Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Empire of Gold

Check out my super fast turnaround on reading The Kingdom of Copper (the second book in the Daevabad trilogy) and this final installation! After it was like two years after reading The City of Brass that I finally continued with the series, I'm really proud of my "only" a couple months between these last two. Go me! Also, it was very convenient timing to jump headfirst into a 28-hour epic fantasy audiobook because we were flying to and from St. Croix for a vacation (which was wonderful!), but the flights were all tough ones for me and I really needed the "close my eyes and escape to another world" that this provided.

This final book in the Daevabad trilogy picks up exactly where the last one left off. Dara is with Manizhah in Daevabad, having taken over the city in a murderous fashion, trying to win the support of the people and build it back to the haven for their people that it used to be. Nahri and Ali find themselves in Cairo, after Nahri's split-second decision about what to do with Suleiman's ring at the end of the last book led to them being surprise-transported away from Davebad. Told in rotating perspectives - Dara, Ali, Nahri - our three MCs face myriad revelations about their ancestry, the truths of the world they find themselves in, and the history that has been hidden. They will all face difficult, impossible, decisions as they work in their own ways to bring their warring peoples together, save their beloved Daevabad from further destruction, atone for their past mistakes, pick up the mantels that they are each uniquely prepared to wear and combine their strengths to fight for a better future...and of course, sort out all their complicated feelings for each other.

I have to be honest and say that I've put off writing this review because I am a little overwhelmed by it. There was so much that happened in this culminating book, with the characters arcs and plot twists and reveals and politics. Plus, the world-building has been wonderfully complex from the start. So, the idea of trying to communicate all my final feelings and reactions (while also trying to keep it spoiler free) is daunting. Let me just start by saying that this final book clears up all the questions that I had been building over the course of the last two. Like, starting as early as the very first chapter (in which we get a solitary look at Manizhah's story and background from her own perspective), pieces start falling into place. And even as some of that context introduces even more questions, (because like I said, so much happens in this final book), I did feel happily satisfied with answers to everything by the end. So, in that respect, it was a great wrap-up. And let me just take a second here to talk about pacing, because this feels like the right spot. If the second book was a slow-roll on pacing with all the action in the final scenes, this book was high end speed all the way through. Yes, there are still the political machinations and interpersonal developments that are a bit "slower," but they are much more interspersed...and even then, those sections felt like they moved faster in this book than before. And I was here for that. I do have to say, though, that I think the second book could have benefitted from telling some of what happened here. I get the re-taking of Davebad by Manizheh happening before Ali and Nahri could leave the city, but, I don't know...after finishing this last book, the overall pacing of the series felt uneven. Plus, this last book was so long. And while I loved every page of it, I think it could have been split better overall.

Speaking to the characters specifically, I continue to love all the complexities of their relationships, taking into account their own personal feelings as well as the realities of their histories and decisions. The Dara-Ali-Nahri triangle is so beautifully and impossibly intricate; that level of depth and detail continues to astound. And throughout the novel, one's heart goes from full to broken and back and forth among them more times than I can count. It's a spectacular emotional roller coaster of love and connection and grief. On an individual level, Dara's story continues to crush hearts, especially as we get more and more details about how badly the Nahid's abuse(d) his faith and trust time and again, especially Manizheh. And though, as we get more about Manizheh's story too, there is deep heartbreak there as well and you can't help but feel sympathy (and maybe sometimes agree with her), it's impossible not to also hate her for all the pain she then caused others in taking things too far. As for Nahri, I was so glad to see how much more in charge of herself and her choices and actions she was, from the start. That was one of my biggest complaints from the last book, is how flat she felt. And I understood all the constraints on her, so I held my overall judgement, and I can now gladly say that I am completely on board with the way her character became the strong, assertive, sneaky in all the good ways, female lead I love reading about in fantasy. And Ali... I was never really "team Ali," I can't lie, but I have to say that his growth in this last book really got me cheering for him. I loved seeing his idealism stay strong, but expand to be more inclusive and understanding as he saw more of the world, learned more about (and to accept) the less perfect parts of himself, and listen more to advice from those around him with different perspectives. So he's still not my fav, but I did come around to him by the end.

I think many of the side characters that had been introduced throughout this series fell a little by the wayside in this final book. They were (almost all) present, and played a role, but they lost some of their nuance and became more pawns of the story as it culminated around Ali, Dara, and Nahri. It wasn't to an extreme that pulled me out of the story, and they all got endings that fit what we know of their characters well, but they seemed a bit flat here in comparison to our main MCs (and Manizheh and, to be fair, Jamshid). Speaking of endings... After all the identity crises and impossible decisions faced by our primary characters, I felt like the justice and redemption arcs they each got were perfect. After the amount of build-up to this ending, it needed to be great. And it was.

I am not actually going to go into too many specifics about the plot, because I'm honestly afraid I will forget what I know from before and what was in this book and I don't want to spoil anything. But I do want to reiterate that it was full of action and reveals and that the way it all wrapped up was exactly what I wanted from this finale. Related, Chakraborty continues to impress with how she pulled together so many characters and storylines and interwoven family and cultural histories in such a cohesive and compelling way. The scope of this series was pretty epic and it felt like she held it in hand the whole time. Topically, she lays out, with such ugly and perfect precision, the way that centuries of slaughter and bad blood, when so much harm has been done, is so hard to overcome (and maybe even forgive?). And that it takes consistent, purposeful and open-minded effort to reckon with that kind of history. It holds clear messages to would-be ally-leaders/peoples of today that the labor required to successfully confront and overcome the cycle of violence and vengeance is a lot; it requires growth (and growing pains) and consideration of alternate perspectives that do not happen overnight. It takes fighting against the dangers inherent in blind faith and following orders without question or critical thought, as well as an openness to accepting the uglier parts of your own past and complicity, and maybe just a little bit of idealism. But...it is necessary for a fresh start, and that kind of fresh start is worth the effort.

Basically, Chakraborty brought this epic story to a close with a bang (and a lot of bloody violence)! I loved, so much, that the characters and their stories and feelings were so nuanced and real that I couldn't decide whose side I was on or who I was cheering for. I vacillated wildly every time new info came to light (which was often) and that made for such an engaging reading experience! Epic fantasy at its finest. At one point, I believe it's Dara who describes his feelings towards Manizheh as “loyalty and dread, love and revulsion,” and I feel like that complicated mix of emotions perfectly describes how most of these characters felt about each other and what was happening around them, as well as how I felt about them all/the plot as the reader, I was completely bought into all of it.

“Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward, Ali. It makes you a survivor.”

"You and I are not the worst of our ancestors. They don't own us. They don't own our heritage."

Content Warnings

readandfindout's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 5 stars

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xphilphil's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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stormwise's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The conclusion of the Daevabad trilogy picks up right where The Kingdom of Copper ended, starts running, and doesn't stop for 752 pages. (Maybe picking this up immediately after reading The Lord of the Rings was a bit ambitious?)

Political tensions run high as the sudden absence of magic in the wake of Daevabad's violent conquest impacts every aspect of Daeva, djinn and shafit life.
Dara, the only Daeva retaining his ability to cast magic, struggles not only against Manizheh's efforts to turn him into a weapon but also his own internal conflict about his role and actions during the conquest of Daevabad.
Meanwhile, Ali and Nahri delve deeper into their pasts as they travel from Egypt to Ta Ntry, unravelling secrets about themselves, their heritage and their vast, magical world.

As a reader, finally unlocking the mysteries of the marid was VERY satisfying - the worldbuilding truly is magnificent. The climax of the story hit just right - it really felt like the protagonists had earned their victory and that the antagonists had real motivations and reasons for their actions. Also, diversity win! The gay couples survived!

If you're a fantasy fan who likes chunky books filled with magic, intrigue and truly phenomenal action sequences then please read this trilogy. Big content warnings, however, for explicit descriptions of medical procedures and a lot of fantasy-coded xenophobia and genocide.

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n_asyikin_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Empire of Gold started by reflecting the utter helplessness that derived after the storm of violence which besieged Daevabad. The befuddlement was central, the sense of responsibility & need to escape shaping many characters' thought. So the plot was rather slow in the beginning though I personally enjoyed the introspections; a form of character study rather typical in the series.

As always, Chakraborty wrote her world vividly. The fight scenes left me feeling exhilarated. The visual imageries I derived from her writing was some of the most captivating I've ever read. How could it not be with ancient magical creatures of air, water & fire intermingled with the djinns & human (i.e.pirates!) in a clash for power involving multiple otherworldly settings. The power in focus not just in the tangible form of physical strength & variant magic, but also strategic mindgame with worthy players who weren't afraid to push the limits.

Mistrust amongst the characters with astringent set of beliefs also meant that solutions weren't easily on hand. I liked how practically all characters had to address their own prejudices, had to unlearn & hold themselves accountable for their wrongdoings. It all led to a necessary revolution that started with the importance of collaboration. There was no "The Chosen One". This revolution involved a community fighting against a common enemy. But before reaching that point, I loved how Chakraborty depicted the danger of pigeonholing our view; the consequences of othering groups of people (or creatures) & demonizing said othered. The destructions & cruelties were, unfortunately, the only way for many to recognize the inhumanity of everything - but even then, many still resisted changes.

But above the political intrigues, perhaps it was the vulnerabilities shown I found moving. I shed a few tears for these imperfect, beloved group of characters. At the end, there were many forms of grieving: grieving over the lost of loved ones, grieving over the lost dreams, grieving over a love that was never meant to be. The ending may not be concrete, but it was fitting in its hopefulness. The bittersweetness seemed reflective of the uncertainties & very human imperfections explored in the story. The Empire of Gold was worth the maelstrom of emotions it would take you through!

____
In general, The Daevabad Trilogy is heavy in character study, more psychological rather than action-driven for most part. For some, the pace might feel slow. But I was hooked by the subtle mind games the characters were in, as they sussed each other out, built half-bonds only to see it broken & needing reconstruction. It was also interesting to infer how the characters were shaped by their past neglect & abandonment.

It also depicted how highly ingrained our views can be, chiseled & moulded often by biased history, made to edify, also (critically) glorify our existence. These characters had to have their foundations destroyed & what we saw subsequently was how one struggle to challenge what they knew about their world, hence, who they were.

Centrally, The Daevabad Trilogy touched upon the concept of the self, how we must be critical of the sources that shaped our world, even if that meant going against your loved ones. That no matter how wrong your loved ones could be, you could still yearn for their love, grieved for the love they could show you - you wished they could show others - because that's just being human, in all our complicated shades. But perhaps that was also its frightening tenet, that evil often derived from normalcy. That it wasn't something glaringly obvious, that one wrong aspect of societal normalization, meant we could be the monsters we fear. The courage was in admitting it, then addressing & fixing the wrongs.

The Daevabad Trilogy were epic in every sense: bold in terms of its characters, expansive in terms of its exploration, & rich in terms of its settings. The world that Chakraborty created was fascinating. The fact that it was just as rich internally (introspection) as it was externally (physicality) was great for me. The Daevabad Trilogy were truly captivating.

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micheala's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I've been putting this book off for a while as I loved the first two books and I didn't want this trilogy to end. The thing that finally pushed me to pick it up was the fact that it was overdue at the library and I couldn't renew it and I felt bad not reading it or returning it lol

There really is no way to talk about the finally in a series without spoiling the rest of the series, so if you haven't read the Daevabad Trilogy, all I can say is I highly recommend it.

I'm not a particularly fast reader, but I finished this 750+ page book in 4 days. The pacing never feels like it's dragging or like any of those pages are simply filler. Everything feels important to the plot and necessary for this rich world and this stunning conclusion to an amazing trilogy.

We continue to have the three alternating POVs of Narhi, Ali and Dara and all three of those POVs feel like they were given equal importance (not like the author had a clear favourite that they wanted to spend more time with, like I'm currently encountering with another book)

I did spend a LOT of this book very frustrated with Dara, in that he keeps being willfully naive about what is going on and what he is assisting with. I mean it makes sense for his character, it's just annoying wanting him to get with it already. Plus spending so much time with Manizheh was infuriating - like I'm sure it was meant to be.

I liked seeing all the threads that were laid in the first two books concerning Ali and Narhi start coming together. Finding out the truth about both of their histories was very satisfying.

I also really appreciated the way things wrapped up. It's not all sunshine and rainbows (there was a genocide and civil war that just happened so it would have felt out of place if it had), but there was that hopeful tint to the events.

Overall this was a very satisfying conclusion to a series that I've very much enjoyed and I'm glade to finally have read it.

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