The Empire of Gold

My heart was destroyed by this book. That's all I'm going to say. So many emotions, so many tears.

And I'd do it all over again.

I think Bill Capossere at Fantasy Literature website said it best

"Cutesy tag lines for a review of The Empire of Gold (2020), S. A. Chakraborty’s concluding novel for her DAEVABAD trilogy of humans, djinn, and water elementals, sort of write themselves:

“Chakraborty strikes gold with the final novel in … ”

“Chakraborty is on fire with her newest … ”

“Come on djinn, the water’s fine … ” .

The Empire of Gold is a fully satisfying conclusion to this excellent trilogy, even though there are definitely moments that many fans won’t like for whatever reason. But, as a whole, what matters is that this feels like a bittersweet close one that is both deserved and earned, for both good and ill. And that is something to be celebrated .

What a beautiful conclusion! I've more to say but just... kind find the words right now. Beautiful

This series finished off just as strong as it started. I think the payoff was ultimately worth it though I would understand if people struggled to read all 2000ish pages of the trilogy to get there. There’s also a couple pacing issues that left some really interesting storylines getting less page time than some others, but overall a really great book and a very compelling series.

Darrera novel·la de la saga de Daevabad. Excel·lent trilogia de “capa i espasa” basada en mitologia persa-islàmica. Molta acció i entreteniment. Personatges molt ben treballats i farcits de clars-obscurs. Potser el final d'aquesta és una mica ensucrats i bonista.

The plot, much like Kingdom of Copper was pretty slow, but there were lots of really good character moments. However, it did not feel like a drag building up to the climax. Many of the ‘plot twists' were shocking to the characters, but they do not leave much on an effect on the reader, largely because of Dara's POV where the author showed all the bad stuff already, so nothing tragic came as a surprise.
Yet still, three books in and I still do not understand why Nahids are seen as such a goody-two-shoes and perfect leaders, when pretty much all backstory and the current rule just always proves otherwise. In some ways even Ghassan's rule does not seem as bad as Nahids.
It was interesting to finally see other parts of the world and not just Daevabad and meet new characters and expand on some of the old ones.

What an ending to the trilogy! There is so much that Ali, Nahri, and Dara have to go through to get to the end. I was enthralled to see the different parts of the kingdom and the other species. There is so much history to wade through as well. I am ready to go back and read it all again. I just love being in this world.

4.5*

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Everything that was built up in the first two novels all comes to a boiling point in The Empire of Gold. It is a wild ride from start to finish, with a handful of new characters, and many terrifying older ones. Overall, I enjoyed this series, but it isn't a new favorite or anything. Unfortunately, the ending of all the fighting and violence was at about 80% of the way through the book, and the last 20% was just...almost epilogue-y things. It made the ending of the book feel rather unnecessarily drawn out, and that's coming from someone who really likes epilogues. Throughout the book things would ramp up, and then plateau, over and over. I kept waiting for things to finally get to that tipping point, and when they did, it was almost disappointing how smoothly things went.

Nahri learns more about her past, and that was fascinating. I loved learning more about who she really was, and why everything about her life went the way that it did. She makes some decisions throughout this book, and I mostly agreed with them. There were a few I questioned, but ultimately she made the right choices, I think. Ali learns more about himself, too, and becomes even less irritating. Things like mortal peril and your friends dying will do that to you, I think. Dara finally grows a backbone, and while I loved how that played out, there was so much death and violence by his hand that it was hard to continue liking his character. (I did like how Chakraborty chose to end his storyline, though. Very fitting.) Manizheh was flat out terrifying, a picture of insanity brought on by decades (and generations) of abuse and enslavement. I understand why she did the things that she did, but holy cow does that not excuse any of it. Wow. Way to make everything worse.

I do wish we could have seen how things played out far into the future for Daevabad. The ending of the book was already looooong enough, but I do want to know what happened to the great city. Do they work it out? Does it fall again? But alas, it was not to be since we don't learn anything about the future. Oh well. Final rating for this one sits at four stars. I enjoyed it. Overall for the whole series, I think I'd rate it at barely 4 stars. I loved the first book, the second was mediocre, and the third book I just liked. But despite saying that, I would definitely recommend it, especially if you're looking for something Non-Western culture inspired!

I am complete.

3.5
I liked the conclusion slightly less than the rest of the series, but it was still good.

It is worth the investment to read all three. I laughed, cried, sighed, nearly threw the book in frustration, and smiled.

I'm so happy I did not stop reading after the first book. Seeing the character development of Ali, Nahra even Dara was amazing. This trilogy was such an interesting exploration of oppression, revenge and radicalisation and I honestly can't wait to read more of what S.A Chakraborty has to offer.

I think it's somewhat fitting that I finished reading this book 1 year to the day after it was published. Chakraborty definitely earned all 5 paw prints on this book, although it was quite a fight for a while.

This series had heartbreak, betrayal, sacrifice, and prejudice. It ended with everyone having happy endings, but not quite in the way that I had expected in the beginning.

I don't know that I would have ever visited Daevabad, had it not been for this reading challenge. If I did, it would have been extremely far down on my list, and only because of the stunning covers. (That alone is reason enough for me to buy them, just don't tell my husband WINK)

This book was so LOOOOOONG! Halfway through this book (and the other 2, actually), I found myself getting bored. I powered through though, and I'm so glad I did. I listened up to Nahri's last chapter and the epilogue this morning, and it was hard to listen to it. I didn't want it to end!

Wow, absolutely perfect. Tied for my favorite read of the year and getting added to my favorites of all time list.

Good, would be better at half the length

This book absolutely broke my heart to million little pieces that, scattered all over, and I feel like I'm never going to get back. Absolutely amazing and now one of the best fantasy series that I've ever read.

It took me longer than I'd care to admit to make my way through this hefty tome, but I come away satisfied and content with the way everything is brought to a close. The Empire of Gold brings this expansive trilogy to a rousing conclusion. 

The journeys of our three main characters are given plenty of time to breath, while being really well-balanced against each other. Chakraborty's writing continues to impress and it flows beautifully once again in this book. I'm excited to see what Chakraborty writes next, as this trilogy is such an impressive achievement, especially as a debut.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

The City of Brass sparked my interest, unveiling a rich and vibrant world with complex characters. The Kingdom of Copper launched the series to new heights, playing with my emotions in ways few other series have. Together, the first two books of the Daevabad Trilogy had set my expectations unrealistically high for the final book. So how did it measure up?

S.A. Chakraborty stuck the landing. The Empire of Gold is her most impressive work yet.

After the second book trampled my heart to pieces, this one slowly began stitching it back together. It can be excruciating to watch characters I love act horrendously to each other, and I was worried that would dominate Empire of Gold. There's very little I love more in a book than being pleasantly surprised by how wholesome and supportive characters can be to each other. Without giving too much away, let's just say I was happily surprised on more than one occasion.

The story starts out a little slow, allowing the characters to recover from and process the traumatic events of Kingdom of Copper and put the final pieces in place for concluding each major character arc. For a book that's nearly 800 pages long, it was a refreshing change of pace before the epic conclusion.

Like most of my favorite books, the ending the Daevabad trilogy delivers is bittersweet. Granted, it leans more toward sweet than the bitterness I expected. This is not a book that shies away from death, but Chakraborty proves time and again that death is not the only way to torment a beloved character or pull on readers' heartstrings.

This is a book about family: the ones we're born with and the duty owed them, as well as the ones we choose and how far we'll go to help them. It's also a book about sacrifice. One of the main distinctions between the protagonists and antagonists of the series is whether they're willing to sacrifice themselves for others or vice versa. And—perhaps ironically in a story so strife with violent conflict—it's a book about peace.

Endings are a tricky thing. They have to feel final, but the lives of the surviving characters don't simply end with the turning of the last page. Chakraborty strikes a delicate balance between the two, closing the story with what could almost be a new beginning.

If The Empire of Gold is a bit of an emotional roller coaster, I have to say that it was an intensely enjoyable ride. Remember what I said about my heart being stitched back together? That can be every bit as painful as it sounds, but the end result makes it all worth it.

Listen to my podcast interview with S.A. Chakraborty talking about The Empire of Gold here.

Ugh, so good. I'm so sad that this series is over, but so happy to have read it. The worldbuilding is something I will hold as a high standard for fantasy for years to come.