The Empire of Gold
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
SA Chakraborty did not disappoint with the third book in the Daevabad trilogy. The Empire of Gold weaves together each loose thread from the first two books into an intricate tapestry. I absolutely loved how all of the characters developed over the course of the series! We got to see how war and politics age those trapped within, and the terrible trade-offs that are made as a consequence. Particularly interesting was watching the different branches of the royal family as they each tried to figure out how to balance their personal love of each other with their political duties to tribes and alliances.
One note for lovers of romance - Empire of Gold is a great fantasy book, an interesting political book, but an average romance at best. Read this for the betrayals and epic finale, not because you’re hoping for a love story for the ages. Since it also
wasn’t really the focus of the book I wasn’t particularly bothered, but others may be disappointed.
On the other hand, this may have been the first book where a character sacrificed something that was 1) more interesting than just their life, 2) potentially equally devastating, and 3) sacrificed in a way I thought actually made sense and wasn’t just added for drama. (Looking at you Maas.) The romance may not have been written quite well enough to burn but the relationships overall were, and so the balance of the bittersweet ending was admittedly somewhat predictable but still incredibly satisfying.
Overall I found Empire of Gold to be the best in the trilogy, and the trilogy to be worth the commitment. For the grand finale of such a complex series I went with the Desert Sun cocktail, a grapefruit and tamarind tequila cocktail that I honestly didn’t love at first, but quite enjoyed once I got used to the strong flavors.
Ingredients
1.5 oz Patrón Reposado
.5 oz Citrónge Orange Liqueur
.5 oz Ancho de Reyes (Red)
.75 oz Lime juice
1 oz Tamarind purée
+ Top with Squirt (Grapefruit Soda)
+ Tajín salted rim
+ Grapefruit slice for garnish
Add all ingredients, except for Squirt into a shaker with ice. Shake to chill and combine. Strain into a collins glass that has been rimmed with Tajín and filled with ice. Top with Squirt and garnish with a grapefruit slice.
Substitutions - I used Exotico Reposado instead of Patrón, and Gran Gala instead of Citrónge because those are what I had at home. The Ancho de Reyes probably would have improved the cocktail but I can’t buy any more over-specific liqueurs until I use up some that I have now, so instead I infused a shot of vodka with a sliced thai pepper to get the heat component. I also refuse to buy Squirt so I used Fever Tree Sparkling Grapefruit instead. I didn’t feel the end result was lacking sweetness, although I think the chile flavor of the Ancho de Reyes would have balanced it out better. This cocktail was a pain to track all the pieces down for, but it would a fun specialty drink for a Cinco de Mayo party or something similar.
