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Summary
Summary
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-and 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.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Dark secrets lurk at an empire's heart in this complex, affecting epic fantasy from debut author Suri. In a land inspired by Mughal India, Mehr is a young noblewoman of ambiguous status: her father is a governor from a powerful Ambhan family, the most privileged group in the Ambhan Empire, but Mehr is an illegitimate child, and her exiled mother is one of the outcast Amrithi. Her mother's people claim descent from the daiva, strange, djinnlike creatures that roam the desert, gathering around magical storms said to be the sleeping gods' dreams. Mehr's latent magical abilities draw the attention of the empire's spiritual leader and his mystical coven, including a young Amrithi man named Amun who possesses similar abilities. Alongside the fantasy setting's courtly intrigue and magic, Suri explores deeper questions of power, love, and the human cost of prosperity and order. That cost falls heavily on the subjugated Amrithi, who are "the kindling wood that [feed] the fire of the Empire's strength"; on women, whose complex relationships with one another are brilliantly portrayed; and on the young people unwillingly caught up in the Ambhan arranged marriage system. Intricate worldbuilding, heartrending emotional stakes, and Suri's well-wrought prose ("Dreamfire bled across the sky, swift as spilled ink on paper, its jewelled edges tinged with darkness") make this a worthy addition to any epic fantasy fan's bookshelf. Agent: Laura Crockett, Triada U.S. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Guardian Review
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils by James Lovegrove, The Subjugate by Amanda Bridgeman and The Dark Vault by VE Schwab In a genre replete with stock Arthurian templates, it's refreshing to see myths and legends taken from a different culture, in this instance Malay. In Natasha Ngan's third YA novel, Girls of Paper and Fire (Hodder, £14.99), the citizens of the lavishly portrayed world of Ikhara are divided into three castes: Moon, the ruling demons; Steel, demon-human amalgams; and Paper, subjugated humans. Narrator Lei is a Paper girl, taken from her family to become a concubine, with eight other girls, of the Demon King. What follows her initial submission is the slow-burning story of the iniquity perpetrated by the ruling elite and Lei's affecting love affair with her fellow Paper girl Wren, a liaison forbidden by the powers-that-be. The book works on several levels, as a satisfying glimpse into a different fantasy world, as a compelling narrative of personal rebellion, and as a timely reminder that, in the right hands, the fantasy genre has things to say about injustice and abuse of power in the real world. Another rich fantasy novel with a non-European background, Tasha Suri's Empire of Sand (Orbit, £8.99) draws inspiration from medieval India and the Mughal empire. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of a ruling-class father and an outcast, nomad mother reputedly descended from djinns, and from whom Mehr has inherited magical powers. Forced into an arranged marriage to utilise her magic in the service of the Amban empire, Mehr learns that her husband is also enslaved. Together they work to overcome the wiles of the immortal who founded the empire - the Maha, an evil mystic. Suri writes convincingly about the role of the oppressed, and tells a thrilling tale set against a beautifully rendered desert backdrop. In Mehr she has created a believable, fully rounded heroine, by turns vulnerable and yet full of guile and agency, who will get readers cheering. Empire of Sand marks an impressive debut. James Lovegrove brings the story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson's prolonged fight against the monsters of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos to a rousing conclusion in the third book of the Cthulhu Casebooks, Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils (Titan, £12.99). Drawn out of retirement on his farm near Eastbourne to investigate the grisly death of his brother Mycroft, Holmes detects the involvement of his arch enemy, Professor Moriarty. The evil Professor has entered a pact with the outer god R'luhlloig, and together they have assumed the form of Baron von Herling, German ambassador to Britain. After much thrilling derring-do, cunning detective work and close encounters with death, Holmes and Watson are abducted and taken via submarine to the Pacific island of R'lyeh, dwelling place of the old god Cthulhu. There, R'luhlloig and Cthulhu do battle in a fine set piece finale. One strength of the novel is the depiction of Holmes and Watson's relationship in the face of old age. Lovegrove is a grandmaster of the Sherlock Holmes homage, and no slouch when it comes to describing Lovecraftian horrors: Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils is thoroughly compelling. We're in a near-future America where religious fundamentalism rubs up against brain-invading technology in Amanda Bridgeman's eighth novel The Subjugate (Angry Robot, £8.99). Peace in the tightly knit religious sect known as the Children of Christ has been shattered by the depredations of a merciless serial killer. Detectives Salvi Brentt and Mitch Grenville must work out whether the murderer is a member of the Amish-like community or an escaped inmate of the nearby Solme Complex, a prison where hardened criminals are technologically lobotomised to become harmless Serenes. Brentt and Grenville have troubled pasts that come to plague their investigations, and one of the novel's pleasures lies in Bridgeman's gradual peeling back of her protagonists' fragile psyches as the story nears its thrilling climax. The Subjugate is a compelling seat-of-the-pants murder mystery and a fascinating inquiry into good and evil and the possibility of redemption. First published in the US in two volumes, The Archived and The Unbound appear here as The Dark Vault (Titan, £9.99) by VE Schwab. At the age of 12, Mackenzie Bishop's grandfather initiated her into the secret of the Archives, an afterlife realm where the dead reside like books in a library. He was the Keeper of the Archive, and his job was to track down and return the awoken dead from the Narrows, a realm between the Archive and the real world. Now 16, Mackenzie has inherited her dead grandfather's role of Keeper, with the many burdens this entails - not least of which is the danger to her own life from malign supernatural forces and the lies she must tell to friends and family, who know nothing of her secret role. Mackenzie is a complex character, struggling with loneliness and grief after the death of her brother, and with ambivalent feelings for two male acquaintances. Schwab successfully melds contemporary gothic with a moving coming-of-age tale. - Eric Brown.
Kirkus Review
A woman confronts the evil at the source of a powerful empire in this fantasy debut that draws from the history and culture of India's Mughal Empire.Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of the governor of Irinah in the Ambhan Empire and an Amrithi woman, a member of a feared and despised race of nomads descended from spirits. She lives a sheltered and privileged existence despite her ongoing conflict with her stepmother, until she performs an unwitting act of magic. That draws the attention of the Maha, the apparently immortal and infinitely cruel man who founded the empire, and his worshipful disciples, the mystics. They coerce Mehr into marrying Amun, their Amrithi mystic. Although the other mystics loathe the Amrithi and Amun in particular, they need an Amrithi couple to dance the Rite of the Bound, a magical act that warps the dreams of the sleeping Gods to fulfill the prayers of the mystics, maintaining and expanding the empire, and extending the Maha's life. Is there any way for these two to escape the vows that bind them and find their own way toward freedom, love, and the possibility of honoring their own traditions? One must hope that this book is a harbinger of a coming flood of other fantasies that draw on traditions and cultures outside the confines of Northern Europe. Certainly, a post-colonial narrative in which a minority is both exploited and forced to assimilate has painful relevance in our own world and time. And there is something undoubtedly refreshing about a form of magic that is expressed in gesture instead of words. Those accustomed to the usual run of epic fantasy will find familiar elements: an obviously evil villain set against a heroine who has an unpleasant stepmother and who, despite being the chosen one, is struggling against overwhelming odds. But Suri's deft and textured characterization breathes new life into these elements; she even takes a tired and often cloying tropethe triumph of the power of loveand makes it seem genuine, painful, and beautiful.A very strong start for a new voice. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Exploited for the protective power in their blood, the Amrithi are scorned by the rest of the Ambhan Empire. Mehr is the product of an extended liaison between an Amrithi and an imperial governor. When her mother, who does not believe in vows, abandons her, Mehr is raised by her father to be a proper, dutiful Ambhan female. She tries to follow the household rules but values her mother's blood heritage and practices the rites she learned as a child. During a sandstorm, Mehr calls upon powerful desert magic, which attracts the notice of the emperor's dreaded mystics, a group of whom arrive at her father's palace with a marriage proposal and veiled threats. Mehr cannot imagine why the Maha, the mystics' leader, would want a bastard half-Amrithi for one of his acolytes. Nevertheless, she agrees, only to learn from her new husband that their wedding vow binds her to him and to the Maha and that the Maha has great plans for her, plans that could arouse the wrath of the gods. The desert setting, complex characters, and epic mythology will captivate readers of Suri's debut fantasy.--Lucy Lockley Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an Ambhan Empire governor and one of the Amrithi, a group of feared and despised nomads descended from spirits. In conflict with her stepmother, Mehr nonetheless lives a privileged life until she performs a rite that brings a band of mystics to her father's door. They are tools of the Maha, the powerful near immortals who created the empire. Faced with marrying the group's Amrithi mystic, Amun, Mehr sacrifices her freedom for the safety of her father and sister. While the mystics would rather see the Amrithi expunged from the empire, the couple's magic will fulfill the mystics' plans of continuing to extend the Maha's life and rule. With lives and beliefs at stake, Mehr must use her skills and growing abilities to thwart their plan. Familiar tropes such as overthrowing evil and a heroine finding love through adversity are given fresh life through the influences of Indian culture and history on both setting and plot. VERDICT This intriguing debut by a London-based librarian is a fabulous South Asian epic fantasy and recommended for those who enjoy S.A. Chakraborty (City of Brass). [Prepub Alert, 5/21/18.]-Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
