“When I first arrived in Daevabad, Nisreen told me I should take assurance from the flames that survived the night, because there would always be darkness. But as long as you kept a light burning, it would be okay.” – Nahri, The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)
Oh this book! Some fantasy series tend to struggle with that last book. And if you screw up the ending, you screw up the entire series. It’s certainly a LOT of pressure. But S.A. Chakraborty absolutely nailed it. The Empire of Gold was the last book in the Daevabad Trilogy and it was perfect.
The Gist
The Kingdom of Copper, Book 2 in the trilogy, ended with betrayal and loss. Dara and Manizheh gained control of Daevabad and Ali and Nahri magically disappeared. In the final book, we embark on a journey with Ali and Nahri to return to and save Daevabad. The two awake in Egypt and must follow the Nile to Ta Ntry. A crocodile god, an ifrit, and several pirates later, Ali and Nahri make it to Ta Ntry to rebuild the resistance. When Ali’s marid background comes back to haunt him, Nahri must strike out to Daevabad on her own. With Manizheh using blood magic and Dara under Manizheh’s thumb, Nahri must make difficult choices to bring the city back to its former glory.
The Perfect Finale
If you’ve read some of my other reviews, I don’t give 5-stars out lightly. But The Empire of Gold absolutely deserves it. Endings are so hard to write but S.A. Chakraborty impressed me with her story-telling.
This book blows the first two out of the water!
I enjoyed the first two novels. They were unique and told a new story that the young adult genre hadn’t gotten to experience. But if you asked me to recite details about those first two books, I don’t think I could. I can tell you the general, overarching plot points but the details escape me. And that’s mostly because the first two books were a little forgettable. I think I gave The City of Brass 3.5-stars and The Kingdom of Copper 4-stars. Basically, they were good and entertaining but I wasn’t raving about them.
This book is worth raving about! The story gets SO good in this one. Chakraborty really wraps up all the plot lines and gives us some serious character growth.
Nahri and Ali
I’ve written about this before, but I generally don’t like love triangles. In the second book, I felt like that’s where it was going – the angsty love triangle that is too reminiscent of Twilight. No thank you. But that is not where this romance went. I thought Nahri and Ali’s relationship became absolutely beautiful. You can just see their friendship blooming and it is so hard not to root for that. Although you don’t see them together in this series, you know that’s where it’s going. Giving Nahri time at the end to mourn and grieve all the things she’s lost before becoming more with Ali was both realistic and respectful.
Dara
The author’s inclusion of Dara’s POV in her writing was incredible. His tale becomes absolutely heart-breaking. His agony, his urge to do the right thing, and his undying devotion to Nahri and the Nahids makes you fall in love with him over and over. All you want to do is tell him that he can finally rest. That all the bad he’s done is over and all the good is yet to come. The way the author finishes his story was bittersweet but perfect. It gives us so much hope for him and his own happy ending.
The End
I’m not sure how many times I can use the word “perfect” in a book review, but I can’t help it! This book was the PERFECT ending to a good series. If you haven’t read the first two books, please go do it! They might not be as good as this one, but they’re both worth reading and it’ll get you to this perfect ending. Reading the series will make you fall in love, learn forgiveness, and become more understanding of people’s differences. Trust me on this one, put it on your reading list!
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Alyssa Flores
Alyssa reads hundreds of books a year and is on a never-ending quest to find the perfect book.
