The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

"... there would always be darkness. But as long as you kept a light burning, it would be okay."

After the coup to steal Daevabad, Ali and Nahri find themselves powerless in Cairo and desperate to get home to save their loved ones. Banu Manizheh finds herself the tyrant ruling a broken world, with Dara trapped at her side. 

Unlike the second book, the finale of The Daevabad Trilogy is an action-packed adventure, which is really good news considering the book is just shy of 800 pages. It's super fast-paced, with dramatic plot twists. Magic and murder, djinn and Gods, and pirates. That's right, this one's got pirates.

Chakraborty's writing is richly descriptive creating settings and characters that are vivid and beautiful even at the most brutal of moments. And there are plenty of brutal moments because Manizheh's worse than Ghassan - I honestly don't know why she wouldn't marry him; they were perfect for each other.

I think my favorite parts of this book came down to the characters being forced to choose between the easy thing to do and the right thing to do. Nahri has the chance to rebuild her human life and Ali could be a king and build an army. Dara could just give up fighting for his free will or die for the last time, either choice being easier than the alternative. Our characters are tempted and tried at every turn.

And it all culminates in an epic battle between good and evil and ends with what I love most: a concrete and hopeful ending.