The Jasmine Throne

"RAISES THE BAR FOR WHAT EPIC FANTASY SHOULD BE." —Chloe Gong, author of These Violent Delights

A ruthless princess and a powerful priestess come together to rewrite the fate of an empire in this “fiercely and unapologetically feminist tale of endurance and revolution set against a gorgeous, unique magical world” (S. A. Chakraborty).

Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini’s chambers.

But when Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess desperate to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

"An intimate, complex, magical study of empire and the people caught in its bloody teeth. I loved it.” —Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

"Gripping and harrowing from the very start." —R. F. Kuang, author of The Poppy War

"Suri’s incandescent feminist masterpiece hits like a steel fist inside a velvet glove. Simply magnificent." —Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun

"A fierce, heart-wrenching exploration of the value and danger of love in a world of politics and power." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This cutthroat and sapphic novel will grip you until the very end." —Vulture (Best of the Year)

"Lush and stunning....Inspired by Indian epics, this sapphic fantasy will rip your heart out." —BuzzFeed News​

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The Jasmine Throne pulls you under, sweeping you away on a current of gorgeous prose and intricately imagined magic and politics. Filled with sharply-drawn characters who ache with longing: for peace, for war, for one another. It left me breathless."—Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

"This powerful series opener will undoubtedly reshape the landscape of epic fantasy for years to come."—Booklist (starred review)

"The Jasmine Throne more than lives up to the hype with its rich and expansive world, compelling characters, cool magic system and Suri’s excellent writing, which holds it all together."—BookPage (starred review)

"The Jasmine Throne is a riveting and gorgeously-written tale set in an intricate, expansive world. [The characters] will live in my imagination for a long time to come, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!"—Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch’s Heart

"The Jasmine Throne is an intimate, complex, magical study of empire and the people caught in its bloody teeth. It’s about resistance and power, histories both personal and political, and the heroes who must become monsters to survive. I loved it."—Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

"This is a powerful and intense opening to an epic trilogy. Glorious....Lush, evocative, richly characterised, emotionally dense, with a scope that at first seems intimate and turns out to be much, much larger. Suri’s skill—never minor—here seems to have taken a step or three up: there are few epic fantasies I have enjoyed, or admired, as greatly."—Liz Bourke, Tor.com

"Suri astounds with the spellbinding epic fantasy that launches her Burning Kingdoms trilogy....a fierce, heart-wrenching exploration of the value and danger of love in a world of politics and power....Suri’s confident and passionate prose expertly guides the reader throughout. This is a blade-sharp, triumphant start to what promises to be an exciting series."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Tasha Suri writes the female characters I didn’t realize I was aching to see in fantasy, to devastating effect. The Jasmine Throne is a fiercely and unapologetically feminist tale of endurance and revolution set against a gorgeous, unique magical world."
—S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

"Like the magic in this tale of reclaiming power, The Jasmine Throne will work its way under your skin with Suri’s compelling characters and gorgeous, effortless prose.”—Sam Hawke, author of City of Lies

Beautiful and Haunting

Despite it not initially looking like something that I would have been interested in, I picked up the Jasmine Throne on impulse when it was sold as the Daily Deal on Audible. Now I'm extremely pleased with my gamble. The Jasmine Throne is set in a unique, Indian-inspired fantasy setting that is beautifully depicted through vivid imagery and detailed world-building. The reader is immersed in the middle of a politically driven plot, which was a bit hard to follow at times. The main characters are deep, evolve throughout the story, and feel like real people despite their fantasy origin. Though I'll admit the pace of the novel was very slow at times, particularly at the start, it certainly picks up toward the end. I've seen it touted as feminist or LGBTQ+ fantasy in reviews, but the messages are subtle and certainly are not be a turnoff for anyone that enjoys well-written fantasy (traditional or not).

Wonderful reading of a compelling book!

Lovely narration, refreshingly different fantasy motifs from the Eurocentric ones I’m used to, well-crafted characters, looking forward to completing the series!

Novel magic structure and fantastic writing

I fully recommend this book, it was a marvelous experience. I seek out books with articulate and diverse characters that provide a broad range of perspectives. As such, I read a fair amount of books each year. So please understand the weight behind my statement, this is one of the best works of fiction I have had the pleasure of reading. It easily makes my top 10 list, and plan on re-reading it again and again.
The author has created a novel magical structure. However, in expert fashion, the book is not centered on the magic, or the political turmoil, or the characters relationships, or the blight. The complexity of how each of these affects the characters differently is I believe the focus of the book.
As with any new magical system, it takes time to introduce. I think the complaints about the length or how slow it is are due to this necessity. I had planned on a 20hr book to last me at least until my next credit, but I couldn't put it down and finished it in almost a week.
The narrator was easy to listen to and had a very even tone. I can't speak to pronunciation etc. There wasn't much of a transition between voices, which is a total preference issue if that is positive or negative.

I fear for the person who said this was boring 😅

I saw a review that said this book was like watching paint dry. Not sure if they only made it a chapter or so in, or if they just aren't actually familiar with painting, but I'm worried about them if that's the comparison they concluded on. This book is great. The larger narrative unravels well, the characters are interesting, and the magic of the world stokes a person's curiosity. If watching paint dry was even a fraction as fun as this book, it would revolutionize the industry.

Good Story if You Like A Slow Burn

I loved the world! It was so beautiful. The story deals with a number of characters and how they handle being under a tyrannical rule. That everyone is obstensibly on the same side but are plaged by fantaticism, desperation, mistrust, and fear creates all the conflict.

It's not a fast story so I'd only recommend it if you like a tale where the characters get to breathe and there's considerable time spent on the consequences of various actions. I really like a slow burn, so it was exactly what I asked for.

Act 3 felt a little weirdly disconnected, feeling more like a long epilogue. It didn't feel like it dragged other than that I didn't really know what was going to be the thing that ended the book. Still enjoyed it.

It ends. Despite being the first book in a trilogy, it has a definite end and one I found satisfying. Still plenty to go, but didn't sacrifice a good ending in this book for the sake of trying to get me to buy the next one.

It's feminist through and through and I loved it so much. It feels a lot like women's power fantasy and after years of being inundated with male power fantasy, it's refreshing and awesome.

The narrator was good. Did better than I'm used to with feminine and masculine voices and I thought had good variation.