Empire of Storms is the fifth novel in the Throne of Glass series and opens with the world in a state of unstable transition following the fall of the King of Adarlan and the return of magic.
Aelin Galathynius begins the novel travelling with her court back to Terrasen after liberating Rifthold. Dorian Havilliard has reclaimed the throne of Adarlan following his liberation from Valg possession. Manon Blackbeak serves at Morath as Wing Leader of the Ironteeth witches under the command of Erawan and the Blackbeak Matron. Elide Lochan has fled Morath, carrying a mysterious stone left to her by Kaltain Rompier. Alone and injured, she travels north through Oakwald Forest, pursued by Morath’s Ilken.
Beyond these individual paths, Morath stands openly revealed as the seat of Valg power, with Erawan gathering armies and war beasts for conquest, and Maeve, Queen of Doranelle, remains unseen.
Throne of Glass Series
Prequel: The Assassin’s Blade
Book 1: Throne of Glass
Book 2: Crown of Midnight
Book 3: Heir of Fire
Book 4: Queen of Shadows
Book 5: Empire of Storms
Book 6: Tower of Dawn
Book 7: Kingdom of Ash
Main Characters
Aelin Galathynius: Queen of Terrasen, formerly Celaena Sardothien.
Rowan Whitethorn: Fae prince and a member of Aelin’s court. Former member of Maeve’s cadre.
Dorian Havilliard: King of Adarlan.
Manon Blackbeak: Wingleader of the Ironteeth witches, heir of the Blackbeak clan, and commander of the Thirteen.
Elide Lochan: Lady of Perranth, with inherited witch-blood.
Lorcan Salvaterre: Immortal demi-fae warrior, and part of Maeve’s cadre.
Lysandra Ennar: Shapeshifter, and former courtesan.
Supporting Characters
Aedion Ashryver: General of the Bane, Aelin’s cousin, public face of Terrasen’s armies.
Fenrys Moonbeam: Fae warrior blood-sworn to Maeve.
Gavriel: Fae warrior, Aedion’s father, blood-sworn to Maeve.
Maeve: Queen of Doranelle.
Erawan: Valg king, ruler of Morath.
Rolfe: Pirate Lord of Skull’s Bay.
Brannon Galathynius: Ancestor of Aelin and Dorian.
Elena Galathynius Havilliard: Ancestor of Aelin.
Cairn: Sadistic Fae warrior, Maeve’s new second.
Recap Summary
The book opens with a flashback to Princess Elena Galathynius and warrior Gavin Havilliard preparing for a doomed battle against Erawan. Knowing they cannot win, they decide to trap him temporarily using Elena’s power, sacrificing the long-term balance of the world to delay the threat.
In the present, Elide Lochan treks north through Oakwald Forest with the strange stone Kaltain Rompier entrusted to her. Crossing paths, Lorcan Salvaterre recognises her scent as connected to Morath and begins following her.
Aelin Galathynius, Rowan Whitethorn, Aedion Ashryver, and Lysandra prepare to meet the lords of Terrasen. When they meet, the lords refuse to recognise Aelin as queen and claim to speak for Terrasen themselves. They demand that she prove her worth through alliances and military strength.
Elsewhere, Manon Blackbeak is summoned to Morath. Erawan, now fully separate from Duke Perrington and possessing a body of his own, orders her to lead an attack and capture Dorian Havilliard.
Hearing of the sacking of Rifthold, Aelin sends Rowan to warn and rescue Dorian. In Rifthold, Dorian sees wyverns approaching and is nearly captured. Manon intervenes and kills a Yellowlegs witch to protect him. Rowan arrives, helps Dorian escape through tunnels beneath the castle, and flees by boat.
Elide and Lorcan are forced into an uneasy alliance as they flee Morath’s Ilken. They survive several close encounters and begin working together, though Lorcan suspects Elide is hiding information.
Manon returns to Morath and faces punishment for her disobedience. The Blackbeak Matron spares Manon but sentences Asterin to death. Manon invokes the Right of Execution to kill Asterin herself, then turns on her grandmother, learns she is half Crochan, and flees with the Thirteen. Manon survives the escape injured and alone.
Aelin and her court reach Ilium. She leads them to a temple where they find Brannon Galathynius’s message delivered by the Little Folk. Brannon tells Aelin she must find the Lock in the Stone Marshes and use it to banish Erawan at great cost. They are then attacked by soldiers bearing Erawan’s voice, who speak through a possessed man.
Elide and Lorcan join a travelling performance troupe for cover, posing as newlyweds. Elide begins sharing details about Morath and the horrors within.
Dorian and Rowan travel to Skull’s Bay and approach Captain Rolfe, where they are reunited with Fenrys and Gavriel, who remain sworn to Maeve. Gavriel learns that Aedion is his son. Aelin, Aedion, and Lysandra arrive soon after and enact a plan in which Lysandra poses as Aelin. Their goals are to secure Rolfe’s allegiance through promises of title and territory and to gain access to the magical living map inked on Rolfe’s hands and forearms, which may reveal the location of the Lock.
As Erawan’s sea creatures attack Skull’s Bay, Lysandra plunges into the harbour and shifts into a massive sea dragon. The transformation mirrors imagery from an ancient Mycenaean legend that Aelin deliberately instructed Lysandra to study while they were in Ilium, anticipating that Rolfe’s heritage and belief systems could be leveraged where negotiation could not. Seeing the sea dragon, Rolfe rallies the Mycenaean people and commits his forces, securing their allegiance. During the wider assault, Aelin and Rowan combine their powers aboard the ship as planned, but Aelin loses control, and the goddess Deanna overwhelms her power, briefly taking possession of her body. Rowan intervenes to stop Deanna from destroying the town. Amid the fighting, Aedion saves Lysandra and later promises to marry her.
Rolfe’s fleet remains with Aelin’s armada as they leave Skull’s Bay, adding its ships and crews to the growing alliance moving east.
Aelin’s group encounters Manon after she crashes near death into the sea. Aelin rescues her and allows her to remain aboard the ship under guard while she heals. They exchange information, and Dorian begins to bond with Manon.
The group begins connecting bloodlines, artefacts, and prophecies. Manon reveals that the Eye of Elena is a witch mirror tied to Crochan history and explains the curse that destroyed the Crochan queens.
As they near the Stone Marshes, tensions rise. Rowan, Fenrys, and Gavriel sense larger forces at work. Aelin unleashes her power to defeat more Ilken. Lorcan shields Elide during the battle. He secretly sends a signal to Maeve, believing she is the only force capable of defeating Erawan. Fenrys, compelled by Maeve’s blood oath, tries to attack Lorcan before Rowan intervenes.
When Aelin and Elide reunite, Aelin reveals that she is Celaena Sardothien, and Elide gives her the stone Kaltain sent. Aelin opens the retrieved chest and discovers it contains a witch mirror rather than the Lock.
Additional ships arrive along the coast. Ansel of Briarcliff and her warriors appear to honour a life debt to Aelin, having raided a Melisande war camp and freed prisoners along the way.
The next morning, Aelin and Manon activate the mirror and are transported into the past. They witness Elena and Gavin sealing Erawan and learn the full truth from the gods: Elena misused the Lock, which was meant to return the gods to their realm. A new wielder, either Aelin or Dorian, must forge a new Lock at the cost of their life. In return, the gods will take Erawan with them and seal the gate forever.
While Aelin and Manon are gone, Maeve’s armada arrives and delivers an ultimatum: surrender Aelin by dawn or be destroyed. At night, Rowan secretly flies from ship to ship, telling his distant cousins and other Fae warriors sworn to Maeve his story and Aelin’s actions.
When battle erupts, several of Maeve’s ships turn on her. Wyverns descend from the sky, led by Abraxos and the Thirteen. Asterin Blackbeak introduces herself and joins the fighting without hesitation.
Aelin and Manon return to find Maeve waiting. Maeve reveals that she orchestrated Lyria’s death to break Rowan and concealed the truth of Rowan’s mating bond with Aelin. With Aelin’s magic depleted, Maeve demands her surrender. Aelin complies to protect Elide, secretly passing messages to Elide and Manon before being whipped, chained, masked, and sealed in an iron coffin.
Rowan arrives too late. The group learns that Aelin is Rowan’s wife, having married in secret before the battle. Elide reveals Aelin’s contingency plan for Lysandra to assume her form permanently if Aelin dies when sealing the gate. Lorcan’s role in summoning Maeve is exposed, shattering the remaining trust between them.
At dawn, Aelin’s final gambit is revealed. Galan Ashryver arrives with Wendlyn’s fleet, joining Rolfe of Skull’s Bay and Ansel of Briarcliff, followed by Ilias and the Silent Assassins of the Red Desert. Old debts are honoured as Wendlyn’s armada fills the horizon.
Lysandra assumes Aelin’s identity publicly and leads the allied forces north with Aedion, maintaining the illusion that their queen is present. Rowan, Gavriel, Lorcan, and Elide prepare to pursue Maeve and rescue Aelin.
Manon commits to finding the Crochans and raising a witch army, with Dorian accompanying her and carrying the Wyrdkeys far from Maeve and Morath.
Though separated, every piece of Aelin’s plan is in motion. The allies are in place, the armies are gathering, and Aelin Galathynius endures captivity, having traded her freedom to give the world a fighting chance.
Next in Series
The next book in the Throne of Glass series is Tower of Dawn. It is the sixth novel and follows Chaol’s journey as he travels to the southern continent with Nesryn Faliq to heal his spine and gain allegiance for the war.
∫∫∫