Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.
But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.
We received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to Orbit UK for the review copy!
As a hardcore fan of Tasha Suri’s Books of Ambha duology, I was beyond intrigued by this new series, which promised a tumulteous sapphic romance set in a tyrannical empire, inspired by South Asian Epics- and more than delivered.
The Jasmine Throne is a simmering opening to the series. It starts with tension – it is set in a subjugated part of the empire, plagued by a mysterious illness – and this tension is held steadily for the entire book through impeccable storytelling and characterization.
The story is told through multiple point of views, but Malini and Priya are the obvious main characters. A princess locked in a temple, as a punishment for defying her fanatical, monster of a brother. A maidservant with secrets and gifts even she doesn’t fully understand. And between them, a delicious dance of wariness and attraction. Malini is used to a coterie of allies, she knows how to charm and manipulate and use, but she’s drugged and sick and grieving. Priya is her only hope to escape her prison and depose her brother, but she’s not easily led or manipulated. She’s a temple child, with powers that can shake an empire to its core. Can they trust each other? Do they even need to, to reach their respective goals?
When reading fantasy, I am often frustrated when the end of a chapter signals a shift in the point of view character. In this particular case, every point of view serves the story and enriches it. A prince burdened by the knowledge his mysterious faith brought him. A highborn former temple child, who hides who she truly is and what she can do, and married the enemy to better protect her people. The leader of a rebellion who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. Every character brings a piece to this rich mosaic – and the full weight of their ambition and agency set against each other and against a cruel, destructive empire.
Power is at the center of the book. The very nature of it – is it supposed to be soft and subtle, to better save what can be saved and shield the innocent? Violent and vindictive, to get back what was taken from you and build a new world? Common goals don’t always equate similar means, especially when it’s about getting freedom from the yoke of oppression. I loved how Tasha Suri approached this theme: with nuance and deftness, not the bludgeoning mallet of “violence bad, negotiating your survival with an empire that wants you dead is good, actually”. Resistance and its multiple shades (and their limits) are on display in this story; through subversive art, through direct conflict, through temporary submission. It is always a theme dear to my heart and it was splendidly portrayed.
And through it all, Tasha Suri’s beautiful writing taking this book to new heights. Not to venture into cliché-land and say that she paints with her words, but I fail to find a less tired metaphor to properly convey how evocative the prose is. The imagery captured my imagination; the fire and water symbolism, the aesthetics of the rot, the dizzying mysteries of the Hirana.
This is very much a first book of an epic fantasy trilogy, and I must say I am very excited to see where Tasha Suri’s storytelling talents take us next. Book 2 can’t come soon enough.
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