The Oleander Sword: sequel to the World Fantasy Award-winning sapphic fantasy The Jasmine Throne

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With regard to how long it took them to get alone, that was totally believable to me—it made total sense in the context of the world Suri created. Malini had women around her even as a princess in the palace. For her to be alone as empress would be even more rare. Chandra was almost never alone either. It was their culture for women’s “purity” to be protected and guarded too. If anything, the fact that Malini and Priya never got caught was the part that seemed contrived to me. Surely they would have, with that many people around, and everyone using tents? The prophecy of the nameless god—the words that declared Malini the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa—has proven a blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the throne that fate offered her. But even withrage in her heart and the army of loyal men by her side, deposing her brother is going to be a brutal and bloody fight. Though The Oleander Sword tries to mimic the moral dilemma of Priya in The Jasmine Throne when she is forced to choose between the ideologies of Malini, her sister Bhumika, who is playing the long con of being loyal to Parijatdvipa, and her brother Ahsok, the leader of the rebellion of Ahiranya, the quandaries of The Oleander Sword never quite reach the same level of urgency and desperation. Instead, Priya once again stumbles along after Malini, figuring things out as she goes, with very little of her own agency, and I found myself taking much the same attitude as this protagonist—”whatever happens, happens.” I simply wasn’t able to get as invested in The Oleander Sword, despite the many tragedies brewing in the series. Frankly, a lot of the issues I had with this book are issues I have with a lot of fantasy trilogies. This book has some of the biggest second book syndrome I’ve seen. And it affects every part of the book.

Their chosen paths once pulled them apart. But Malini and Priya’s souls remain as entwined as their destinies. And they soon realize that coming together is the only way to save their kingdom from those who would rather see it burn – even if it will cost them. As for Priya, she is now a temple elder in Ahiranya, with considerable magical powers including the ability to halt the spread of the rot that plagues Ahiranya’s people and its crops. She leaves the politics to Bhumika, who is far more adept at them, and focuses on that. While she misses Malini badly, she accepts that life has taken them down two different paths. Even if Malini asked her to join her, Priya doesn’t feel she could abandon her people when they need her aid. The prophecy of the nameless god—the words that declared Malini the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa—has proven a blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the throne that fate offered her. But even with rage in her heart and the army of loyal men by her side, deposing her brother is going to be a brutal and bloody fight.The cuteness that is Priya's and Malini's relationship is filled with way too much angst and pining for me in this book. I did, however, enjoy the two delicate connections, one involving Rao and the other Bhumika, a lot more. Malini is still determined to claim the throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa but knows that she has a long journey ahead of her. Not only must she engage with her brother’s forces, but she also must try to keep the men following her in line. Priya is an Elder of Ahiranya and wants to rid the land of the rot that is spreading and plaguing it. She’s torn between her duties and wanting to be near Malini. But when unexpected conflict rises that threatens the world as they know it, they realize they must work together to save everything they care about. I agree that some of the supporting characters (Bhumika especially) got more development. That said I think Malini did develop some in her new position of empress, or maybe my perception of her did–we saw her in her element, maneuvering and scheming so as to survive. She did some of it in The Jasmine Throne but here we saw it in a more political context–the day to day role of leader as a woman, what that entailed as well as what the limits were. Maybe it was more shading than deepening, but it wasn’t bad at all, I just wish that at some point we’d moved on from that to something more personal (and I don’t mean just sex). Her confrontations with Chandra, Priya and Kartik near the end were all good but my reaction was one of “Finally!” Priya and Bhumika had planned to communicate in the Sangam (a mystical realm where three rivers meet) but the ability disappears, and that alarms both of them. Communication resumes later, though, and Priya is much relieved. But that’s not the end of their troubles, only the beginning. Because Priya was “hollowed” by her passage through the deathless waters, and only now is she starting to learn what that hollowing means.

DR: Can you talk a little bit about how Priya and Malini came into your life? What was the genesis for The Burning Kingdoms? The prophecy of the nameless god--the words that declared Malini the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa--has proven a blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the throne that fate offered her. But even with the strength of the rage in her heart and the army of loyal men by her side, deposing her brother is going to be a brutal and bloody fight. I felt their pain, their uncertainty, both their helplessness and their agency. Everything made sense. Everything hurt.All in all, The Oleander Sword, I think, is a fitting sequel to The Jasmine Throne. Unlike its predecessor, this one’s easier to sink into since you would already be familiar to an extent with the makings of the world, myth, and characters. The ancient element shone in this, and that was so great! The only thing that fell out of place to me was that in some parts, it sometimes felt like the plot was going nowhere but thankfully it doesn’t, because the climax is not disappointing at all. And I remember a tale of garlands. And ill stars. And two people who found their way to one another. Is that what love is, Malini? Is that how awful love is? Because if it is then, I love you, the way that roots love the deep and leaves love the light. And no matter how much I try to be good, to do right - I'm all flowers in your arms, for your war, for you - " DANIEL ROMAN: How would you introduce The Burning Kingdoms to readers who’ve never heard of your books before? The Oleander Sword is a book I have some mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it was classic Tasha Suri with lush prose, gorgeous worldbuilding, and a slowburning plotline. On the other hand, I did feel it suffered a little bit from second book syndrome.

Praise for the Burning Kingdoms trilogy: "Will undoubtedly reshape the landscape of epic fantasy for years to come." — Booklist (starred review) Yes same here with my husband! It would be hard to process and I would try hard to get to the bottom of it rather than jump to conclusions. We could have seen Priya grow tougher from having to deal with the discrimination, and/or become lonely and starved for her cobbled-together family in Ahiranya, and/or have a moment or two of doubting Malini before coming to the conclusion that no, Malini is absolutely trustworthy, and reaffirming her commitment to her (in her heart, even if she didn’t get a chance to say so to Malini until things went pear shaped at the end). These things could all have been done and could have added so much.The fascinating world is gradually re-introduced and then developed further in this sequel. However, while the writing style remains captivating and easy to follow, it also takes on a flowery flair filled with excessive details. Despite this, there are still many unanswered questions regarding various elements of the magic system, including the powers granted by the deathless waters. This book also sees an increase in the points of view (POVs) compared to the previous book. This dragged down the story's pacing and made it less engaging, as some POVs add little to the story. This book started a bit slow but that wasn’t a very big issue as there is a huge cast and it took me some time to remember the details from book one and to familiarize myself again with all the names. That said, I wasn’t immediately hooked to the story as I was with book 1, but once I got to the second half of the story I couldn’t put it down. stars. How I love this series. I’m a big fan of epic fantasy stories and this series really stands out for me. It is so imaginative and it’s weird to say but I feel like I can really see the colors and surroundings when I read this. It’s inspired by Indian culture of which I don’t know very much so that might be one of the reasons why this feels so different to me. Anyway, I need more. I think Rao’s nameless prophecy that Malini would name the next leader of the empire hasn’t yet been fulfilled. I think Malini will step down and the prophecy will come true when she names the next emperor in her stead. And I’m guessing that will be Rao. TS: I love Wuthering Heights, and remixing it in What Souls Are Made Of gave me the chance to use it as a vehicle to talk about a lot of things that matter to me: the complex, important multicultural history of Britain and of South Asians in Britain; the atrocities of the nascent British Empire; and the difficulties of overcoming familial trauma that’s exacerbated by geopolitical forces outside of your control. It was fun!