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.

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.

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

Oh boy… This was a bit of a disappointment for me.  It’s not that the premise was horrible, it actually intrigued me from the first time I read it. But it moved really slow and seemed to have a lot of filler that wasn’t really significant but seemed to be included just to reach a word count.  I think without these, the book would have flowed better for me.

Saving graces for this story include: great character development, clear and precise POV changes, excellent world-building  and most times, an enticing author’s  voice to carry the story forward.  I think, like many authors, Suri struggled with the middle of the book and connecting the plot dots properly. Filler can ruin an otherwise perfect book. I just felt that when I expected to be shot forward with action and anticipation… well, it never came in the middle where I wanted it to. Bits and pieces of things that really didn’t matter to plot transitioning, or character development were inserted in the middle causing pacing to fall apart.

However, because the majority of the book succeeded where it should have, and because the book is character driven, not plot driven, I feel it managed to stay on the shelf and not fall into the DNF bin.

I gave it: