For this month’s book rec, I’ve chosen to focus on an Adult Fantasy trilogy, The Burning Kingdoms Trilogy by Tasha Suri. This U.K. based author has delved deep into her Punjabi heritage to build a rich, South Asian inspired fantasy world that will leave your heart racing and anxiously waiting for more. The third and final installment of this trilogy comes out this November, so this will give you some time to catch up on the first two books. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Book 1. The Jasmine Throne
The opening prologue introduces us to the Parijatdvipan Empire and its warped, patriarchal ideology toward women, through the eyes of Princess Malini. Women are only revered and considered “pure” if they are willing to sacrifice themselves to the pyre and ascend to “The Mothers.” By refusing this “honor,” Malini is viewed as forever sullied and forced into exile to the Hirana Temple, residing in one of the empire’s conquered city-states, Ahiranya, until she changes her mind. The fact that her own brother, Emperor Chandra, was the one to sentence her and her two ladies-in-waiting to such a fate for no feasible reason suggests a personal vendetta against Malini, and we are intrigued to find out why these two siblings hate each other so much.
It’s a very short prologue, but it was easy to connect to Malini emotionally. She’s clearly heartbroken to watch her ladies-in-waiting, who were her two childhood friends, willingly sacrifice themselves to an ideal that she doesn’t believe in for her sake and that of their families. That being said, Malini knows how cruel Chandra is and that he’s not fit to rule. She’s determined to convince their elder brother to take back his birthright or take the throne herself. She’s intelligent, sharp-witted, and passionate. She may do things in a way that seem morally questionable, but in her mind she is fighting for a righteous cause, which means getting your hands dirty.
The author uses the main setting of Ahiranya as social commentary on the effects of colonization on a people and/or nation. This once vibrant and thriving nation has lost many to a bloody war, had its resources plundered, had their worship of the legendary yaksa nature spirits forbidden, and now are experiencing a mysterious epidemic called “the rot.” Those infected become overwhelmed by plantlike growths until they perish. The people blame the Empire for cutting them off from their spiritual practices and think the disease is the yaksa’s way of punishment for no longer worshiping them as they should. It’s an epidemic that the empire hoped was contained within Ahiranya but eventually spreads throughout the empire.
Our other main protagonist, Priya, is a very likable character. She is smart, witty, down-to-earth, calm in the midst of chaos, possesses the skills of a warrior, and has a big heart. Priya was raised to be a revered temple child of the Hirana and cross the deathless waters thrice to gain the spiritual powers of the yaksa. The fact that she and her temple siblings were betrayed by a handful of their elders and being one of the few survivors has taken a major toll on her. We see her struggle to cope with that survivors guilt by constantly trying to care for any downtrodden person—particularly children with the rot—that she encounters. She gives away any spare coin and food that she has or finds places for them within the sheltered walls of her fellow temple sibling Bhumika’s estate. Bhumika is married to the Empire’s regent and so has some power to make the lives of their people better, though no one can know that Bhumika or Priya are temple children or their lives are at risk.
I did enjoy the relationship between Priya and Bhumika. Despite how often they clash over how best to fight for their people, at the end of the day, they know their hearts are aligned to the same goal, and they share a deep bond that few could ever understand.
Priya’s relationship with her elder temple brother, Ashok, is much more complicated. For years, she had thought that her beloved brother had died of an illness and had spent all that time mourning him. Her finding out he’s in fact alive and leading a band of rebels against the empire sends her emotions spiraling. She’s understandably upset that he didn’t come back for her once he had healed and feels betrayed. She also doesn’t approve of his methods of drinking from the deathless waters in order to access the powers of the yaksa without crossing three times. They both know doing so will eventually kill them unless the ritual crossing is completed, but Ashok is determined and asks her to help them gain access to the temple so they can complete the ritual, but she refuses.
The three temple siblings have survived the same horrific event and have sought to fight back against their oppressors in very different ways. Bhumika uses politics and charity to win favor for her people, Priya uses empathy and the veil of obscurity as a servant to help her fellow citizens, and Ashok uses revolutionary violence and coercion to fight back at all costs.
Priya’s relationship with Princess Malini is a major story line and one that I readily enjoyed. Her initial impression of the princess is that of a tragically ill young woman with a pain-shadowed mind. So, when she runs into Malini one night in a lucid state trying to escape her caretaker, Priya quickly has to reassess the woman. They figure out that Malini’s caretaker has been poisoning her slowly on the emperor’s behalf in the hopes of convincing her to take to the pyre. Malini petitions Bhumika to make Priya her maid as a small comfort to her exile, and Bhumika agrees. As Priya helps Malini keep up the pretense of her illness, she helps ween her off the drug and slowly the two women get to know each other.
It’s not love at first sight, thank goodness, but an organic slow-burn-curiosity turned attraction. I love slow burn romances! It gives them time to get to know each other and the sexual tension to build. It’s the small touches, the little moments of vulnerability of each other's pasts, the subtle, witty flirting, and lingering glances that draws the two of them together in a beautiful way. Both women have been through trauma and understandably have trust issues, and in Priya’s case, she has a low self-esteem when it comes to her beauty. She often uses self-deprecating humor as a way of coping, but Malini make her feels beautiful.
Priya still has a duty to her people, however, and in exchange for her help escaping the temple, Malini must pledge to use her position as princess to grant Ahiranya its independence from the empire, to which she agrees. As the two women travel to meet with Malini’s brother, Aditya, they get some time to finally explore their feelings for each other. Though they have to keep it hidden from most people (the empire is also homophobic—shocker), they have some cute, intimate moments along the journey.
Ashok attacks the regent’s estate in an attempt to overthrow the government and Bhumika is forced to reveal herself as a temple child to her husband, Vickram. Enraged by her true identity, he tries to kill her, but she ends him with the latent powers she possesses as a twice-born, and we love to see it. She manages to fend off the attack and consolidate power for herself as regent.
In the aftermath, Ashok reaches out to Priya one last time, and after seeing that her brother is once again dying, she agrees to help them ascend on the condition that Bhumika is declared their elder and leader. Priya and Bhumika cross for the third time successfully to become thriceborn and gain the powers of the yaksa, but Ashok dies in the attempt. They mourn the loss of their brother and together they reinstate the yaksa religion.
Aditya turns out to not be much help and refuses to take the throne from Chandra or risk the men loyal to him, which frustrates Malini. So, when Chandra sends a battalion to attack Aditya’s camp, Malini gives the order to fire on the camp from above and wipe out anyone within range, including some of Aditya’s men. It’s a morally-gray decision, but Malini sees it as a necessary evil in the game for the throne and declares herself empress.
Overall, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding, the social commentary, complex characters, and the complicated but genuine slow burn romance growing between Priya and Malini. 5 out of 5 stars for me!! I’ll be going over book two, The Oleander Sword, in November so stay tuned!
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Mel Katcharian is an illustrator and avid reader. She loves YA, fantasy, and comics. Most of her time is spent making art (often interrupted by her cat, Zuko), rewatching her favorite shows over and over, and daydreaming about living in the woods surrounded by nature, books, and her cat.
Instagram: @Mel_Katcharian
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