Tower of Dawn is the 7th book in the 8-book Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. The fantasy series is centered around Caelena Sardothien aka Aelin Galanthynius who is an assassin turned rightful queen of Terasen. Yet, in this book, Aelin does not appear. So what could this book be about?

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At the end of book 5 (Queen of Shadows), Chaol is paralyzed from the waist down and he and Nesryn are about to make the journey to the southern continent where the healers of the Torre are his only hope to walk again. Tower of Dawn takes place during the same period as book 6 (Empire of Storms) where Aelin ends up a prisoner of Maeve after she rallies a mighty army to take on Erawan. Tower of Dawn departs from the main story to tell the story of Chaol and Nesryn as they try to convince the Khagan or king of the Southern Continent to join Aelin’s cause to save the north from the demon king Erawan. They are also assigned a healer named Yrene Towers to heal Chaol’s back but Yrene’s family was brutally murdered by the previous Adarlanian King, Chaol’s old boss. Yrene reluctantly takes on the challenge of healing Chaol but isn’t happy about it.

While Chaol and Nesryn are staying in the royal castle in Antica they find out that the daughter of the khagan had committed suicide before they arrived and the large royal family is in mourning. It is not the best time to try to convince the patriarch to risk the death of his people and potentially his family to fight for a cause across the sea. They are not granted an audience with the khagan so they end up getting to know his children who have their ambitions and schemes.

Chaol and Yrene spend their days bickering while Yrene uses her impressive healing magic to heal Chaol’s back. While doing so she finds that a small shadow of a valg demon darkness is still inside him and it is feeding off his self-hate. Her work allows him to wiggle his toes and then his feet and soon he can walk with a cane and as they get to know each other they start to bond unexpectedly.

While Chaol and Yrene are busy working on his ailment Nesryn makes quick friends with Sartaq, son of the khagan and captain of the Rukhin army. The Rukhin is a legion of massive birds called ruks that are trained to be ridden into battle. Sartaq takes Nesryn far from the city to live amongst his Rukhin family where they hope to learn anything that might help them against the valg demons. Nesryn and Sartaq do indeed learn important information about the history of the valg and their beginnings in their world. After a series of near-fatal adventures in the mountains in the south Nesryn finally meets back up with Chaol at the end of the book.

Chaol and Yrene find that the valg may be among them when a young healer is killed in the same way that the valg in Wendlyn was killed in a previous book. To learn more about the valg and how to convince the khagan to help them, they venture into the desert to an ancient site of the fae that used to inhabit the land. During their time in the palace, Chaol and Yrene find out that the healers of the Torre might be key players in the battle to come against the valg demons but it isn’t until Yrene tests this theory against the shadowy darkness inside Chaol’s body that they learn the truth. After she defeats the darkness and Chaol can walk again we find out that a valg demon has indeed invaded the palace and is out to stop Chaol and Yrene from getting back to Aelin with their knowledge.

The book ends when Nesryn and Chaol reunite to make a final plea to the khagan of the southern continent to help with their cause. Based on the recent events and finding out the truth of the valg, they have a strong case.

While the book has a bit of a slow buildup it does not disappoint. I enjoyed learning about the southern continent and how its history plays a major role in the events that lead up to the main plot. It is written in the same engaging way as all the books and it was a great addition to the series. The mysteries uncovered in Tower of Dawn add a depth of knowledge to the rich world that will prove to play an important role in the final conflicts. I can’t wait to continue on the last book Kingdom of Ash. I recommend this book and this entire series to anyone who enjoys fantasy, romance, and epic adventures!

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