The final chapter in the Daevabad Trilogy will not disappoint for lovers of the first two installments of this series. Coming in a whopping 750 pages, this story is full of adventure, magic, deception, romance and nail biting suspense. Nahid and Ali face their past and families to find their destinies. Nahid dreams of a quiet life with no politics where she can heal her people. Ali faces his fears, learns of his true family heritage, and learns to unite all people and beings in the hostile world of Daevabad. Both their journeys lead them to understand each other and to learn to trust one another; to find love.

This story was epic and each character touched my heart. They will be missed but their adventures inspired me to be more than I can be.

I came into this book having no expectations, having not read the first two books in this series. I have heard nothing but great things about the author, S. A. Chakraborty and I believe I checked City of Brass out from my local library but didn't get to it in time (I am a sucker for a "City of" book from any author). I was intrigued since this is the last book in the series, but I also wanted to know more about the characters as I went in. Through my research, I found that the first two books were incredibly well reviewed and I got the gist of the major plot points, etc. along the way. I also used the author's website for a crash course in the world of Daevabad and it was incredibly helpful!

Although goodreads lists the page count as 400, this is a red herring. This book is a tome at around 800ish pages. I'm not complaining, because the pacing was just right, a credit to the author, their beta readers, and all of those involved in the writing/editing process. The relationships are complex and the characters have a depth that is incredibly hard to achieve, even through three books. You can tell this is a well crafted book by the way the reader (me, in this case) felt the triumphs, the conflicts, the exact emotions with the characters. I was absolutely engrossed in this book and it's many players.

The setting warms my heart, we need more novels set in a fictionalized, but with some elements of the real thing, magical West Asia/North Africa! This was such an interesting setting for a book series. Let's get more representation for cultural elements from this region! I will be picking up physical copies of these books for my collection and for a good, thorough read/re-read!

I received a galley copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the Advance Reader’s Edition!
I loved the first two books in this trilogy and was so excited (and a little sad) to read the final book. At 764 pages, I devoured it in just a few days. What a wonderful conclusion to an amazing series! So many twists and turns I didn’t expect- yet so satisfying. The fantasy world and characters Chakraborty has created are so rich and well-developed. I highly recommend the Daevabad Trilogy!

Amazing end to a wonderful trilogy. I loved this one and thought the author did a great job. Cool cultural significance and I can’t wait to see more!

To start things off, I didn’t realize this was book III of the The Daevabad Trilogy series and for obvious reasons, this wouldn’t be considered a standalone. From page one I was completely lost as to who the characters were. There were no author notes nor disclaimer stating this, and due to me being unaware of this it was a no-brainer that I decided to drop this later to pick it back up later once reading the earlier installments. From what I have read so far, “The Empire of Gold” seems like a promising read and I look forward to re-reading this back again in the future.

Huge thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

This review will contain some spoilers for The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper.

I freaked out when I got approved for this advanced readers copy on Netgalley! I have been dying to get my hands on The Empire of Gold since I read The Kingdom of Copper last year. The Daevabad Trilogy is one of my all time favorites. The story has kept me totally hooked from the very beginning. The Empire of Gold is an absolutely incredible conclusion to this breathtaking series.

The world and story that S. A. Chakraborty has created is absolutely incredible. There are only a few other authors that are able to write such all encompassing stories. Chakraborty has created an epic and stunning world with an entire culture in the Daevabad Trilogy. I genuinely don’t know how to describe how truly talented Chakraborty is. She is an author I consider to be a master storyteller.

The Kingdom of Copper ended on a huge cliffhanger! Actually multiple huge cliffhangers!! The Empire of Gold picks up right where The Kingdom of Copper left off with Dara in Daevabad and Nahri & Ali in Egypt. It hit the ground running and DID. NOT. STOP. The story is exciting, action packed, and full of adventure. There are so many twists and turns and I never knew what to expect next. I couldn’t put it down! One of my favorite parts is that the world of Daevabad is expanded upon beyond what we’ve already known. I absolutely love getting to explore more and more of this world. Especially Ta Ntry and the Marid!

Once again, the story is told through the multiple points of view of Nahri, Ali, and Dara. I can’t believe how much these characters have gone through. I’ve always loved Nahri and Ali, but I love them even more than I thought possible — even though the both took me through the ringer in this one! Dara’s chapters were difficult to read because it was really hard to have any sympathy for him. I ended KOC hating him and the feeling continued throughout EOG. That being said, he does have a great character arc. Dara’s character has taken me on quite the emotional rollercoaster throughout this series. Chakraborty really knows how to pull on my emotions.

Speaking of emotions . . . I went through the full spectrum while reading The Empire of Gold. Anger, fear, sadness, grief, happiness . . . you name it and I felt it! I truly felt like I was on this adventure and feeling everything Nahri, Ali, etc. felt. All of the characters in this world have experienced so much violence, trauma, and heartbreak. They all have made good and bad decisions. It’s one of the things that I like most about this series — no character is perfect. Each and every one has flaws. The character growth from the beginning of the series to now is truly amazing.

The Empire of Gold was an absolutely perfect ending to this amazing series. I honestly could not have asked for more. I totally loved every characters conclusions. The themes of love, family, acceptance, redemption, and willingness to change are so well done. I am seriously in awe of The Empire of Gold and I know that this series will stick with me forever.

THE EMPIRE OF GOLD WILL BE RELEASED JUNE 30TH, 2020 BY HARPER COLLINS.

Empire of Gold is a thrilling and satisfying ending to the Daevabad trilogy. The way Nahri's, Ali's, and Dara's stories all weave together is complex and kept me reading way past my bedtime. I want to go and start the entire trilogy over again, because I love this world so very much.

This is the final installment of the Daevabad trilogy by S.A. Chokraborty. The story starts out in the aftermath of the attack on Daevabad with a new Banu Nahida trying to take control of the city while aided by Dara and a couple of ifrit, all the while, Nahri and Ali are still missing. This tale was devastating in the character development and the relationships between characters. Chakraborty does a great job building characters that are not all good or all bad and puts me in mind of the characters of Game of Thrones. The plot does a great job of pacing as it builds toward the grand finale of the series. It was also nice to see Nahri find a bit more of her original spunk in this book again, in book 2 it felt that she had lost herself a bit, but in this final book she demonstrates a strong sense of self with all of the learning and lessons that she has gained by losing everything and picking herself back up again and again. Chakraborty has done a wonderful job of tying up all of the loose ends with a very natural progression.

I was lucky enough to get my wish granted on Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book, so thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the chance to read this book a little early.

My review will not contain any spoilers for this book, but as it is the third in a trilogy there will naturally be some spoilers for City of Brass and Kingdom of Copper.

The Empire of Gold opens with Nahri and Ali finding themselves in Cairo and Dara with Manizheh back in Daevabad. Things are bad, Daevabad suffers under the rule of the ever increasingly violent Manizheh wielding Dara like the weapon he believes himself to be, all while Nahri and Ali mourn those they lost on their way out of Daevabad and search for some way back home.

Chakraborty's writing continues to be beautiful and full of emotion, never shying away from the uglier parts of humanity. I appreciate that she holds her characters accountable, both to themselves and within her writing. Dara's chapters continue to break your heart while being horrifying. I thought that the juxtaposition of Nahri and Ali's chapters with Dara's eased some of the heaviness, and you really feel the difference in their arcs. I was especially lovely to see Nahri return to Cairo and to see how much she has grown both as a character and a person.

I thought that this was a stunning conclusion to a beautiful series. It was bittersweet and realistic and ultimately, a fitting end. I laughed and cried and stared at my kindle in shock in many parts, but mostly I just really really loved it.

This was a haunting conclusion to the Daevabad Trilogy! I really didn't want to let this world go. I enjoyed seeing the characters grow and change in all three books. The Empire of Gold has already gone into my Must Read Again pile.

It's been difficult to focus on reading for me right now (and my library supply is dwindling past the books I was very excited about to those I had been putting off). So I was very excited to be approved for an ARC for this book, because it was a series that had really started to grow on me and I was looking forward to the last book in the series.

I'm very impressed with how much depth the characters have gained throughout the series. I didn't love the first book, mostly due to thinking that many of the characters were rather cliche or similar to those I had seen before. But watching how much they've grown and changed over the course of the books has been really rewarding. I found this book to be really epic in scope, and was glad to see all of the different groups and factions really come to the forefront in this book in a rewarding way.

I would highly recommend this series with how well this one stuck the landing! Can't wait to see what the author has up their sleeve next.

Thank you to <i>NetGalley</i> for an early ARC of this book.

I've been a big fan of the Daevabad trilogy from book one. I've appreciated that it was based heavily in largely unexplored Middle Eastern mythology and I've loved that was a decidedly an <i>adult</i> story. I am happy to say that both remained very true for the final book.

I have also admitted in my past reviews that I'd been perhaps a bit confused by the many tribes, their convoluted history, and scores of unfamiliar terms and words, and that this confusion impeded my understanding - and thus enjoyment - of the story. I have to say that this confusion is by and large completely gone in my reading on the final book - I'm not sure if it was written more clearly, or if I've simply absorbed enough knowledge of the world to finally become comfortable in it.

Unlike the second novel in the series which picked up five years into the future, "The Empire of Gold" begins immediately after the previous one ends. Daevabad has fallen to Manizheh and Dara, Nahri and Alizayd have fled the city in possession of Suleiman’s seal, and all magic in the city has been extinguished. For the entirety of the book we alternate the POVs of Nahri, Ali, and Dara - as the three (in their own ways) try to come up with the plan of how to save the city and its people.

Much of my opinion on this book is shaped by the choices and actions of the characters, as well as their ultimate fates. I consider all those too big of a spoiler, so I will not get into details. I will simply say that I found the novel to be adventurous, yet thoughtful, and the character's choices and actions mature and morally responsible to the utmost satisfying conclusion.

It was my favorite novel of the trilogy. This reader is utterly delighted.

Now *this* is how you close out a trilogy! The Empire of Gold is brilliant and beautifully written, and managed to wrap up without making everything too neat and tidy. It ended in a believable way, which is the best way, and I know I already mentioned the beautiful writing but it's so good I'm going to mention it again! The Empire of Gold is fantastic and fans of the series will flock to this, and its strength means assuring readers I talk into reading the first book will be richly rewarded all the way through every book. Truly, The Empire of Gold is an outstanding book.

I fell in love with this trilogy last year and was so excited about getting an arc. Reading a conclusion to a series that I enjoy is always nerve-wracking as sometimes it feels like the story struggles to wrap everything up, but I was so incredibly happy and satisfied with everything. This book is massive, but I flew through it. Chakraborty absolutely nailed the ending. I can't wait to read more by this author.

I am sad to say goodbye to all of the characters I've gotten to know and feel connected to throughout this series, but what a good send-off.

In the conclusion of the Daevabad trilogy, Nahri, Ali, Jamshied, Mutandir, and Zaynab attempt to protect the city of Daevabad and its jinn residents from the terrifying Nahid Manizeh. Romantic climaxes, stunning revelations, and intense magic abound. Think Game of Thrones with an Arabic twist, plus more likable characters, and read through the finale.

This is my first ever review for NetGalley and I am so excited because it was everything I hoped for to wrap up what has been an enjoyable and balanced fantasy series!

<b>What I liked:</b> I'm not even sure where to begin. For me, 2019 was a year of very, very disappointing sequels (Veronica Mars, Rise of Skywalker, Queen of Nothing, King of Scars, etc.) I had excitedly anticipated the finales of these stories only to feel let down. Going into The Empire of Gold, I was nervous about Chakraborty tying up the ambitious cliffhangers from the previous books. But a few chapters in, and it felt like being warmly welcomed back by an old friend.

Even though so much has happened since I last visited Nahri, Ali, and Dara, and I started this book with only faint memories of what passed, Chakraborty skillfully weaves reminders of the previous books into this one. The book is also well paced, with enough time for a denouement that left me with a smile on my face.

What I love about the protagonists Nahri and Ali in this series is that they are so fully formed, with worldviews and anxieties that were distinct from my own (I'm not quite as ruthless as Nahri or uptight as Ali) but I could still relate to them. They are so different from where they started in City of Brass, yet it makes utter sense they would act how they do in this novel. Chakraborty also continues her streak of memorable supporting characters. Ali's siblings feel as much formed and alive to me, even if they didn't have POV chapters. Other cast members like Jamshid, Fiza and Yaqub were well deployed, particularly their interactions with the heroes.

I guess the best word I can use to describe how I feel about the heroes is immense fondness. Even if I don't always agree with their choices, I felt for and rooted for them. Everything about this trilogy has been so well thought out, from the world building to the politics of oppression to Nahri's mysterious back story, that as a reader one can really sense the love poured into the telling.

<b>What I was meh on:</b> There is very little to complain about this book, I would say that for a fantasy novel there are some subtle anachronisms (eg. use of the word "cool" and "okay") that were jarring to me, but that's a quibble.

I do wish there had been more Ali in Part III and IV of the book, especially in the final battle. As for the villains, while it did frustrate me just how far they were willing to go, it did feel real and believable, like a bunch of sea mines laid out over the course of decades going off and setting off a subsequent chain reaction of other abhorrent and inhumane decisions.

Oh! I wish the book placed the glossary and summary of the history in the front of the story. If you are picking up this book after a long wait from Book 2, it's worth flipping to the back and reviewing the different tribes and terms before starting.

<b>How's the romance?</b> So cute, I totally ship it, and Chakraborty's depiction of the slow burn and awkward pining between Ali and Nahri was a compelling subplot, as well as how she left things between Nahri and Dara at the end. I do think Dara and Ali make for interesting romantic foils, in so much as Dara is this broody Byronic hero with the dark past and Ali is a sweet, earnest virgin. Depressed elf nightmare man (the male version of manic pixie dream girl) is a super popular trope and I am glad the book subverts it. I wish there had been more making out in this book, but overall really appreciated how these romantic subplots were handled and how Nahri's agency was prioritized throughout.

<b>Okay, but are there PoC?</b> Yep. This is a fantasy series with geographic sprawl, and all PoC all the time! (Europe is mentioned, in terms of the colonial occupation of Egypt.) We have characters spanning from northern and east Africa to Afghanistan/Turkmenistan, with religious and folklore references spanning from Islam to Zoroastrianism to Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian and I love how the story challenged me to get out an atlas and really learn more about the real world cultures it is based on.

<b>Bottom Line:</b> A thoughtful and satisfying ending to a thrilling fantasy trilogy--one of the best in the past decade. Honestly, reading it was like imagining the finale to Star Wars that I wanted, but in a story world where the protagonists are given far more agency and life.

I strongly recommend the Daevabad Trilogy, especially to fans of Game of Thrones (rotating POV, compelling court intrigue, magic) and A Court of Thorns and Roses (young woman coming into her own, supernatural romance.) This trilogy contains many of the elements I appreciated in those ones, woven together in a far more cohesive and satisfying way.

Note: While I’m going to avoid spoilers for The Empire of Gold, it is the third in a series and I may mention significant plot points from previous books in the series.

Visit http://fictionistmag.com/ for reviews of books one and two.<

★★★★★

“Within the first page, I was already hooked, which was heartening considering my slump. By the next day, I was on chapter six,” I wrote in 2017 in a review of The City of Brass.

“I tried so, so hard to hold myself back from reading it right away — you have other reviews waiting, I told myself, but to no avail. Once I read the first page I was hooked, and I spent my whole weekend in S.A. Chakraborty’s breathtaking writing,” I wrote in 2018 when I reviewed book two, The Kingdom of Copper.

The Empire of Gold is no different.

It was almost two months into quarantine. I hadn’t been able to focus long enough to successfully finish any books. I had no work-life boundaries. Everything seemed too stressful. But then I opened Empire of Gold. I can’t even describe to you how intensely invested I was in this story, even though I had to reread the last few chapters of Kingdom of Copper to remind myself of some major plot points. Once I had my footing in Empire of Gold, I was stuck.

I had to remind myself to get up, to eat, to drink water, to take breaks and come up for air. It’s one of those books. The kind that pulls you underwater and doesn’t let you go.

I won’t recap too many details, but I’ll give an extremely short reminder of where we are in the story: Manziheh and Dara’s invasion plan worked, and they murdered thousands in the process. King Ghassan is dead, and Nahri had the seal ring. Manziheh, Nahri, and Ali were on a ledge along with the seal ring. Manziheh tried to guilt Nahri into giving the ring over to her. Nahri made a split-second decision to shove the ring on Ali’s finger and jump off the ledge with him, into the Marid’s lake. The pair woke up near Cairo, in the Nile. Far, far away from Daevabad… and because they brought the seal ring with them, magic has disappeared. What’s more, Ali doesn’t seem to be taking well to the ring lodged in his chest.

This brings us to the beginning of Empire of Gold. I won’t say much about the plot’s specifics, but you will not be bored. Chakraborty had a lot of ground to cover in this series conclusion, and she did not waste a single sentence. Beautifully written, precisely executed, and with many twists and turns — this book will leave you breathless and enthralled, lost in a world of Djinn and Marid. You’ll never want it to end.

Do you have questions about Ali’s magic? Do you want to know how Manziheh brought Dara back? Do you want to know how the djinn will stay alive with no magic? Do you want to know more about the Marid? Are you waiting for a few characters to just kiss already? Finish the series. Preorder this book. It’s what we all need right now. You won’t regret it.

Pre-order Empire of Gold from HarperCollins or your favorite online bookstore — don’t forget to support small book shops! The book comes out June 11, 2020.

Whew. I'm so sorry to see the Daevabad trilogy end, but what a wonderful, bittersweet conclusion to this story. The ending is...well, pretty perfect. Is it what I wanted for every character? No. Does it make sense for every character? Absolutely. And there's hope enough that these people we've come to love will heal and grow and get better over time.

The chapters are divide across three POVs - Nahri's, Dara's and Ali's. For the most part this works well, even though the Dara chapters are an order of magnitude darker and more difficult to get through as a result. We learn more about Ali's connection to the marids than I ever wanted to know, but Chakraborty's depiction of marid lore and history is fascinating. I'll never get over how much obvious care and thought has gone into the worldbuilding of this series. It's truly magical.

Full review to come on Culturess next month, I'll link it here when that happens.

The Empire of Gold is the final book in the trilogy. And it only makes sense that we are introduced to new things and finally get a few of those answers that were hinted at in the earlier books to tie everything up. Compared to the first two, there is significantly more world-building, with SO many more new places visited and explored and new aspects of the magic system explained. But more importantly it feels fun.

I definitely think this is the best of the three books. Unlike the first two books where I had issues with pacing sometimes, this was one well-paced, basically a string of adventures one after the other told from Ali and Nahri's POV, with a few darker chapters from Dara. And Chakraborty really ties up all the different strands of the plot pretty well in the end to reach a satisfying conclusion.

So spoiler-ish alert now.
I am pretty sure based on how heavy the series leaned into romance, that a large number of readers might not like what happens in the end. I thought it was organic and appropriate. So was Dara's last Sisyphean task to complete his own redemptive arc.

Additionally, if it wasn't clear how deranged Manizeh was getting in the last book, you will get a very quick reminder early on. The body counts keep on getting even higher in this one.

The only slight point of criticism might be how the Marids and Peris are used quite frequently as a sort of deux ex machina plot device, but then again this seems to be the crux of the story too - the higher beings meddling with the lower ones while being bound to arbitrary rules

Lastly, although it only took me a couple of chapters to figure out Nahri's parentage, I thought it was an appropriate and clever twist to add.

There are a few interesting loose ends which raise the possibility that we might revisit the world of the daevas and djinns again, but all in all, I am solidly pleased with the ending. Wrapping up a series is never easy, and I feel the author did an excellent job.

And a shoutout to NetGalley for this ARC.

Empire of Gold concludes the Daevebad trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty in stunning fashion. The story is again told from three points of view: Nahri, Ali, and Dara, masterfully woven together as they struggle with and against each other to save the city they love. As each chapter ended, I wanted that part of the story to go on, but just as quickly got sucked into the next chapter.

As the story progressed, each character had to confront uncomfortable realities from their pasts. They came to find out that what they initially viewed as weaknesses were anything but. Embracing our history is what makes our future possible.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy.