#empire of sand

[theinquisitxor]

May 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

In the month of May I read 8 books and had 1 dnf. This month was fairly middle-of-the-road for me, with a couple of disappointments, and a couple good books. My average rating was 3.8/5 stars, and I read mostly fantasy, with 1 sci-fi and 1 romance.

1.The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars. I continued by reread of the HoO series this month with book 3. Annabeth is honestly one of my favorite characters of all time, and the ending of this book is just the worst best thing ever. read on audio.

2.A Lady for A Duke by Alexis Hall, 4/5 stars. This is a queer regency romance with a trans main character. This book was delightful, sweet, and worth the 450 pages. I really enjoyed the premise and set up of this story, and I thought everything was handled and executed very well. Queer, regency romance.

3.A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding 1) by Freya Marske, 3/5 stars. This is a queer fantasy romance set during the Edwardian era England. I was a little disappointed in this, but I think I went into this book with super high expectations, and they weren't quite met. I feel very indifferent to the meta plot of this series, and I'm not sure I plan on continuing. Queer, historical fantasy romance.

4.The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older (DNF) This was the only book I dnf'd this month, and while I don't think this is a bad book by any means, it just wasn't for me. This is a queer sci-fi Sherlockian mystery set on a colony of Jupiter. It leans heavy into the Sherlock vibes, and it just wasn't my cup of tea. I also didn't love the audiobook narrator. Queer sci-fi mystery.

5.Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri 3/5 stars. This was also a disappointment for me. I liked this story, but it was not what I was entirely expecting, and I felt like this book never lived up to what I wanted it to be. I was expecting something like The City of Brass but got The Wrath and the Dawn instead. Not bad, just not what I was expecting. Ancient India, fantasy romance.

6.Bloodmarked (Legendborn 2) by Tracey Deonn, 5/5 stars. This was my only 5 star book this month, and I liked this even better than the first book. Now that we got a lot of the exposition and worldbuilidng done in book 1, I thought this even better and this is shaping up to be a new favorite series. I can't wait to see what the next book brings!

7.The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus 5) by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars. This is probably my favorite book of the HoO series, and this has many favorite scenes. The Percy and Annabeth chapters of this are just *so* good.

8.Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee 4/5 stars. This is a fantasy novella about Ruks and their handlers'. This book is about loving something that can't love you back, and knowing that one day you will have to let that go. I think I'll enjoy anything Fonda Lee writes, and she manages to create an emotional, impactful, detailed story in under 200 pages. I really enjoyed this novella, and the world building, story, and craft that went into this story really shines. It's bittersweet, and I really felt the emotional impact of this story.

9.Entangled Life: How Fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures by Merlin Sheldrake. This was my nonfiction this month, and I enjoyed this book all about fungi and mushrooms. I learned a lot, but I also have many more questions, and a new appreciation for fungi.

Next month I'm hoping to tacke and binge two series, as well as read the final HoO book.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Sometimes All Your choices Suck and You Still Have to Make One

My first experience with Tasha Suri was The Jasmine Throne. So, as I seem to woth so many authors lately, I'm working backwards through her work. This book is Suri's debut, and I cannot believe I didn't get to this one sooner. Let's talk Empire of Sand.

Mehr's life is super hemmed in from all sides. She's a woman in a patriarchal system. She is half Amrithi (a race actively scorned by colonizing Ambhans), her stepmother does NOT like her, and not even her Ambhan half can save her from being forced into a marriage by the Maha. Who is himself a near-immortal God Emperor and has spent centuries absolutely fucking the balance between the real world world the gods' dreams. By exploiting and abusing Amrithi with the amata gift. Because mixing a desire for absolute power, a love of hurting people, and a world-class ability to rules-lawyer the fabric of the universe is just NEVER a good combination.

This is the situation Mehr ends up in, howeverz when she is forcibly married off and dragged out to the Maha's temple in the desert. Amun is a good man, and he manages to buy himself and Mehr enough time and wiggle room in their vows to the Maha for Mehr to eventually break his hold over the Empire and the gods. The plot held me throughout, but thats not the reason to read this book.

The politics, interpersonal relationships, and Mehr herself are the top reasons to read this book.

The politics are multilayered, and they encompass all the complexities of colonization and the clashes that inevitably occur between cultures, traditions, religions, and identities. They also scale beautifully, from Mehr's fights with her father and stepmother to her resistance against the Maha, and finally to the clashes between the Ambhan and Amrithi peoples.

Then there is how Mehr navigates her relationships, which is stunningly well done. One of my favorite parts of watching Mehr was watching her just HANDLE people. And watching her discover who Amun and the Maha were was compelling as heck. It also paid off beautifully, because Mehr was literally never spoiled for choice in this book, and when he had options, generally they were all awful. So for Mehr, a lot of this book was about learning to make choices and how to keep choices sacred--even when people try to back you into corners and boxes. That was without a doubt my favorite part of this book.

Overall, I cannot wait to keep going with Mehr's story in the next book and to return to this incredible world.

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: The Books of Ambha

Author: Tasha Suri

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2018

Genres: fiction, fantasy, romance

Blurb: 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.

[joncronshawauthor]

33 Must-Read Sword and Sorcery Books for Adventure Seekers

If you’re partial to a spot of swashbuckling, a dash of dark magic, and a generous helping of gritty heroism, then you’ve probably dipped your toes into the tempestuous seas of sword and sorcery. You might even have a favourite battered paperback, its spine creased from countless re-reads, tucked away somewhere safe. This genre of fantasy, oft-clad in a loincloth and waving a sizeable chunk of…

[mood2you]

Gilded (silver, and gold) books. I hand sprayed these.

[sand-stinger]

did yall catch those snail sounds? sounded like a certain bard...

[12u3ie]

“grian never left the desert” “scar never left the desert” PIXLRIFFS NEVER LEFT THE DESERT DO YOU HEAR ME

[torrrrrra]

Akhi :(

[rosenroot]

What are some of your favourite ships/OTPs in ASOIAF?

Funny because I dont have otps and I dont really ship any living character that hard, I had enough with NedxCat and OberynxEllaria, I dont want more pain 🙃

But today is Valentine’s day soooo

[vintagerpg]

FR3: Empire of the Sands (1988) continue in the mode of FR2, with a Gazeteers style look at three big countries: Amn, Tethyr and Calimshan. I��m mostly familiar with Amn from the Baldur’s Gate II expansion Shadows of Amn and Calimshan from Throne of Bhaal. In that videogame, Calimshan felt like Ottoman Turkey, but here it is very much more inspired by Arabian Nights, making it sort of an anticipation of Al-Qadim (and maybe why it changes a bit by the time Throne of Bhaal came out). Amn is merchant kingdom that has Morocco vibes to me, though, again, I am not sure if that might be my videogame experience being projected backwards through time.

Tethyr is by far the most interesting of the three regions — a country where the royal leadership was recently deposed that has descended into a sort of controlled chaos with no central government. Instead, the country has been carved up by petty interests. Most of them don’t really want to be in charge, so there is a sense that most factions are waiting for someone to re-unify the country. There is a lot of adventurous opportunities here, especially since the lack of central government has increased the monster population. Best of all, it doesn’t feel like something from the real world, its just a neat little fantasy kingdom doing its own thing. Forgotten Realms generally needs more of that.

Jeff Easley on the cover and the interiors. The interiors are a little low energy, and they focus mostly on natural views rather than action scenes, which is kind of nice. I have a hard time with this cover because I feel like it is recycled somewhere else, but can’t figure out where. Al-Qadim seems likely, but when I looked, I didn’t see it. It bugs me.

[moltengoldveins]

so we can all agree that the newest 2WEI song (take the crown) is the trailer song for an Antarctic Empires Emerald Duo pg14 movie where Techno is a gladiator who earned his freedom and has vowed to destroy the government that enslaved him and Philza is an old demigod banished to a solitary plane of existence for five decades after attempting to run a coup against the ruling class.

They meet on a battlefield, Techno having joined up as brute muscle and Phil having used some minor illusions to pass as a quirky avian and join the bombardment team. Combining some similar plot beats as Oceans 11 and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, they gather a specialized team of insurrectionists, anarchists, battle mages, and warriors to take down the imperium from the inside, eventually planning on restoring the nation to the democracy it was in Phil’s earliest memories. But will they manage it, or will their bloody pasts and violent present seat Technoblade on the throne as the Antarctic Emperor, with Philza as his right hand, the Angel of Death? (Spoiler, the second option. It’s the most controversial film finale decision of the decade.)

The movie is filmed in a style somewhere between Dune 1, the Prince of Egypt, and Topgun. (denis villeneuve is too busy and too expensive, but it’s clear they’re taking inspiration. Bold colors and lighting and a lot of shots of the sky, wildlife, architecture, or of characters’ hands.) It’s scored by an up and coming indie musician, working under the consultation of Ludwig Gorannson in his spare time as a pet project, though his association with the film doesn’t really come out until it Smashes the expected theatre income in the first two days of release and critics start Raving about it. Techno’s actor is nominated for an Oscar for one of the most compelling intricate portrayals of ptsd and platonic devotion in modern cinema, but doesn’t actually get the Oscar.

Tumblr is flooded with gif sets of Techno in the Obligatory No Armor After Gladiator Fight Scene and the Late Night Vibing With Phil In A Loose Poet Shirt scene (firelit, lots of closeups of his eyes, the film is obviously attempting to express his complex emotional state and his deep relationship with Phil, and is failing miserably at doing Anything but making him hot. The internet is ✨gay✨ about it, because when is the internet not?) Also most of the simps are calling Phil a dilf.

Fit MC is the fan-favorite side character, his four scenes and nine lines of dialogue are clipped and edited and giffed and memed into the dirt. (His armor and prosthetic, the makeup and costuming department say, were the hardest thing to do in the entire film, which is why he isn’t in too many shots.) Though, a close second is Niki, who is played by a woman built like a brick house who doesn’t wear sleeves, so…. Yeah. We all know what the response is there. The effects, including Phil’s wings, are almost entirely practical and the only real places it gets iffy is Steve, the giant war polar bear that’s pretty clearly clipping through a few snowbanks here and there. Nobody can agree on which characters are morally reprehensible.

Within a few years, very few people outside a dedicated fan base have seen it and a few assume it’s made up like Goncharov. It’s also, for some ungodly reason, been labeled a Christmas film. (most of the plot happens in the ice and snow, hence ‘Antarctic Empire.’) I guess nothing says ‘Christmas spirit’ quite like ‘unmitigated violence, platonic yearning, and overthrowing oppressors.’

[pastelsprouts]

I redrew my most popular piece 6 months later :p

[midwestaesthetics]

Gobi Desert, Mongolia and China...

[sad4ppleart]

head empty no thoughts

[forcebookcorner]

Book Kasidet and Force Jiratchapong in Q5 of Perfect10 Liners filming. (08.07.2024)

With Poon Mitpakdee, JJ Chayakorn, Emi Thasorn and Fluke Jeeratch

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