifying as a lesbian - and of course, disability is touched on with Chaol and his injury. I hesitate to comment as much on the disability representation in this novel however, as I am not really the right person to say whether is was good or bad representation. This is definitely a step up from the previous white washed world, so there is a pat on the back for Sarah J Maas in this area.

Tower of Dawn did not have as much action as the other books in this series, but it was anything but a slow-paced ride. It is mainly talking and healing, and then some more talking added in. But, what kept me glued to the pages was the political circles that the Great Khagan and his court were making Chaol and Nesryn run around. There were man twists and perplexing moments. Not to mention Chaol's journey into finding himself and fighting to get back to health.

I did feel as though it took a while for this book to get going. I appreciate a good 600 page books, but there has to be at least something happening. Not much really happens in the first 100 pages and that is where the majority of complaints come from with this book.

Overall, I did really enjoy Tower of Dawn. It was really nice to see Sarah J Maas do something new with the series while ensuring that it is still a familiar world to us too. It is definitely not a book to be overlooked, and I would definitely recommend reading this if you are this far into the series already.