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timeywriter 's review for:
The Empire of Gold
by S.A. Chakraborty
This magical series comes to a conclusion in this wondrous novel that is the capstone on the world of Daevabad. A great battle is at hand and each character who came before is strengthened even further in this amazing story.
A lot has befallen Nahid since she accidentally summoned the djinn Dara and traveled from the comforts of Cairo to the magical world of Daevabad. She has found to be the last in a line of rare djinn, a group of healers, and is swept up into the abusive rulership of the tyrannical king of Daevabad. But all of this has fallen; all her magic as a healer is gone, the tyrannical king is dead, and somehow she and the prince Ali have been transported to Cairo. Behind them they know the city of Daevabad has fallen and before them is a fate they never thought would come, one that involves Nahid's long lost mother, Manizeh, taking the power of Daevabad for herself and installing her own rule of fear. Ali and Nahid have a choice, they can either remain in Cairo without their djinn powers and live a happy human life or they can set out to regain magic and restore Daevabad. Of course our intrepid heroes choose the latter and set out on a final adventure to take back the city and help the people they love. I was grateful that there was a good deal more from Dara's side this time, as I felt that was lacking in the last book, though I also wish that his fate had not gone as it went in this novel. His story makes sense of course, but in my heart I wish there had been more between Dara and Nahid. No matter what, you cannot convince me that Ali and Nahid should be anything more than friends, therefore their blooming relationship in this novel left me shrugging my shoulders. However, I did like the growth in Ali, how he came to terms with his family's past and his embrace of new powers. Like the novels before, the most fascinating aspect of this series is the inclusion of Arabic and Egyptian mythology and religion as a foundation for the djinn world. I was especially intrigued with the inclusion of Sobek, an ancient Egyptian river god, and Tiamat, an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of chaos, in this novel and their ties to Ali. The blending of known mythology and the building of the world around Daevabad is the beautiful heart of this novel. Finally, I absolutely loved how old characters came back into the fold and how relationships blossomed to full culmination, especially the one between Muntadhir and Jamshid (I adore these two the most, I swear). Without a doubt, there is the sense of each character having lost everything at the beginning of this novel, it only makes sense that each gain all they want again by the end.
I am going to miss Daevabad and the magical world within this trilogy. The blending of history, myth, and magic is perfected in this series, one that does more than just take a typical hero's journey and plop it into a new setting. This novel tugs at the soul and burns as brightly as a djinn's fire.
A lot has befallen Nahid since she accidentally summoned the djinn Dara and traveled from the comforts of Cairo to the magical world of Daevabad. She has found to be the last in a line of rare djinn, a group of healers, and is swept up into the abusive rulership of the tyrannical king of Daevabad. But all of this has fallen; all her magic as a healer is gone, the tyrannical king is dead, and somehow she and the prince Ali have been transported to Cairo. Behind them they know the city of Daevabad has fallen and before them is a fate they never thought would come, one that involves Nahid's long lost mother, Manizeh, taking the power of Daevabad for herself and installing her own rule of fear. Ali and Nahid have a choice, they can either remain in Cairo without their djinn powers and live a happy human life or they can set out to regain magic and restore Daevabad. Of course our intrepid heroes choose the latter and set out on a final adventure to take back the city and help the people they love. I was grateful that there was a good deal more from Dara's side this time, as I felt that was lacking in the last book, though I also wish that his fate had not gone as it went in this novel. His story makes sense of course, but in my heart I wish there had been more between Dara and Nahid. No matter what, you cannot convince me that Ali and Nahid should be anything more than friends, therefore their blooming relationship in this novel left me shrugging my shoulders. However, I did like the growth in Ali, how he came to terms with his family's past and his embrace of new powers. Like the novels before, the most fascinating aspect of this series is the inclusion of Arabic and Egyptian mythology and religion as a foundation for the djinn world. I was especially intrigued with the inclusion of Sobek, an ancient Egyptian river god, and Tiamat, an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of chaos, in this novel and their ties to Ali. The blending of known mythology and the building of the world around Daevabad is the beautiful heart of this novel. Finally, I absolutely loved how old characters came back into the fold and how relationships blossomed to full culmination, especially the one between Muntadhir and Jamshid (I adore these two the most, I swear). Without a doubt, there is the sense of each character having lost everything at the beginning of this novel, it only makes sense that each gain all they want again by the end.
I am going to miss Daevabad and the magical world within this trilogy. The blending of history, myth, and magic is perfected in this series, one that does more than just take a typical hero's journey and plop it into a new setting. This novel tugs at the soul and burns as brightly as a djinn's fire.