We're supposed to be the saviours of Daevabad. Instead, Dara gazed upon ruins.
The Empire of Gold
by S.A. Chakraborty
Genre: YA Fantasy
About: Daevabad has never been so broken. Nahri and Ali are stuck in Cairo with Sulieman's seal, the djinn are without magic, a new tyrant rules the city, and Dara has become a weapon again for a new generation to hate. As history repeats itself, the marid, the ifrit and the peri add to the chaos with old feuds and older magic that was never meant for the world of mortals.
The Good
This world is beautifully crafted. With or without its magic, Daevabad is full of secrets and intrigue. The history Chakraborty spins through the pages is incredible to read. I also enjoyed spending some time in Cairo and Ta Ngry - I love how each time we're introduced to a place, Nahri is offered the choice of building a life and a home there and how each time her choices show what's truly important to her. Nahri has been such a great character to watch develop and I feel so much warmth for every character she loves. I also found Ali's transformation very interesting to uncover. It's very well explored. The character I was the most emotionally wrapped up with, however, was Dara. Chakraborty did such a great job at putting me in his POV. If we didn't have his POV, I might have hated him. But with it... Man, I love Dara so much and can't hear a word against him without wanting to rush to his defence.
The Bad
It's a mammoth book and feels like it. I felt like I raced through the second one because so much was going on, but in this one, the plot doesn't have the same urgency. A lot of the things I was truly interested in, came towards the end. So much of the book feels like waiting for things to happen, or processing what's happened. I wish Nahri and Jamshid had had more time with Manizheh, rather than Hatset (a character I was far less interested in). Ali also seemed to me to disappear at the climax, when I was really expecting to see more scenes with him and Dara.
I wasn't in love with Manizheh's arc. I do appreciate that we see her differently in Dara's POV, but overall she was scapegoated as the ultimate evil, irredeemable villain. Asides from her lover and her son, there was literally no-one she wouldn't kill, or line she wouldn't cross. It just felt like too much. Especially as Ghassan had been the previous villain and her actions did seem to redeem him in a lot of the character's eyes. Hatset refers to her husband being murdered as though he was one of the innocent Geziri victims instead of a murdering tyrant himself.
The Somewhat Iffy
I enjoyed that the marid were a complex and vital part of the story - I just found their history a little difficult to get to grips with. Their magic, the curse, the deals made and Sobek's motivations slipped in and out of focus for me.
A lot of the female side characters felt like the same person added into different places. When Fiza was introduced, she reminded me so much of Aqisa and Irtemiz. I was happy to have three strong warrior women in the story, but their roles were so similar that the only thing that defines them from each other is which characters they want to fiercely protect.
Overall
Hugely satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The pace did drag in places, but the characters and the world were always compelling and the magic was everything I could wish for.
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