If you've met me, follow me, spoke to me or seen any of my posts you'll now I'm a SJM fan and I've slowly been working my way through her most popular works, so I was a bit surprised when I was disappointed by the start of Tower of Dawn. I'm definitely not a Chaol hater and I really like Nesryn but by the time I was about a third of the way through I was starting to think I wasn't going to make it through a book devoted to just the two of them. Stop reading now to avoid spoilers.
I really only felt the book started to pick up a bit once they went their separate ways, with Nesryn flying off with Sartaq being about the most exciting thing thus far.
Nesryn and Sartaq
I had already shipped Nesryn and Sartaq from their first meeting and frankly didn't think she and Chaol were a good match at all. They just didn't have the right chemistry and despite caring for each other there just wasn't that underlying current you get with a lot of SJM's pairings and I loved the note Nesryn left Chaol about not having made promises. The forced proximity between Nesryn and Sartaq was definitely a big plus and helped aid their relationship but I kind of liked that neither of them really acknowledged their attraction till later on. It definitely helped to keep the development more realistic
I feel like they're an even match in many ways and I'm happy they are together despite the fear Nesryn would feel for any potential children with Sartaq being a potential heir of the Khagan.
Their adventures together within the story were good and enjoyable my favourite probably being their arrival at the aerie/Nesryn meeting the hearth mother and their final main showdown against the Stygian spiders.
Chaol and Yrene
I liked Yrene from here first introduction and I knew straight away the mysterious women who had changed her life was Aelin(technically Caleana at the time). Chaol was being a bit of a dick to her at times and fighting his own inner demons but I liked their chemistry and how obviously attracted they were to each other from the beginning. I'm very happy they ended up together but I am a bit worried about Yrene returning to her home continent and facing the war there. I know she can handle it but my favourite characters don't usually cope well in fantasy books.
In terms of their journey a lot of it was less adventurous than the other two with there being a lot of court manoeuvrings and intrigue but they definitely had the most part to play with the climax of the novel below the library which was much deserved after all the work and research they had put in. I was a bit sceptical about Yrene's bargain with Silba around tying her life to Chaols but I am excited to see how it plays out in the next book.
World building/general points
As always SJM blows me away with her world building and the sheer level of detail she manages to include without it feeling like it detracts from the storyline. All the characters in this were just as vivid as in her previous works and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the palace and city surrounding it.
The pacing was a bit of a drawback for me as I especially struggled early on and nearly set it aside to read something else for a while but I am glad I powered through. I am reading The Assassin's Blade after this and have been told of I'd read it first I would have appreciated this one much more at the start so I'd advise you to do a bit of research on the reading order and find the order that would suit you best. I definitely wish I'd rea this before Empire of Storms.
Another great one from SJM and I am excited to work towards finishing this series soon.
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