Kingdom of Ash: INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

By Sarah J. Maas

Aelin Galathynius's journey from slave to assassin to queen reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world …
She has risked everything to save her people – but at a tremendous cost. Locked in an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will to endure the months of torture inflicted upon her. The knowledge that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, but her resolve is unravelling with each passing day…
With Aelin imprisoned, Aedion and Lysandra are the last line of defence keeping Terrasen from utter destruction. But even the many allies they've gathered to battle Erawan's hordes might not be enough to save the kingdom. Scattered throughout the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian must forge their own paths to meet their destinies. And across the sea Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen – before she is lost to him.
Some bonds will deepen and others be severed forever, but as the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight if they are to find salvation – and a better world.

Years in the making, Kingdom of Ash is the unforgettable conclusion to Sarah J. Maas's #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Oct 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781408872925

Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Crescent City, Court of Thorns and Roses, and Throne of Glass series. Her books have sold millions of copies and are published in thirty-eight languages. Sarah lives with her family in New York City. sarahjmaas.com facebook.com/theworldofsarahjmaas instagram.com/sarahjmaas

Reviews for Kingdom of Ash

[stixnstones004 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have NEVER loved a series so much. This story held strong from the beginning of book one through the end of this nigh on 1,000 page finale. There never came a point where I was no longer surprised, where I was no longer rooting for Aelin and Rowan and Manon and Dorian and everyone else. I cried for the last hundred pages, not because I didn't want it to end, but because Sarah J. Maas did such an amazing job of stringing my heart along for such a long journey. There was no disappointment, no regret. My ONLY critique is that I think I could have done without all of the characters finding love and getting married in very heteronormative ways, but that doesn't mean I wasn't rooting for those pairings all the same. I would have also liked to see some more queer characters. But a fantasy series who finally FINALLY had women as the primary heroes, women as the drivers of the story and the catalysts of change, women who literally save the world... I will come back to this series again and again for as long as I live. ❤️❤️❤️

[rabidgummibear-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am okay and this was a good closure to this series.

I hardcore ship Elide/Lorcan and they are okay at the end of this so I'm really good with that. It was a little too dragged out also.

[cecilywolfe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic companion to book five - knowing what we know from book five - following Chaol in an incredibly emotion-filled battle within himself and as he works to make allies who will help fight the Valg. And this ending - so much revealed, and then . . .

[thegenreminx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I will admit that I had put off reading Tower of Dawn for seven months because honestly the story was about Chaol Westfall. After book two in the Throne of Glass series he has basically been dead to me and not because of how things when with Aelin. His character was very black and white and he couldn’t get beyond what he “thought” was “best” to embrace what he wanted and it led to moments of great cowardice in my opinion.Tower of Dawn did not resurrect any of the book two’s feelings for me either. In fact, I could have done without the first four hundred pages or so of Chaol because really not that much happened with his character except for physical therapy for Chaol and political drama. Now do not get me wrong, I absolutely appreciated the disability representation and it was brilliantly done. I truly liked the approach to Chaol’s healing and that it seemed very realistic even with the fantasy element. I just didn’t like his character and it made the story just drag for me, like tortuously drag.It was just very hard for me to stay engaged with this story at that point because Chaol was still messed up emotionally and mentally. Although, I did love Nesryn and Yrene’s characters immensely. They were my bright spots of sunshine while reading. I had felt bad for how things went for Nesryn but I really think it worked out way better than she could have ever imagined and that her ending was a much better fit for her. I loved Yrene and she deserved every little bit of happiness that she received despite her choice in men.Thank God that Tower of Dawn picked up for me after about the four-hundred-page mark and wow did the momentum keep going. There were battles, great reveals, and some ah-ha moments as well. I loved the story after that point and would recommend that it be read prior to book seven in the Throne of Glass series. Now as far as Chaol’s character goes, I still don’t care much for him but I think he is in a good place and I was glad for how things ended for him. I am also very, very excited to see how things play out in book seven, Kingdom of Ash!

[kassilem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sarah J. Maas knows how to write an interesting story. I really enjoyed seeing Chaol's and Yerene's interactions. There are always romantic matches happening everywhere in her books but I don't mind. It means everyone is happy in the end. This story's central match making was done very well, with good development. I didn't even mind that Aelin never made an appearance (until the epilogue). There are a few phrases that the author over-uses but I didn't think it deterred from the story very much. The story is just very good. There was some interesting reveals here, and now I'm geared up for the next book.

[evelynnygren · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Praise to Sarah J. Mass for this amazing ending to this beautiful series! It made my laugh and it really made me cry, more than once, and I am so glad to see it end in such a lovely way. I have loved Aelin from the minute she appeared as Celanea Sardothien and I am happy about how far she has come since. Please read this series in all of its glory because it has given me much joy in reading it!

[linyarai · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was a bit lost at first, too many characters were thrown at me and it had been too long since I had read the previous books, so I had to Google the plots of the rest of the series. After that this book flew by, it was a little bit predictable but still really exciting. More adult content then I remember previously, though.

[sapphiremoonlight23 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Why do you do this to me, Mass?
Why is this series over?
I stuck with it for so long... and now it's finished.

But, wow. Everything tied together really well. This series... is unexpected. I mean, who was expecting 'Celeana' to get together with Dorian or Chaol? EVERYONE!

I just wish that we got more time with Dorian and Manon so I could actually understand their relationship better.

But, this series has a slow start but an incredible finish!

Recommended!!!

[bodagirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

"It was the siege that would not end. It just went on and on my friends." There were so many times when I almost DNF'ed this book, including when I hit the last 150 pages or so, but I wanted to see it through because Maas is so popular. The action was just so drawn out because of the multiple points of view and the repetitious nature of the character's inner motivations. None of the action was compelling. I'm going to take a very long break from Maas.

[theyodamom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My last book of 2018 finished on News Years Eve. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous series. I will miss these characters, they have become fictional friends over the years. Thank you Ms. Maas.

[mrnattania72 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The angst that I felt that this was the last on the series, only made me ws.t it to be over.All if this finally coming to a close, was fine for me. That being said, the antihero Munan, and her team of 13, made me cry like a baby and only appreciate the character transition of our favorite witch so so much. I fell in love with her and wanted more of her story. . . Maybe a spinoff tale???

[garg_nitika · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This has been the most Epic journey for me in a fantasy world. This series was everything from romantic, thrilling, adventurous to inspiring and poignant. Aelin was a kickass heroine always taking every hurdle and difficulty in her stride. She was never stuck on a tragedy for too long but always ready to turn the tables around on her enemies. And her enemies were many. I also loved her self deprecating sense of humour and that she was aware of her strengths and vulnerabilities. She knew she was powerful, the best trained assassin there is but she never let it go to her head. She knew the stakes were high and you can never be sure you will be the last man standing after the war. She was smart, brilliant in using her strengths to her advantage and never taking anything for granted. She always had a plan A and plan B in motion in case things went sideways. What I loved the most was she did not want to be the sacrificial lamb as I had assumed when I realized the story was moving in that direction. Most of the times, writers just turn the characters into miss-goody-two-shoe without giving us an insight into what they really want. No one wants to die if their is a chance to survive. Sarah J Mass showcased that conflict amazingly. Aelin does not want to just sacrifice herself even when she know she will need to do it to save her people and her kingdom if the worst came to that. She tries her best till the last moment to save herself from that outcome. She damn well wanted someone else to take her place. There were also many other characters in the series worth mentioning but Aelin's character will stay with me for a while. In addition, the book is filled with some very beautiful and inspiring thoughts that touches you raw. I would say this a must read for fantasy book fans and for anyone who loves a kickass heroine.

[libgirl69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love this series. Book brings much together, along with all out war.

[faith_murri · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

January 9th edit: yall I totally forgot to rename this. Here are all the previous books in case you forgot too:

0.5 The Assassin's Blade AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Cross-Country Murder Spree
1 Throne of Glass AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Weakest Love Triangle
2 Crown of Midnight AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Most Mood-Swings
3 Heir of Fire AKA Celaena Sardothien and the Book She Remembered What Her Real Name Was
4 Queen of Shadows AKA Aelin Galathynius and the Sudden Romance With a Previously Platonic Character
5 Empire of Storms AKA Aelin Galathynius and the Horniest Road Trip Ever
6 Tower of Dawn AKA Chaol Westfall and the Book That Was Good Because Aelin Wasn't In It
7 Kingdom of Ash AKA Aelin Galathynius and the Deus Ex Army-Out-of-Nowhere Machina

(original review before I read it)

What I want to happen:

~Aelin dies and stays dead (good riddance)
~Dorian stops being a gross sexist pig, or dies
~Rowan can die too tbh
~Manon kills her grandmother, unifies the witches, and returns home
~Aedion and Lysandra stay okay, I guess, idrc about them much tbh
~Maeve dies
~Chaol is finally happy and stays happy, with Yrene
~Elide finds something to do
~Lorcan grows as a person without his blood oath to Maeve holding him down

What I think will happen:

~More gross sex scenes between Manon and Dorian
~More Rowan being obsessive
~More Chaol worrying about everyone
~More Aelin being ~the most important, most speshul girl in the whole wide world~ whose absence will prove how necessary she is, unlike Chaol in Empire of Storms
~Elide and Lorcan quickly make up and have grossly and unnecessarily descriptive sex
~More Queen Maeve being one step ahead of the court
~More obvious or groan-worthy "plot twists"

(review after I read it)

What actually happened:

~An obnoxious amount of perspectives, locations, and last minute army-out-of-nowhere saves
~The purplest prose you've ever seen. And no paragraphs longer than 3 lines unless they were dialogue. And even then...
~An overabundance of repeated exposition every time a new perspective character (all 13 of them) learned any piece of information whatsoever, even if 5 of them were in the same scene together. They must all describe how that makes them feel, even though the reader has known this info for 200 pages already! They must!!!
~Not as smutty as I was expecting, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good that I only wanted to vomit three, maybe four times. Bad that I even had to feel that way
~Dorian surprised me by not being entirely disgusting. Only a little bit horrible. But the personality that evaporated from him in Empire of Storms came back a bit and he was finally doing anything besides gnawing on Manon's mammary glands for ten pages straight
~Aelin was not as annoying as usual. Mostly because she was suffering from PTSD, but still
~All personality was stripped from Chaol and Nesryn
~Some decent enough shocks and plot twists (and one actually good one!)
~Characters that seemed to fade away into oblivion once they were no longer important to the plot
~980 pages for no reason whatsoever when it read like 400 or 500 and probably was, given the idiotic paragraph lengths

And it still utterly baffles me that there's a bad guy named Cain in the first book and a bad guy named Cairn in this one. How does a fantasy author run out of names? Aelin, Elena, Cain, Cairn. At least it's better than Isaac Hale, the worst fantasy name of all time

[acargile-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The final novel in the Throne of Glass series, Kingdom of Ash delivers a solid ending. With this being novel #7, I plan on being vague so that I don’t give anything away.Aelin is trapped in the coffin and is tortured relentlessly. She is torn apart and rebuilt each time--which is why I love fantasy. That wouldn’t be cool in real life! Until she can escape--IF she can escape, everyone is on his/her own to convince the people that Aelin is fighting with them for freedom. Rowan, Lorcan, Elide, and Gavriel are supposed to find and free Aelin. The scenes with Lorcan and Elide are heart-wrenching. Fenrys is with Aelin and their relationship is forged by the torture that she must bear and he must witness.Aedion has the most difficult story of all the characters in my opinion. He fights throughout the entire novel without knowing if Aelin is alive or if she’s coming. Lysandra must pretend to be Aelin, but she isn’t capable of fighting like her. Their relationship is difficult to witness because of how he treats Lysandra. The despair of this storyline encompasses you--I wanted to tell them to run, to wait, but those aren’t choices.Manon and Dorian are an interesting pair. Dorian’s job is to find the third ring, which is the most dangerous task because he has to enter Erawan’s stronghold. He’s already been under his control; he would rather die than be in that situation again. Manon has to pull all the witches from all the tribes together out of their war to fight this war. Not an easy task.Chaol, Yrene, and Nesryn with Sartaq and his fighters are trying to arrive in time to help fight Erawan and save Aelin’s people. Yrene’s powers are amazing!There are scenes in this novel that will pull you apart because these characters have been developed over the previous six novels. There’s so much to love about this novel. Fenrys’s and Aelin’s relationship. When Chaol and Dorian see each other again. When Aelin sees Chaol walking, Manon and her bravery to fight. Elide’s inner strength eclipses Lorcan’s physical strength as she tries to save him.. The little folk. Evangeline softening Darrow’s heart. Sacrifice. Love. Strength. Bravery. It’s all here. The only criticism I have is a character from book one returns and plays a role that made me smile, but I don’t remember him at the end of the novel. I think he got dropped.Everyone will have to do his/her part and then they have to come together and then they have to defeat darkness. There’s a lot to do. Can it be done? Who will be sacrificed? What are the consequences of their choices? What can the future hold? Hope or despair?This series is so worth your time if you like fantasy. Take time and enjoy these seven novels. The world building and the character development will become your world and your friends for a brief, beautiful time.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Doorstop ending to the Throne of Glass series. A series of last battles, thrilling escapes, brutal victories, and heterosexual couplings. She finished as she began, with lots of power and fights and references to “males,” which never failed to make me flinch—I mean, just call them Fae if you can’t say “people” or “men,” ok? Still, it kept me reading, and King Dorian and Manon Blackbeak in particular did good work.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Note: There are spoilers for previous books in this series.This is the final book in the Throne of Glass series.Kingdom of Ash, as noted above, is the conclusion of a series, and it seemed like the author hated to let it go. Not only is it 980 pages long, but the ending stretched out over several chapters, as if an orchestra concluded a symphony with multiple crescendos. I don’t think fans of the series will be disappointed however, as they probably feel the same reluctance to leave the story as Maas apparently did.Most of the book is devoted to the efforts of Aelin, the heir to the kingdom of Terrasen, to escape the clutches of the evil queen Maeve and get back to her own people to defend them, and the efforts of her friends and supporters to help her. She doesn't know it, but help is coming from all directions.Aelin’s mate Rowan, as well as his Fae compatriots Lorcan, Fenrys, and Gavriel, are searching along the east side of the Kingdom to locate where Aelin is being held captive. They are accompanied by Elide Lochan, who is trying to deny her feelings for Lorcan.In the north, close to Terrasen, Aelin’s cousin Aedion is fighting against the soldiers of Morath who are made up of Valg, a race of malicious demon parasites who have taken over human bodies. They serve their leader, Erawan, who wants to destroy the world. Aedion is greatly assisted by Lysandra, a shape-shifter. Aedion and Lysandra are also loathe to admit their feelings for one another.On the sea in the south, Chaol, who is sworn to Dorian - the heir to the kingdom of Adarlan and Aelin’s friend, is heading toward Terrasen with fighters from the Khaganate to help. Chaol has gotten word that Morath is planning to destroy Chaol's homeland at Anielle; it is on their way to Terrasen, and he feels compelled to stop there and help defend Anielle. With Chaol is his new wife, Yrene, who is a powerful healer.And in the western mountains, Dorian is traveling with Manon Blackbeak, a witch who has broken with the malicious Ironteeth witches and is searching for the more peaceful Crochan witches. She wants to convince them to join the cause of saving Terrasen and making a better world for everyone. Dorian has his own mission: to find the missing key that will lock the Valg back in the dark world from whence they came. Lest any group not have a romantic entanglement as well, Manon and Dorian are dancing around their attraction to one another.Some of the characters get broken; some get killed, and some get stronger, albeit in ways they had not anticipated. The questions for this book are who will survive and how, and whether the forces of darkness will succumb to the combined might that stems - in this story, anyway, from loyalty, goodness, and love.Discussion: There were less sex scenes and more battle scenes in this book, and a clear emphasis on wrapping up the story. I was fine with that; I feel the author's descriptions of sex are the weakest part of her writing. She is quite good at battle scenes, however. As I thought in the previous book, the portrayal of the relationship between Elide and Lorcan stood out for its romanticism and emotional depth. Aelin, despite clearly being the heroine of the series, never seemed as “real” or sympathetic to me as did the other women, especially Elide and Yrene. The characters of Dorian and Aedion saw more development in this book, and each of them became more interesting.Alas, it would appear the series is over. It is not out of the question, however, that Maas could pick it up again one day; there are plenty of aspects to the story that could be continued.Evaluation: Maas really is a master of fantasy, or what one hopes and wishes is fantasy: her descriptions of the intentions of the evil Valg to change the world for the worse seem all too real at times. She gives them some nuance too, which is laudable. She also has her heroic characters reveal their fears and failures. In addition, I like the way the story reflects her own experience and feelings as a new mother, and shows her commitment to demonstrating, as she says in her dedication, that “girls can save the world.”These books are definitely not standalones, but should be read in order.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I made to the end! Wow, this conclusion to the Throne of Glass series was long and I couldn't help but feel that it could have been a bit shorter. That said, I was happy with how the story concluded, with several battles that bring together the characters I've been following for several books now. Aelin had a slow start in this book, spending a good portion imprisoned, but she does break free in time to reunite with her friends and meet her army as she fights to take back her home. A good conclusion to a series I've really enjoyed - I'm interested to see what Sarah J. Maas writes next!