Empire of Sand

In the empire, a noblewoman’s right to choose her own husband is considered sacred, but when Mehr is introduced to an unexpected suitor, she knows there will be consequences for her family if she refuses.

I was immediately hooked. This is a story about power and magic and empire, yet its focus is personal, rather than epic -- Mehr, her identity and her relationships.

The first conversation Mehr has with her mystic suitor sets the tone for their marriage:

“Compassion,” she said. She shouldn’t have said it, but she couldn’t take back the word now. “I don’t know what a good husband should be, but I know I would like a husband who is compassionate.”
Amun raised his head. Mehr found herself staring into eyes the colour of a show more moonless night, deep and dark.
“Then I will do all in my power to be a good husband to you,” he said.

The two of them are caught in an awful situation in which they have very few choices -- Amun in particular is bound by his vows of service. Yet they both choose, over and over, to be kind and to support each other. I loved that.

I also liked how this story explores the choices people make to protect loved ones. Mehr agrees to a marriage in part to protect her little sister. Choices made by Mehr’s parents out of love or a desire to protect Mehr haven’t always left Mehr feeling loved or protected, and now she’s confronted with the consequences, especially concerning things she’s been kept ignorant of. And as she and Amun grow closer, she has someone else she wants to protect -- and who wants to protect her. These different relationships and experiences push Mehr to examine this topic from different perspectives. show less

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88 points/100 (4 ½ stars).
Alert: Gushing Ahead

Mehr is Amrithi. Descended from Daiva, desert spirits, and both respected and feared by others. She is also the illegitimate daughter of the imperial governor. When Mehr's powers come to the attention of the Emperor's lead mystic, the Maha, she is offered a choice: marry one of the mystics, or see to the destruction of her family. She only really has one choice.

I loved this book. It hit a spot inside me I've been desperate to fill for months. I was drawn in by the main character very early on, and from that moment I didn't want to leave her. And then the cute parts started. Oh my god, I loved this book so much. It show more was so cute. The end was so everything I wanted. I needed this book more than I wanted it, and I wanted this very much.

The world Empire of Sand introduces is amazing. Set in a desert empire and filled with wonders and filled with past pains. There are two cultures put together, and it leads to not-so-great things. Especially since one culture believes that the other shouldn't exist, even though they rely on them more than they want to admit. The Empire is built upon evil actions and heresy. They want to bend the will of the gods to their own desires. It is amazingly well built, and I really loved the players forcing the changes in the world.

The true strength of Empire of Sand lies in its characters. You're easily able to fall in love with those you are meant to, and you easily hate the fuckers who really need to die. The story itself takes a little bit to start up and come into itself. Yet, even before I came to enjoy the story, I really loved the main character, Mehr. The people make up for the slower story.

Mehr is amazing. Her spirit is kind and strives to be happy. She doesn't let things get to her, doesn't let them bring her down. Even when she isn't happy, she tries to be. Mehr is the light that others need in their lives, they want her to be around. She makes you want to be in her presence. She becomes trapped in an impossible situation. She is Amrithi. Outcast, descendent of the Daiva. Yet, she is also Irin, part of the Empire. And now, she is taken by the Empire, and expected to play by their rules - and she isn't happy about it.

Amun is at first a mystery, but grows into being just as amazing as Mehr. He has been trapped as Mehr became trapped, only he was taken in childhood. He has had nothing good in his life since he was taken. He struggles to stay true to himself, but it has been chipped away little by little over the years. Yet, he is still kind in the ways that most people in his situation wouldn't be. He is such a good soul, I love him.

This is the relationship I set my dreams on. It didn't disappoint me in the least. I'm so happy with it. It is so utterly adorable. At one point, I was crying and I didn't know why I was crying, only that I knew it had to do with how much I loved these two together. It would kill me if they were ever broken apart. Arranged marriages are tricky things, and it isn't something I typically seek out in my reading. Yet, I loved what Tasha Suri did with this relationship.

The ending was the ending. That sounds obvious, but it isn't. Because I'm pissed that the next book in the series isn't going to be about Mehr and Amun. Utterly and completely devastated that it is going to focus on Mehr's sister instead. The end of Empire of Sand is the end of their story, and I am having trouble coming to terms with this fact. show less

Mehr hasn't fit in since her mother left and her father remarried, leaving her the only one to teach her younger sister about their Amrithi heritage that allows them both to use magic and communicate with Daeva, desert spirits. After Mehr reveals her abilities, she is forced to marry Amun, and together they are forced to perform Amrithi magic in service to the emperor. Can they escape together?

I'm not sure why, but this book just failed to capture me. I started it on Kindle and just felt like it was taking me SO long to get through and I never wanted to go back to it. I ended up finishing it on audio and that worked better for me, but I still never got super into it even though I enjoyed the setting and a lot of things about the world. show more TBD on whether or not I read the sequel, and if I do it will probably be on audio. 3 stars. show less

Mehr is the half-Amrithi daughter of the Empire’s regional governor, and somewhat insulated from the prejudice against Amrithi because of it. But when she reveals her powers to interact with the daiva and the storms according to ancient Amrithi lore, she’s snatched up by the religious authorities and forced into a marriage with another Amrithi; their powers turn out to be important to the maintenance of the empire. It seems odd for leaders encourage the slaughter of the people necessary to the preservation of the state, in numbers significant enough to threaten their viability—but it’s hard to deny that it’s plausible. As for the forced marriage: the partners don’t want to hurt or force each other; there is no explicit sex, show more and no sex until they know and love each other. It was fine but I’m not sure I’ll read more in the series; if you like fantasy and dilemmas of choice under constraint you might enjoy it. show less

Oh, but this was a glorious read! My first book by Suri, whose words will keep my heart full for years to come, I have no doubt. One of the things I find hardest to do, as a writer, is balance giant concepts like good an evil with any measure of subtlety... and Suri just nails all those giant voids to the wall. Love/Hate, Good/Evil, Orient/Occident, Magic/Reality, Strength/Weakness. It's such a beautiful tightrope to walk through her prose, and I am left in awe of how well she sticks the landing. Character driven, this first book in the duology still manages to juggle world-building, action, and plot in a way that feels seamless to read. The amount of rabbit holes I went down in terms of research was a delight. Seriously. I'm learning show more all the things!

Okay. I've gushed enough. Probably my new favorite author. Don't be insane: read this immediately! show less

I haven't been in the mood for YA fantasy for a while, which is why it took me so long to read this. However, the moment I started it I got completely sucked in -- really enjoyed it. It moves along at a great pace, Mehr is a compelling character -- full of privilege, but aware of it and low on whining. Very refreshing! I loved the setting. I loved the very background romance. I loved the standalone quality of it even though it is a series. I feel invited to continue reading adventures in this world, not compelled, and that makes all the difference.

advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.

I really liked this! It was one of my few unqualified lovely new-to-me reads of 2020.
It took me five months to finish but I was having trouble focusing on reading in general in the meantime. General quarantine blues plus some library loans that I loathed that made me think I'd lost the bug for reading again.

I loved the relationship between the main characters. I always like a love story where the main conflict isn't based on major interpersonal drama between the love interests, so I'm not having to constantly evaluate who the real asshole is (and so I don't have to mentally scream at the characters that they're obviously bad for each other). So once Mehr got to know Amun, he was never the source of her misery. I loved that.

Historically, show more I also liked this reimagining of Mughal history more than Kingdom of Brass, though that's largely because I liked the characters much more (I remember KoB having some of my favorite middle eastern history factoids, but I hated the characters). I also liked Suri's research into the lives of noble women and how that rang much truer to what I remember learning. One idle thought while reading: did Mughal women explicitly chafe so much at restrictions because of their gender? It's not a bad thing to have modern feminist opinions in this book, but I wonder (there's so little writing from Mughal noblewomen to form an idea, anyway).

Anyway, I liked the women being strong within their society without having to completely transgress against it (Lois McMaster Bujold's writing is the purest form of this idea that I can think of right now). That's the kind of historical fantasy that I adore. I loved that there were so many women in it, all strong in different ways.

I think my only big complaint is that this book has a slow start. I had to get 45% in before I could start believing in the relationship of the main characters, which was all that was carrying me through the bleakness of Mehr's situation (not necessarily a fault of the author - once again, my personal reading situation). The start was also necessary for some of the worldbuilding that was referenced again in the end, but...I still wonder if there was a more efficient way to do it. I also wonder if it's something I would appreciate more on a reread (knowing which portions tie in to the end), or if it's something I would gloss over. I guess Suri needed emotional and factual buildup, but...very slow start.

Also because of the long read time, I can't tell if the consequences I was imagining (my "let's stop here for the night before it gets worse" points) ended up better than I feared or if the dread had leached away by the time I continued. I think I'll lean towards the former: we didn't absolutely wallow in Mehr's misery, and she was never completely without a single source of comfort (after her marriage at least; the beginning is hazy). So no Robin Hobb kind of situation.

So: great book once you get into it! show less