The following post includes affiliate links. More details here.

Leading up to the release of House of Earth and Blood, my emotions were all over the place.  We’ve been rereading A Court of Thorns and Roses with a small group and loving it, but the emotions are high in those books.  Knowing this is Sarah J. Maas, I was 100% expecting more of the same (and wow did she deliver), but I was still excited, especially because Ashley and I had tickets to an event with Maas the week the book was published.  We had our entire date planned and it was going to be glorious. And, then, the event was canceled. I was disappointed and then some, we both were. Let me state on record, only in retrospect – it was the right call.  

We didn’t let the lack of an event cancel our date though (the first weekend in March there was no suggestion of physical distancing in our area, yet), it still happened, albeit differently than planned, and we had a great time, and got some work done that you’ll be seeing in the coming weeks.  Even so, I was disappointed and put off starting the book for a week. I was (am) still re-reading A Court of Wings and Ruin, and I was just grumpy.  I was also anticipating all that emotion and the need I would feel to sprint through all 800 pages as quickly as possible, and I was right.  Generally, I read about 100 pages a day, so it should have taken me about eight days to read this book.  It took six. If I hadn’t had to work the last day, I’d have stayed up to finish the last 20ish pages, and it would have been five.  

I also want to state, I didn’t know much about this title before jumping into it.  I knew it was Maas, a modern, urban fantasy, and the lead character’s name. If you love Maas, just stop reading this and go read House of Earth and Blood, then come back and tell us what you think.  

If you need more, this world is intense.  Like I need another pass through to understand it better and I have a list of things I want to know more about in the next book, which are mostly spoilery.  This is modern high fantasy for adults. Our main character is in her mid-twenties, so it’s not technically YA, but definitely has that pacing. This isn’t romance, but there is a romantic side story in it (and a couple of open door “bedroom” scenes).  It’s an adventure mystery wrapped in a modern high fantasy.  

There is SO, so very much world building, as well there should be (which Ashley will discuss later).  And even for that, it’s not slow in the way Tower of Dawn is during the first section.  Speaking of the Throne of Glass series, this felt like if Throne of Glass (book #1) and Crown of Midnight (book #2) were one book – because a TON of things happened and perhaps it was too much and should have been two books, but then two books would have changed the story probably because there is no good stopping place in the middle.  I’m honestly afraid that subsequent books are going to be so long that she has to break them in the middle or leave things out (Hi Kingdom of Ash – book #7).

What do I think:  I loved it! So very much!  I’m SO excited for the next in the series.  I will probably reread House of Earth and Blood before #2 comes out, at least once.  That said, this is not her best work, at least it feels like it’s not without knowing what comes next.  It feels underdeveloped. Not un-developed, but perhaps too rushed. That said, there’s no telling what’s up her sleeve, so perhaps I’m speaking too soon.  Time, rereads, and more books will tell. Maas foreshadows like the queen she is. See also A Court of Thorns and Roses for my favorite example, and it’s only (so far) a trilogy and one novella (if one considers 230ish pages a novella).  

The part that 100% delivered in this one – the sass.  It is real and glorious. “Charm and irreverence happen to be my two favorite traits,” – me too Bryce, me too.  

~Nikki 

I need book 2. Stat. I also need to re-read this book for reasons, some of which follow. 

If you have read any Sarah J. Maas before, you know her world-building is top-notch, but this one, House of Earth and Blood takes the cake for going deep and wide from the outset. Usually the first book in her series sets her up to give details about how the world is organized and she hooks you with characters and situations that grab your attention. We get those characters and situations for sure, but even before we get the names of our protagonists, before we even have the beginning of part one chapter one, we have this list of the houses of Midgard that leaves us with a LOT of questions: 

What does V.E. mean? Who is the Imperial Senate? The map of Lunathion on the previous page doesn’t have any indication of the Eternal City, where is that? Are we meeting characters from every house? Why are there so many creatures? What do Cthona, Luna, Solas, Ogenas, and Urd have to do with the houses and will we meet them? What was the Fall, and why are sprites now Lowers? What’s a Lower? How are there unnamed things that Urd herself doesn’t know? WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ALREADY?!

Do you see what I mean about deep AND wide? It gets a little troubling for Maas fans as the book goes on because of all these questions from the outset. We’re used to getting the majority of our questions answered and some are, but at the same time there’s this lingering feeling of incompleteness as compared to her other series. Yes, I know this is the first book in a series and there’s ample time for Maas to fill us in on all the details, but giving us so much at the outset is both anticipatory and a disappointment. I could have done with a little less ‘whole wide world’ to really dig into the details of what we were given about our characters and places. The epilogue creates more questions. Reasons why I need book 2…

The action takes place in Crescent City, officially Lunathion, and its geography and governance is described in intense detail. Thank you Queen Maas for the map included at the beginning of the book. The geography of the city is important for knowing which peoples live where and placing Bryce’s activities in relation to each other during the course of the book. The city is thousands of years old, the world is filled with mortals, immortals, magic, and technology. Technology like we are used to now, portable phones with cameras, interweb (direct term from chapter 2), security cameras, but everything runs on the First-Light energy created when magic-wielding and long-lived Vanir (every creature on Midgard except humans and ordinary animals) make the Drop into immortality.

So, let’s talk about our heroine, Bryce Quinlan. She’s a half-human, half-fae, mid-20-something living with her best friend and college roommate Danika, a werewolf shifter, working at an antiquities gallery during the week and partying it up on nights and weekends. And when we say partying, we mean the party scene that your parents warned you about from toddlerhood. The partying, in combination with the drugs, the alcohol, the casual sex, the violence, and the cursing, is what makes this book Maas’ first adult novel and not Young Adult. If you’re morally opposed to these topics in your adult fantasy, this is not the book for you. Bryce has a teeny tiny bit of magic, barely enough to register, and she and Danika plan to make the Drop into immortality together when they turn 27, “right before any permanent lines or wrinkles or gray hairs. They merely said to anyone who inquired, What’s the point of being immortal badasses if we have sagging tits?” I can’t help but agree on all counts, ladies.  

Bryce and Danika are just the beginning of a cast of characters that span all the houses of Midgard, from the witch-turned-sorceress Jesiba Roga who owns Griffin Antiquities where Bryce is employed, Lehabah the fire sprite who guards the library in the antiquities gallery, Ruhn Danaan Bryce’s half-brother on her fae-side, Hunt Athalar the Umbra Mortis – an angel of swift death in the personal guard of Lunathion’s governor, Bryce’s friend Juniper the professional ballet dancing faun, Fury their assassin friend they met at Crescent City University but about whom we don’t know many more details – not even her true age, her House, or what type of Vanir she is, and on and on until we’re overwhelmed with fictional people to whom we become overly attached.

Do you see what I mean about needing to re-read? Even while combing through my highlights for important things to include in this post, dear readers, I am finding more quintessential Maas foreshadowing to highlight and pay attention to. Layers on layers on layers…just so many layers!  I’m not saying these things to make you feel overwhelmed, I got sucked in and finished the book in five days, most of which was done over 2 days while on vacation. Just…be aware! And be prepared for chapter 5 to give you an 800+ page book-sized hit in the feels. You’ve been warned. 

Quarantine is the best time to be reading a tome this intense, detailed, and engrossing. May you be gods-favored with quiet time in your quest to finish reading this contemporary, epic fantasy masterpiece.

~Ashley