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The Lotus Empire (The Burning Kingdoms, 3) Paperback – November 12, 2024

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 262 ratings

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This sweeping epic fantasy brings the acclaimed Burning Kingdoms trilogy to a heart–stopping close, as an ancient magic returns to Ahiranya and threatens its very foundations, Empress Malini and priestess Priya will stop at nothing to save their kingdoms—even if it means they must destroy each other.

Malini has claimed her rightful throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa, just as the nameless gods prophesied. Now, in order to gain the support of the priesthood who remain loyal to the fallen emperor, she must consider a terrible bargain: Claim her throne and burn in order to seal her legacy—or find another willing to take her place on the pyre.

Priya has survived the deathless waters and now their magic runs in her veins. But a mysterious yaksa with flowering eyes and a mouth of thorns lies beneath the waters. The yaksa promises protection for Ahiranya. But in exchange, she needs a sacrifice. And she's chosen Priya as the one to offer it.

Two women once entwined by fate now stand against each other. But when an ancient enemy rises to threaten their world, Priya and Malini will find themselves fighting together once more – to prevent their kingdoms, and their futures, from burning to ash.

★ "Suri brings her Burning Kingdoms trilogy to a breathtaking crescendo in this epic grand finale. This sends the series out on a high note." –Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) 

★ "[The] delectable conclusion to a landmark epic-fantasy series that touches on faith, leadership, politics, friendship and found family, grief and recovery, sacrifice, the roles of women, colonialism, and love.” –
Booklist (Starred Review)

 
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The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

From the Publisher

The Lotus Empire, The Jasmine Throne, The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri, The Burning Kingdoms

The Lotus Empire, Tasha Suri, The Burning Kingdoms, Alix E. Harrow

The Lotus Empire, Tasha Suri, The Burning Kingdoms, Shelley Parker-Chan

The Lotus Empire, Tasha Suri, The Burning Kingdoms, R. F. Kuang

The Lotus Empire, The Jasmine Throne, The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri, The Burning Kingdoms

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The final installment of her Burning Kingdoms trilogy, is genuinely impressive. A sweeping conclusion to one of the best epic fantasy series in recent memory, it’s both hopeful and heartbreaking, painfully bleak and unabashedly romantic by turns. A finale with genuine stakes, real loss, lots of action, and the sort of emotional payoff that can only come from three books’ worth of narrative build-up, it’s a triumph that will satisfy readers of all stripes."―Paste: The Best Fantasy Books of 2024

"The emotional sapphic marvel concluding Tasha Suri's stunning high fantasy trilogy.”―
Book Riot: Best Books of 2024

"Suri brings her Burning Kingdoms trilogy to a breathtaking crescendo in this epic grand finale. The pitch-perfect balance of action and sapphic romance will keep readers eagerly turning the pages until the remarkable conclusion. This sends the series out on a high note." ―
Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on The Lotus Empire

"Sapphic yearning permeates this delectable conclusion to a landmark epic-fantasy series that touches on faith, leadership, politics, friendship and found family, grief and recovery, sacrifice, the roles of women, colonialism, and love. For all fantasy readers, particularly those who appreciated the unflinching grimness of R. F. Kuang's Poppy War series and the grand scope of Samantha Shannon's
The Priory of the Orange Tree."―Booklist (Starred Review) on The Lotus Empire

"Tasha Suri will go down in history as one of the great fantasy authors of this era. The Burning Kingdoms trilogy takes her extraordinary imagination, her lyrical style, and her gift for crafting intricate characters, then fires them in a furnace of war and ancient magic and sapphic yearning, giving us an epic like no other. Malini and Priya will carve themselves into your memory."―
Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree on The Lotus Empire

"Each page is like the unfurling of a flower as the trilogy reaches its full bloom. A powerful and poignant conclusion that reaffirms Suri as a legend in the fantasy world."―
Saara El-Arifi, author of The Final Strife on The Lotus Empire

"
The Lotus Empire is a searing end to a series of sweeping, epic proportions. Between the powers of gods and mortals, of empresses and priests, faith and failure, huge forces battle for survival in a sensational finale that has been years in the making.

Suri turns the screw of the story tighter and tighter, slowly pulling the carefully laid threads together until she sets the entire world ablaze. With a heart of earth-shattering love in a strategic web of political intrigue, this is a trilogy for the ages."
 ―
Hannah Kaner, author of Godkiller on The Lotus Empire

"An absolute triumph. With the Burning Kingdoms trilogy, Suri has created a world as vast as it is intricate. Brutal, beautiful, and bleeding with emotion. Do yourself a favor and pick up this series today."―
Kate Dylan, author of Mindwalker on The Lotus Empire

"This cutthroat and sapphic novel will grip you until the very end."―
Vulture (Best of the Year) on The Jasmine Throne

"Two fierce women. Magic, action and adventure. Folklore of the past and imagining the future. Masterful storytelling. Kaleidoscopic, queer world-building. Robust characters. The first book of Tasha Suri’s new trilogy has it all!"
 ―
Ms. Magazine on The Jasmine Throne

"
The Jasmine Throne more than lives up to the hype with its rich and expansive world, compelling characters, cool magic system and Suri’s excellent writing, which holds it all together."―BookPage (starred review) on The Jasmine Throne

“Tasha Suri writes the female characters I didn’t realize I was aching to see in fantasy, to devastating effect.
The Jasmine Throne is a fiercely and unapologetically feminist tale of endurance and revolution set against a gorgeous, unique magical world."
 ―
S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass on The Jasmine Throne

"Like the magic in this tale of reclaiming power,
The Jasmine Throne will work its way under your skin with Suri’s compelling characters and gorgeous, effortless prose.”―Sam Hawke, author of City of Lies on The Jasmine Throne

"Suri astounds with the spellbinding epic fantasy that launches her Burning Kingdoms trilogy....a fierce, heart-wrenching exploration of the value and danger of love in a world of politics and power....Suri’s confident and passionate prose expertly guides the reader throughout. This is a blade-sharp, triumphant start to what promises to be an exciting series."―
Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Jasmine Throne

"
The Jasmine Throne raises the bar for what epic fantasy should be. Tasha Suri has created a beautiful, ferocious world alongside an intimate study of the characters who will burn it all down."―Chloe Gong, author of These Violent Delights on The Jasmine Throne

The Jasmine Throne is a riveting and gorgeously-written tale set in an intricate, expansive world. [The characters] will live in my imagination for a long time to come, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!”―Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch’s Heart on The Jasmine Throne

"This powerful series opener will undoubtedly reshape the landscape of epic fantasy for years to come."―
Booklist (starred review) on The Jasmine Throne

“A masterpiece. Suri continues to storm the realm of epic fantasy.
The Jasmine Throne is the powerful, female-centric series I've hungered for—with deftly-woven prose and a pair of glorious women destined to wreck your heart.”―Heather Walter, author of Malice on The Jasmine Throne

"Lush and stunning....Inspired by Indian epics, this sapphic fantasy will rip your heart out."―
BuzzFeed News on The Jasmine Throne

"
The Jasmine Throne pulls you under, sweeping you away on a current of gorgeous prose and intricately imagined magic and politics. Filled with sharply-drawn characters who ache with longing: for peace, for war, for one another. It left me breathless."―Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter on The Jasmine Throne

"
The Jasmine Throne  is an intimate, complex, magical study of empire and the people caught in its bloody teeth. It’s about resistance and power, histories both personal and political, and the heroes who must become monsters to survive. I loved it."―Alix E. Harrow, author of The Once and Future Witches on The Jasmine Throne

"Suri’s incandescent feminist masterpiece hits like a steel fist inside a velvet glove. Blisteringly furious and astonishingly tender by turns, its women take on the patriarchal empire with every weapon at their disposal. Simply magnificent."―
Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun on The Jasmine Throne

About the Author

Tasha Suri is the World Fantasy Award winning author of The Burning Kingdoms Trilogy, The Books of Ambha Duology, What Souls Are Made Of and Doctor Who: The Cradle. Once a librarian, she is now a part-time writing tutor and a full-time cat and rabbit wrangler. She lives with her family in a mildly haunted house in London.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit (November 12, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316538604
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316538602
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.34 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 262 ratings

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Tasha Suri
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Tasha Suri is an award-winning author, a writing tutor, an occasional librarian and a cat owner. She has won the Best Newcomer (Sydney J. Bounds) Award from the British Fantasy Society, the Starburst Brave New Words Award, and has been nominated for the Astounding Award and Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. Her debut novel Empire of Sand was named one of the 100 best fantasy books of all time by TIME magazine. When she isn’t writing, Tasha likes to cry over TV shows, buy too many notebooks, and indulge her geeky passion for reading about South Asian history. She lives with her family in a mildly haunted house in London.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
262 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the series engaging and a worthwhile conclusion to the trilogy. They appreciate the skillful storytelling that captures the characters' complex emotions with depth and skill. The narrative feels like an immersive, true-to-life portrayal of human emotion. Overall, customers describe the book as an epic love story with action.

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4 customers mention "Series quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the series. They say it's a great conclusion to the trilogy and a series they will read again.

"I love this series and have added to my shelf to re-read on a snowy day." Read more

"The last book has been my favorite but I have enjoyed the entire series." Read more

"Thank you Miss Tasha Suri for giving me, us, this wonderful trilogy and a beautiful final, and worthy final book of this trilogy, I will always keep..." Read more

"A series I will read again and again...." Read more

3 customers mention "Narrative quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the narrative quality. They find the characters' complicated feelings beautifully captured, and the story feels like a skillfully crafted true human representation. The trilogy is a great conclusion to an epic tale, with lots of action and great descriptions that draw them in early on.

"...The characters complicated feelings are so beautifully captured, the way everything always created many conficting and contradicting emotions, it..." Read more

"...If you’re looking for an epic sapphic love story, with lots action and great characters thrown in, read this." Read more

"Excellent Narrative & Immersion..." Read more

Epic trilogy conclusion
5 out of 5 stars
Epic trilogy conclusion
Genre: epic fantasyIt’s always difficult to review the third book in a trilogy. Most of the time, a third book either leaves a big emotional 5-star impact that can fade over time. I suspect that once the emotions fade from recent memory, the impact of these characters will remain with me for some time. I cannot recommend this trilogy enough, and now that it’s complete, it’s a must-read for fans of fantasy.The Lotus Empire is a force. It's a sprawling and complex conclusion to the Burning Kingdoms Trilogy. Be prepared to settle into its pacing: while it picks up immediately after The Oleander Sword, the first half feels like the dust is settling and everyone is taking nervous deep breaths before the Yaksha make their move.Malini and Priya have always fought for the best for their own people, and this puts them on opposite sides of the new war. There is love still, but also complete (and literal) heartbreak, anger, and a drive for vengeance. Tasha Suri writes her characters with incredible complexity and nuance, and I love that there is no side of right or wrong. Themes from earlier books, particularly the fraught position of women in power and those who dare to take power, remain prominent in the conclusion.For those looking for an epic conclusion.... I hope you are as satisfied as I was. Each book in this series is long, and this may be the slowest moving of them, so prepare yourself for the long haul when picking it up. The audiobooks to the series are incredible, narrated by Shiromi Arserio, there’s an intentional lyrical quality to the writing meant to mirror a South Asian epic. It’s a series I recommend as a tandem read with audio and print.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2024
    I love this series and have added to my shelf to re-read on a snowy day.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
    I cant usually sustain for this kind of fantasy, the political type with lots of character storylines to follow, but the elegant descriptions drew me in early. The characters complicated feelings are so beautifully captured, the way everything always created many conficting and contradicting emotions, it felt like such a skillfully crafted true human representation. Too often authors write their characters as being fully sold on something, never questioning, never having more than one true emotion at a time and I LOVE that she showed not just the emotion the character chose to act upon, but the dozen other things they felt along the way to their choice, even if it was a quick one. The way she shows how they processed their fury, their guilt, their joy, their conviction, all over the exact same emotional stimuli? I felt each character was REAL because that's how REAL human emotions happen. Thank you for giving us this magical experience.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2024
    Thank you for creating this world! The characters and the story and everything about it.
    The final installment of this trilogy is a great conclusion to an epic tale. It’s a journey and a lesson. What I learned in this book makes me want to immediately go back and reread the whole series and I just reread it all before this one was released!!!

    If you’re looking for an epic sapphic love story, with lots action and great characters thrown in, read this.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2024
    The last book has been my favorite but I have enjoyed the entire series.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2024
    Thank you Miss Tasha Suri for giving me, us, this wonderful trilogy and a beautiful final, and worthy final book of this trilogy, I will always keep this story and their characters with me.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2025
    ***Thank you to Orbit Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience with the finished book, which I purchased.***

    I was so excited to finally sit down and jump back into the world of The Burning Kingdoms. The Lotus Empire was a solid conclusion to the trilogy, and it had me in my feelings at several points throughout the story. However, it was probably my least favorite book of the series.

    First, let’s start with what I loved about The Lotus Empire. Suri’s writing was utterly breathtaking, as usual. I was instantly transported back into this world and had such a great time experiencing it again. The characters and their arcs were also a highlight. There were A LOT of POV characters in this one. Suri did a remarkable job of balancing the different perspectives while letting some of the smaller players of the cast have unforgettable moments.

    The plot of The Lotus Empire was interesting and did manage to keep me engaged. I just really wanted to see some things in this book that it didn’t deliver. The first half of the book was very meandering, and the pace felt sluggish. Things picked up in the second half, but it still didn’t give me what I really wanted from this story, a face-to-face, huge confrontation between Malini and Priya. Most of their conflict seemed to be resolved via dreams from afar, which I found really disappointing.

    I was also a bit disappointed in the additions to the world-building in The Lotus Empire. The story introduced some really cool new concepts but didn’t really do much with them. I would have loved a bit more context to the history of the war between the gods, for example. Many of the big achievements in the plot were the result of new applications of the magic system, which would have been awesome if so many of them hadn’t left me scratching my head in confusion. The yaksa, while enigmatic and quite terrifying, were also a bit of a letdown after all of the build up to their arrival. Their end was sort of noble, but I didn’t feel that their character development was really earned.

    The theme of sacrifice played such a huge role throughout The Lotus Empire. So many of the characters had to grapple with how much they were willing to give up. However, I appreciated that each of them had extremely different motivations that impacted their views on the idea of sacrifice. It was fascinating to see the push and pull between the characters as they each tried to figure out how much was too much to give up. The power of faith and its relationship to sacrifice was also explored in interesting ways. I appreciated the amount of nuance the story brought to these topics.

    Ultimately, I liked where each of the characters ended up. They all grew so much over the course of the story. I loved how the ending illustrated that the only way to stop the cycle of violence was to be brave enough to quit perpetuating it.

    While The Lotus Empire didn’t give me everything I wanted, it did provide a satisfying conclusion to The Burning Kingdoms trilogy. After a bit of a meandering start, it found its stride and barreled into a heart-pounding finale that left me more than a little teary-eyed. I really did love this series and will be watching for whatever Suri does next. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2024
    The Lotus Empire, and The Burning Kingdoms trilogy as a whole, does everything epic fantasy should and does it flawlessly. 5 stars across the board!

    The world-building is expansive. Each book deepens the mythology, loosely based on South Asian folk worship of yaksas (nature spirits), and questions what it means to worship, what power is allotted to gods and to humans. Although Ahiranya remains the primary focus of action, each book also provides insight into new places within the Parijatdvipa Empire. The third book expands from Parijat and Srugna into Alor and the Jagatay territory beyond the empire's northern border.

    The character development and relationships are where this series truly shines! Empress Malini and Elder Priya were three-dimensional, their rational and not-so-rational actions made perfect sense given their histories, social entanglements, and the options available. I adored their slow-burn romance and its culmination in the third book as an intense love / hate passion, which nevertheless managed to stay away from the abusive power dynamics so common to “darker” romances now.

    Even rarer, the secondary characters and relationships were equally well-developed. The shifting relationships between the Ahiranyi temple children, rebels, governing household (maids, cooks, guards), and yaksa across the trilogy was fascinating. As was their varied thoughts on what it means to sacrifice to gain and maintain freedom from oppression, whether external or internal. In the third book, I particularly loved the sweet romance between Lady Bhumika and her faithful guard Jeevan, and that the yaksa (the Big Bad) had a semi-sympathetic backstory and family dynamics.

    The structure and pacing are also spot on. Each book is a full story arc: Ahiranyan rebels and Princess Malini rebel; Empress Malini vs her brother, Emperor Chandra; and humanity vs the yaksa. There are numerous chapter POVs, but every one provides a necessary perspective on events and the characters appear again at some point. There is no purposeless filler anywhere in the trilogy. The intricacy and yet continuity of events and characters across books is truly astounding. And all the plot threads are tied into a neat and satisfying bow by the end of the third book.

    The descriptive writing is in turns gorgeous and unsettling. But without veering into purple prose. I could perfectly picture the characters and landscapes. (Also, shout out to artist Micah Epstein for three stunning book covers!) Here is one passage from book three that I found particularly evocative:

    “The water beneath them, for a breath, stilled. And Priya saw one reflection in the water—one being, bigger than either of them. Her face, wrought strange, with a skin of bark whorled with stars; one mortal eye and another of flowers. Mortal skin at the throat and the shoulders, then a riot of flowers again at the heart. As she watched, it rippled and changed—flesh, to flowers, to utter cosmic starlight. It was awful, and it was beautiful.”

    In summary: A stunning conclusion to a brilliant trilogy! This is the best adult fantasy series that I have read since 2020. The world-building, character development, and descriptive writing are all perfect. Just perfect. I can’t wait for a special edition box set to come out because I will be buying that too.

Top reviews from other countries

  • ProjektMyra
    5.0 out of 5 stars Grateful for this book
    Reviewed in Germany on December 31, 2024
    What a ride it has been indeed. I have immensely enjoyed the whole trilogy, even though I slipped Tasha Suri's "The Cradle" between book 2 and 3. Read the whole trilogy for yourself. You will not regret it.
  • Pireeti
    5.0 out of 5 stars I’m so happy!!
    Reviewed in France on December 24, 2024
    I received the books in a perfect condition, and quickly than expected!
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    Pireeti
    5.0 out of 5 stars I’m so happy!!
    Reviewed in France on December 24, 2024
    I received the books in a perfect condition, and quickly than expected!
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  • Becky Crook
    5.0 out of 5 stars What an ending!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 22, 2024
    The Burning Kingdoms falls into that elusive category of trilogy's where the series get's better with each book. My love for these characters and the world they inhabit grew with each page, ensuring that they worm their way into your hearts like the rot that is eating it's way through the empire. It's brutal, brilliant and this last book brought at almost horror element to the story adding to the depth and tension of a story already wrought in it. I honestly don't think this series could have ended any better, it may have broken me into a thousand pieces but it was a fitting end to the story and one I loved.

    Fair warning that this review will contain spoilers for the first two books in the series, because I can't talk about this book without mentioning what came before. The ending of The Oleander Sword broke me in so many ways, so in a way I thought I was prepared for what was to come, but oh, how wrong I was. I think I'd cried 4 times within the first quarter of the book, and it just ended up going downhill from there. I hated the maw that had opened up between Priya and Malini, a space so wide it seemed impossible to traverse. Priya's actions at the end of the second book shook, not just Malini, but the people around her and left Malini in a precarious position. One where she needs to bring down the Yaksa, needs to fight the Ahiranyi's, but also wants Priya to live, to protect her, even after what she did. Their relationship is woven so intricately through this series, but now it's turned brittle, something so fragile that a simple touch could bring it crumbling down, but these two women are strong, they have clawed their way to power, fought against those who would call them witch, who said they must burn, and they will not let themselves, or their people go down without a fight.

    The ending of the last book also saw Bhumika give herself & her memories up for a chance to stop the Yaksa once and for all, and boy was I not prepared for how emotional her parts of the book would make me. I've loved her as a character since the first book, as complicated and brutal as she can come across, she is simply trying to do her best to protect her people. The knowledge she gains has such an important part to play in the story, but it was truly heartbreaking seeing her become this husk of the woman she was before. Someone who had no one to love, who didn't remember her sister of child, or even the love of Jeevan who had to travel with her knowing that she didn't know who he was to her. And then there is Rao, grieving the death of Aditya, the man he loved but could never admit it. He is lost, floating through life with no plan, no mission, hating the nameless for taking Aditya away from him, but then Malini sends him away. He see's it as a punishment until he gets there and realises that he might just have the one thing that can end this war for good.

    These are our main POV's, but Suri makes sure we are aware of every little going on within the Empire, every deceit, every little whisper, thanks to the additional POV chapters she graces us with. It really adds an extra depth to the story, allowing us to almost predict events before they happen, but don't think that lessens the impact in any way because that couldn't be further from the truth. Instead these chapters build on the tension that already exists, building to these inevitable clashes that still knock the breath out of you when they happen. Suri's writing and the overall pacing of this book make it almost impossible to put down, there are so many twists, so many heightened moments that had me on the edge of my seat. Her writing may be beautiful and prosaic in parts, but this is a brutal story, one with hope and love woven through, but certainly not a happy one.

    I mentioned the almost horror aspect that was woven through this book, something that Suri brings to the story through the Yaksa. These beings that claim to be there to help, to bring a new age where those who worship them will be looked after. But we know the truth of them, the danger, the clawing need they have to cleave this world into something new, something fit for them and not humanity. Their features are enough to claim horror, half human half... nature, claiming the faces of those thought dead, but it's their desperation that is the true horror. Their willingness to kill simply to claim a few more second and third born among their worshipers, their intention to bring more temple children into the Hirana re-starting the circle of worship and sacrifice that Priya and Bhumika had tried to hard to stop. They see humans as weak, seeing them as nothing more than a means to an end. But humanity is not something easily squashed, and the very thing they think a weakness is what gives people the strength to bring them down.

    Suri writes her Women as complicated, unforgiving beings and I honestly can't get over how real they feel, but also how happy it makes me to see characters like this on the page. Not simply women in power, but women who have killed for it, who have lied for it, women who don't claim to be good, to be wholesome, rather those who wanted power and took it. She shows the strength in women, in the whispers that wives share when they think no one is listening, the power they have over their husbands, and how someone clever, someone who knows about that power can and does use it to their advantage. It's a story filled with feminine friendships, alliances, and sometimes betrayals, but Suri shows the true power and brutality that women can wield if they take the chance to claim it. And the icing on top of the cake, she makes the main romance queer, makes them long for each other with a yearning that lasts through betrayals and stabbings. Makes them dream of each other, and of a world where they could be together, be happy, without the burden of power weighing them down.

    The ending of this book broke me in so many ways. I cried both happy and sad tears, but it was an ending worthy of all that had come before it. I liked how Suri didn't take the easy way out, she showed the sacrifices that needed to be made, and despite all the horror and destruction that was woven, it was an ending filled with hope, but one also heavily steeped in reality. This series was brutal and beautiful and everything in between. Suri has created a masterpiece of fiction, and a series that will undoubtedly become a modern classic.
  • Donald ball
    5.0 out of 5 stars fabulous
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2024
    All three books build a world and characters that are unique, with a fantastic story arch, over the three books, that never ceases to amaze and entertain.