#jasmine throne

[bandfrmlyf]

Huge list of fantasy and science fiction books with lesbian characters!

Made by Kuropup from Reddit

[superlintball]

Okay so a friend of mine was getting rid of some books and she offered up a book called The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

I had never heard of it, so I looked it up, and discovered that it was a fantasy book written by an Indian author which heavily draws from South Asia for its worldbuilding

Needless to say, as an Indian, my interest was piqued, so I told my friend I would indeed like to have it

When I picked it up from her, she mentioned that it wasn't all that great of a book but that she really liked the worldbuilding, and so I went into it with pretty low expectations

What I didn't consider was that my friend is white.

To be fair, I'm not saying she doesn't have a point. Maybe this isn't the most beautiful prose or most intricate plot I've ever read

To be perfectly honest, I don't really care

You see, to her, the cool worldbuilding that she liked was just that: worldbuilding. (No hate to her whatsoever I adore her)

But this is my culture. I didn't even know how much it meant to me to see my culture in my favorite genre of book until it was right in front of me

I couldn't get enough of it

At every chance I got, I was reading

I was in the middle of a vacation and all I wanted to do was keep reading

And then

This happened (mild spoilers for the book):

And I was like ",,, oh??"

I read it again

Then I kept reading

And then a few pages later, this:

OH??????

I just kind of sat there and I processed what I'd just read

And then I took pictures

And then I read it again

And again

And again and again and again

And now I'm just sitting here

I can't

I can't handle this

I'm just sitting here, in the middle of a hotel room, unable to read another page of this book or look away or do anything at all other than stare in wonder

Because it's GAY

I can't handle this

I don't know what to do

I want to cry

I want to scream

I want to curl up into a ball

I want to track down the author and,,, I don't know? Hug her? Kiss her? Thank her? Ask for her autograph? Stand there grinning like an idiot? Offer her my services as a court jester? Kneel at her feet and swear fealty? Those last two probably go hand in hand tbh

Regardless, it doesn't matter what I want to do

Because I can't do anything at all

It's not just South Asian fantasy

It's GAY South Asian fantasy

This,,,

This means so much to me

Thank you, Tasha Suri.

From the bottom of my heart,

Thank you.

[fotospath0]

AAAAA it's here! the burning kingdoms saga continues and priyamalini continue to take my breath away, the flaming sword, the flowers ooooh im so excited

[niroke]

You know what I'm going to make a purely self indulgent Wenclair head cannon.

I think Enid loves reading just not the kinda books Wednesday likes, she's over there reading like graphic novels and webcomics while Wednesday usually goes for the classics. So as part of her schemes to bring Wednesday more into the 21st century Enid's been trying to introduce her to more modern books. There's a lot of recs that didn't really stick, but some of them become some of Wednesday's favorites (not that she would say that out loud of course). The much larger selection of queer relationships are greatly appreciated by Wednesday, books like The Jasmine Throne and Crier's war are put in particularly nice spots on her bookshelf. Eventually it becomes a common thing for the two to trade book recs and enjoy nice rainy days together.

[trishyeves]

Still extremely early into Jasmine Throne, but a few thoughts

-The Rot is terrifying in both a fantastical and mundane way and that's excellent

-Enjoying the worldbuilding thus far, absolutely adore the map in the front of the empire, rare to see that sort of map, the kind from many cultures and eras in real life that are more symbolic than literally accurate, and it tells you a lot immediately about the setting

-Between Malani being disappointed that she didn't see any brothels on the way in and Priya mentioning one of the ways she formed her friendship with her bestie was over their shared love for pretty girls, the queerness of the leads is being seeded in early in ways that are both subtle and notable. Appreciate that. As much as Trish loves Gideon "Disaster Lesbian" Nav, this avenue is good too

[visndcaitswhore]

Rebel: If you care about your sibling you will come with us

Bhumika: which sibling?

Rebel: Ashok

Bhumika: *walks away*

[crisurdiales]

My alternative cover for The Jasmine Throne, from Tasha Suri (because I wanted to draw the Hirana, mostly) Watercolors

[illustration-alcove]

Micah Epstein’s illustrated book covers for Tasha Suri’s The Burning Kingdoms series.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

The Jasmine Throne (Italian Ver) Cover Art by Antonello Venditti

[dreamw3av3r]

I love lesbian epic fantasy <3

[dansnotavampire]

this is very silly but has anyone made a good synopsis of the jasmine throne I just got book 2 but my ex has my copy of book 1 and I've forgotten the entire plot. send help because I'm sure as hell not getting my original copy back lmao

[asexualbookbird]

oh beautiful tumblr users in my phone please share your thoughts on The Jasmine Throne and if you've read both, how it compares to Priory of the Orange Tree or even Empire of Sand

[theriversarebroken]

September’s display. Got a little impassioned about the cards. Please feel free to rain anarchy down onto your opressors :)

[ireallywishiknew]

I can't stand reading or watching a show where someone is growing weaker/sicker by the second because of someone else's schemes.

It really creeps me out, and I always become hyper aware of my body and feel uncomfortable

[h0wdyrobin]

I want to try out writing some book reviews so here I go!

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

World Building: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

“Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess's traitor brother.” - Goodreads

I’m sure it seems cheap to give a book a 5/5 rating, but I like to be liberal with my stars. This book is genuinely so amazing and I can’t recommend it enough (I’m going to keep this first part spoiler free, but I will go more in-depth later on, so beware if you have not read this book yet). Tasha Suri writes some of the most interesting and strong female characters that I have ever seen. Our two leads, Malini and Priya, are shown to be these very powerful and strong women who are also heavily flawed. I really appreciate the way she makes them flawed, everything about them feels natural and real. The world she creates is also incredibly detailed and interesting. There is a lot of political intrigue and religious conflict that I personally find to be very interesting. I won’t comment much on her representation of Indian culture or stories, since I have little knowledge on them, but in my opinion she does an excellent job of creating an interesting and vast world. The only complaint I could have is that it can be hard to remember the names or places since there are a lot of them, but that isn’t a specifically Jasmine Throne issue it’s present in almost all fantasy books. Overall, this novel is extremely well written, has good pacing, and great representation of a sapphic couple. If you aren’t hooked by just Malini and Priya’s relationship, the political conflicts surrounding them will surely get you. I would very much recommend it if you enjoyed Priory of the Orange Tree (which I will also be reviewing, hopefully).

Be warned!!! I am going to spoil things in this section, go read the book if you haven’t!

Now I, of course, must talk about the romance/bond between Malini and Priya because oh my god is it amazing. The slow progression of this love they have for each other is beautifully executed. Every small intimate moment feels monumental and earned, and by the end you can’t help but root for their relationship. At the end when they share their first kiss in the waterfall I was flailing with excitement. Suri does such an amazing job of making these complex and interesting female characters who are so much more than you expect. Malini is first talked about as a traitor, which can create this almost violent image of her, but when Priya first sees her she seems nearly pitiful. I sympathized with Malini’s pain but also saw the way she manipulated people to do what she wanted. I think the beauty in this manipulation is the fact she avoids using it on Priya. She could most likely use her silver tongue to get Priya to free her from prison, but she genuinely wants to gain Priya’s trust, which is just so romantic. And Priya is just amazing too, head strong and stubborn but not in an annoying way. I often see female characters who are written as stubborn but come off as arrogant and stupid. Priya is definitely stubborn, but in some ways it benefits her and helps her at times. Overall our main characters are just amazing in nearly every way. The side characters are not to be overlooked though. You have Bhumika, though she is pregnant she shows a considerable amount of strength and will. She is extremely dedicated to her community and literally kills her husband to get the Ahiranya temple back. She is the definition of girl boss lets be honest. Rao is also so great. I don’t have a ton to say about his character in this book because he doesn’t get a ton of chances to shine until the next one (I will also review that). But he is so endearing to me for whatever reason. He is so devoted to Malini, but in the most sweet and platonic way possible. It is so nice to see a true friendship between a male and female character that I know will never become a romance plot or anything. The conflicts outside of the romance are so interesting too. The way these different religions either work together or against each other for different reasons is very cool to me. I also love how she includes feminism and patriarchal ideas in it without it feeling out of place or forced. The patriarchal society that Malini and Priya live in feels realistic. The biggest issue I think I have is the lack of explanation for certain concepts especially for religious figures. I feel as if we got very little information about the Mothers of the Flame (I think that is Chandra’s religion?) or the Nameless Gods. You get quite a bit of information about the Yaksa and stuff, but I think a bit more explanation on these religious concepts could have helped me. Other than that this book is just so wonderful please go read it.

[geekynerfherder]

'The Burning Kingdoms' by Micah Epstein.

Originally painted as the cover art for 'The Burning Kingdoms' trilogy ('The Jasmine Throne', 'The Oleander Sword' and 'The Lotus Empire'), written by Tasha Suri.

13" x 19" fine art giclee prints, in signed and numbered TIMED Release editions for $55 each, or $145 as a 3 print set.

On sale now until Tuesday January 23 2024 a 12pm ET through Micah's website.