It is definitely a challenge to get back to epic/high fantasy fiction after a period of ten years. I began reading The Lies of Locke Lamora in January 2021 based on a few book recommendations by the fervent book lover @sharp_tack , but had trouble keeping track of the storyline and the “mannerisms” of the medieval era characters. I read the Google reviews and wanted to experience this storyline that garnered a 4.8 rating on Good Reads. Nevertheless, the second wave of covid came and then my sister’s typhoid illness. And then a close friend’s death due to covid. The surrounding world in mayhem was getting too stressful, negative and inhumane at times that it was getting difficult for me to not concentrate on the good things when I was not working. This book, this masterpiece of a book, came to my rescue during those troublesome days. The first 100 pages are difficult to get through as the author is gradually building the storyline but after that, you will be hooked to it. Talking about the story – there are so many stories about heists and thieves. But I doubt that there will be a story in which the thief is madly passionate about stealing and develops creative ways to hone his skills. I will not comment further on this book because hey, no spoilers!

But yes, because of this book, I can finally read complex fantasy stories again and get lost in the said world.

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My, oh my, Robert Jordan delivers again on the 7th book of the Wheel of Time series. I was expecting fireworks, in your face humour and twisted politics. What I did not expect were a host of feel good moments, over shadowed characters coming into their own, introduction of a no-nonsense Mc Gonagall like character…

The second book of the beloved Throne of Glass series was heart-wrenching, baffling and thrilling, to say the least! The Adarlan’s assassin comes into her true form in many a fight scenes and now we know, why she is feared all over the empire. The Crown Prince was just another chocolate boy in the first…

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The complexity of the characters is there but it doesn’t overwhelm the reader. So have you read it?

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The Adarlan’s assassin comes into her true form in many a fight scenes and now we know, why she is feared all over the empire.

The Crown Prince was just another chocolate boy in the first book but his character development in this book is phenomenal. He has certain interesting secrets and I am definitely not going to divulge them here.

The Captain of the Guard is not his usual brooding self but quite different – no spoilers!

A major character dies and Sarah has shown the sense of loss associated with death very well. A character snaps very badly – the humanness of that moment is appalling!

The love story develops very well here but sadness still pervades.

The history of other kingdoms in Erilea is elaborated – communities such as Crochan Witches, Ironteeth, Wendlyn and the Fae are talked about in fascinating details.

The world-building is denser here but not overwhelming. There are many humorous moments as well.

There are many jaw-breaking revelations towards the end, so keep yourself away from the last pages.

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“You trouble me so, Rand-al Thor. Light, sometimes I think that the Creator made you to trouble me.” And Rand-al Thor continues to trouble me! Our Dragon Reborn is getting annoyingly arrogant of his “dragon” and undefeated status and it looks like the power or the saidin is getting to him. Thank Robert Jordan for…

My, oh my, Robert Jordan delivers again on the 7th book of the Wheel of Time series. I was expecting fireworks, in your face humour and twisted politics. What I did not expect were a host of feel good moments, over shadowed characters coming into their own, introduction of a no-nonsense Mc Gonagall like character…

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Technically speaking, this book and the Tower of Dawn go hand-in-hand as the adventures of Chaol and Nesryn are elaborated in the latter. I decided to read the two together and here is a link on how you can read the chapters of these two books without stumbling upon any potential spoilers: https://throneofglass.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003175117

The King of Adarlan learns to hone his magic and uses it for lethal purposes initially without anyone’s help.

A major secret that is a huge plot-twist is revealed about the Wing-Leader and this changes many dynamics! But the character development of Manon Blackbeak is phenomenal! Her maturity while guiding Aelin, her possessiveness towards Elide, her attitude towards Abraxos and her mischievous recklessness towards the King of Adarlan are refreshing to read!

Talking about the King of Adarlan, who was such a sweet cutie-pie and a cinnamon roll in the previous books (barring that raunchy flirting with Manon in the Oakwald forest) – he is trying to think more shrewdly and learns well from Rowan on how to strengthen his raw magic. He is tired of feeling useless and there are a few jaw-dropping moments where he is more vicious and alert in a fight than the Fae and demi-Fae around him. He even stands up to the recklessness and abusive behaviour of Aelin and begins stressing that he is a powerful King with raw magic.

“Phantom hands” are extensively used in combat and a few other things that are only meant for mature audience.

The Pirate Lord’s secret is revealed after a legend is talked about and oh my, this plot twist takes some time to get used to.

The storyline of Elide also gets interesting and I felt that this girl is a cunning survivor. Imagine Lorcan of all people calling this sweet innocent lass a “she-devil”! Talking about Lorcan, we get to see his softer side also and are assured that this supposedly stone-hearted Fae is not so stone-hearted at all!

While midway through this book, I’m coming to hate Aelin – Sarah is trying too hard to show how she is such a powerful protagonist and blah blah. She is a 19 year old immature, abusive, arrogant and rash teenager who does not care much about the opinions of her closest allies. Manon is turning out to be a far better character with the right amount of sass, kindness and cruelty of course. But in the end, after a slew of plot twists, I realized that Aelin has good many reasons for doing what she does.

The Wolf-of-the-North shines again in this book and opens up more about what he feels and his past. Although in the ending, he just screws up. Big time!

Fenrys, another blood-sworn of Queen Maeve, is such a refreshing and hilarious character to read about! He is supposed to be a mischievous young Fae who is clever enough to try to work around the blood oath for decades. His Fae power is also interesting and helpful.

We also get to know Gavriel up close and it feels good to read about a sane person in this melee of crazy do-gooders!

And talking about trying too hard to show certain characters as over the top, now this exercise of part of SJM is getting monotonous. We know how mighty Rowan is, how angry he gets if someone looks in a different way at Aelin, how Aedion is “Wolf-incarnate”, and so on!

The forms of the shape shifter are getting breath taking! And these forms fit so well in the different combats and fights. Major respect for Lysandra!

A revelation about the earlier wars with Valg is revealed and how those events are now impacting the lives of our characters are elaborated.

The ending is sad but satisfactory. The unexpected happens, in good as well as bad ways. If you have read the novellas of 0th book, The Assassin’s Blade, you will be elated to read about many familiar characters coming back!

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The first few chapters are gradually building the plot and the characters, and the story line is not fast-paced but it is not slow paced either.

The fantasy elements are starkly different and Sarah J Maas does not reveal everything in the first go. She gradually builds up the thrill and lets the readers think/judge about who is the villain of the book. Needless to say, I was wrong about the miscreant of this book but the events leading up to the reveal of the villain were some of the most thrilling chapters!

Sarah concentrates on one kingdom at a time and reveals tit-bits about three other kingdoms – I consider this a good strategy while writing high fantasy because it will not overwhelm the readers but will keep them engrossed so that they are eager to know more!

The characters are multi-layered and show a willingness to grow or rather the author wants them to grow. The main character is quirky and bubbly and it is such a relief to read about her. My favourite character though is Chaol – a brooding Captain who is the owner of some witty one-liners in this book.

Since this is a young adult high fantasy, romance is to be expected but the love story is fluttery rather than cheesy.

The ending of the book is satisfactory and it brought an unexpected smile on my face.

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The third book of the Throne of Glass series is longer by hundred pages as compared to the previous books. It goes more deeply into the characters and introduces a few new ones. What I hated about this book is the lack of maps of Wendlyn and Doranelle. There is an adorable wyvern which loves…

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Technically speaking, this book and Empire of Storms go hand-in-hand as the events occurring on the northern continent are elaborated in the latter. I decided to read the two together and here is a link on how you can read the chapters of these two books without stumbling upon any potential spoilers: https://throneofglass.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000003175117

You can actually read about Lord Westfall smiling and joking, who could imagine the brooding hunk to be capable of this?

And humour, splitting humour! We know that Chaol is sarcastic many a times but humour?

The healer is actually able to get under the skin of Chaol which is an achievement in itself. For a person who does not talk much about his feelings unless goaded to death, the determined healer keeps pestering him now and then and he cannot help himself, of course.

And his guilt, my my, that killing guilt is revealed in his healing sessions. He feels guilty about every bad thing that has happened in the previous books and how this negative thinking is preventing him from healing and embracing life fully.

SJM has handled the disability and guilt of Chaol with sensitivity and care. It is so realistic to read that how one mishap after another can drive a person to irritation, guilt, negativity and expecting failure in every event.

The humour in this book is top notch – imagine a raging horse named butterfly and the satire woven around her temperament!

The world-building in this book is far better than the one in previous books – the Khaganate empire is elaborated very well and is inspired from the Mongolian empires.

Nesryn’s adventures are good to read about but somehow they seem monotonous.

The typical twists and political manoeuvres by Sarah are there in this book and they keep the reader interested to go forward.

There is a huge plot-twist-come-reveal about Queen Maeve and that explains many loopholes that eager readers might have caught in the previous books. Another revelation about healers can change the tide of the coming war.

The ruhkin – a special kind of huge combat birds are talked about and how they can counter the Ironteeth wyverns is touched upon.

Overall, this book is one of the most optimistic reads in the Throne of Glass series because when Chaol heals gradually, somehow, we too heal with him!

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The sort of enchantment Rowling weaves around her books is indeed fishy considering the obsessiveness of the readers. Sometimes, I doubt whether the pages of her books are drenched in a love potion or a bottle of Felix Felicis. I have found myself and my sister glued to the books even if we are reading them for a hundredth time. And let’s not forget the apparent intermittent fasts & thirsts that we accidentally face while lost in the magical world. One of my cousins once forgot to ring her doorbell while coming back from school (she was sitting outside her home) because she was reading the truth about Lord Voldemort’s most loyal servant in the 4th part.

I never understood why Barty Crouch called Percy Weasley as “Weatherby”. Or why Peeves was never evicted by Hogwarts, even by the likes of Mc Gonagall, Dumbledore or even the Bloody Baron. But I’ll never forget his sing-a-song at the end “We bashed them…..”

During these times, when people are working 13 hours a day from home and then cooking & washing utensils, I do feel like a house elf. For the Hermione Grangers out there, I take back my last sentence. This is the longest detention human kind – wizards and muggles alike – have been through.

And talking about the current situation, I sometimes get the eerie feeling that Dementors are on lose. Since we are muggles, our eyes can obviously not perceive them but can very well sense them. And even if some of us are wizards/witches, we are forbidden to break the International Statute of Secrecy. I wish that corona virus patients were detected with the same dexterity as underage wizardry. Imagine the lives saved! (Nothing against the health care workers but against the long incubation period)

We could have used the tears of Fawkes the phoenix (and her relatives) in curing the organ damage of the co-morbid patients if Rowling’s world was real. And the shrill cries of the baby mandrakes could have been effectively used against the covidiots.

The corona virus is behaving like Lord Voldemort sometimes – imagine refusing to leave Wuhan after such aggressive measures! I doubt how many horcruxes a virus can have considering it lives only in the host cells. Or, have we become the horcruxes? This sudden thought is giving me the collywobbles.

Summoning charms could have come in handy during the lockdown period – just chant the “Accio” spell and whatever you wish for comes zooming in your lap. And the post of owls too, you’ll know which posts are relevant considering the way “owls fluff their wings importantly”. Contact free deliveries at your disposal, Monsieurs and Madames.

Quite mysteriously, majority of us took the virus scare for granted, the way the wizard kind took the news of Lord Voldemort as a hoax. Imagine the mental state of the countless Harry Potters who were demanding social isolation right from the start.

While the Covid-19’s Nagini is slithering surreptitiously in the by lanes of the research labs currently testing vaccines, let us hope a cure is underway.

While the mayhem unfolds, it is prudent to take a leaf out of Luna Lovegood’s book and snap astonishing selfies in baby carrot earrings.

Let us not forget our Aurors and Healers – the health care workers, the police, the army, the airlines staff, the research scientists, the sanitation workers and the shopkeepers.

I hope our Master provides us a sock or two soon – at last so many Dobbies will be free of the virus.

P.S. Please forgive the abrupt ending, looks like I drank a bottle of the Sleeping Potion.

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