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A review by kierscrivener
The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty
4.0
A fantastic ending to a beautiful series. It took me awhile to get into City of Brass, but each book we see more development of Chakraborty's writing. I lot of the things I was at first frustrated with were redeemed as we see the conclusion of the character's arcs. It has wonderful, complicated, intricate characters who are flawed, and so very human (despite being magical). We see less of Daevabad this book, which is my own personal complaint as the Kingdom of Copper is probably my favourite for examining the political intricacies of the City, and also had more of the personal showdown. But this one felt like the more right conclusion for the trilogy, as we see the aftermath and not really end but the ongoing stories of these characters while she delivers on the promises made in City of Brass. And yet it feels like there are doors wide open for two sequel series that explore the two paths our characters take. With the more big finale, the conflict and villain seemed less intimate but I do understand why this was taken narratively, even though it doesn't top the series for climax, it does for character arcs, promises and quiet moments.
There's this moment near the end that two family members are talking, and one disguises a secret that the other has found out. But does not let on, letting them tell them when they are ready. It felt so human. That in the end, even with peace we cannot always say the words that we want. We are still insecure, we are still hesitant.
I like that Chakraborty took the hard way, with each character having a cost for their choices and success. Each changed, and though 'satisfied' there is no nice tie, and always a hint of what was lost, of what will take time to heal.
That she never sacrificed their character for the sake of the story, even when it would have been easy. She made the hard choice to have them stay and grow based in who they are
There's this moment near the end that two family members are talking, and one disguises a secret that the other has found out. But does not let on, letting them tell them when they are ready. It felt so human. That in the end, even with peace we cannot always say the words that we want. We are still insecure, we are still hesitant.
I like that Chakraborty took the hard way, with each character having a cost for their choices and success. Each changed, and though 'satisfied' there is no nice tie, and always a hint of what was lost, of what will take time to heal.
That she never sacrificed their character for the sake of the story, even when it would have been easy. She made the hard choice to have them stay and grow based in who they are