TBR Pile Review: Empire of Sand, by Tasha Suri

A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. Empire of Sand is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy.

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.

Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…

Empire of Sand is a lush, dazzling fantasy novel perfect for readers of City of Brass and The Wrath & the Dawn.

My Review

Warning – there will be spoilers.

The Rosie Synopsis

Mehr is the spoilt, privileged, illegitimate daughter of the Governor of Irinah, a desert province of the Ambhan Empire, the largest and most prosperous empire the world has ever seen. Her mother’s people, the Amrithi, are a desert tribe, descendants of the daiva, the immortal spirits descended from the Gods. The Amrithi make no vows or contracts, including marriage contracts, unlike their imperial overlords who allow women only one vow, the sacred choice of who they marry.

The prosperity of the empire is based on the power of the Maha, the first emperor, who has been hunting down the Amrithi to use the power in their blood. Mehr attracts the attention of the Mystics who serve the immortal Maha when she dances in a storm. Tricked into vowing herself to an Amrithi man called Amun and into service of the Maha, Mahr must free herself and all of them from the evil at the heart of the empire.

The Good

I started crying around page 16. The relationship between Mahr, her little sister Arwa, and their nurse is so lovely and Mahr’s relationship with Lalita is a strong, intense friendship. The tug and pull of commitments and needs, love and obligation, especially when contrasted with the attitude of Lady Maryam and Governor Suren to their (step) daughters. I found the way Suri wrote about the relationships extremely touching.

The descriptions of the environment, the dreamfall and the different cultures were very evocative. The inspiration of Mughal India comes through really strongly in the description of the gardens of Jah Irinah and the clothing of the noblewomen. I certainly found it refreshing, as I always do, when a different culture inspires a fantasy secondary world.

The plot is entertaining and gripping, as we follow Mehr from her sheltered world into the harshness of the desert and the temple regime, as she learns just how horrifying life has become for her mother’s people and the great heresy that sustains the empire. She faces evil and dances to defeat it.

The way Mehr and Amun’s relationship slowly develops is subtle and very sweet. I found the changing relationship very realistic. The lack of sex was such a relief, as was the lack of mushy romance. Really, fantasy doesn’t need a shed load of sex scenes, unless it’s fantasy romance in which case sex scenes and mushy romance are part of the genre.

The Not-So-Good

I guessed when Amun tells Mehr about the Rite of the Bound how they could destroy the Maha and free them from their vows, and got frustrated that it took so long for Mehr to work it out. That’s a me thing, not a problem with the book.

The Verdict

I loved this book, I was up far too late reading this book. I had two work meetings today and I was barely coherent because I was up so late. Highly recommended to fans of fantasy.