My Favourite Quotes from The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

The Empire of Gold readalong is over and I hope everyone who took part enjoyed it! Today I will be sharing my favourite quotes from this book and let me tell you, there was A LOT.

I have also shared my favourite quotes from The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper

I loved this book and honestly it has some incredible quotes and scenes and here are some of my favourite:

1 Kan wa ma kan…It was and it wasn’t – This is such a beautiful way to describe the fantasy worlds and even this trilogy.

2 Nahri was a survivor and it was time to get to work. – This is Nahri in a sentence.

3 I do not believe ambitious men who say the only route to peace and prosperity lies in giving them more power – particularly when they do it with lands and people who are not theirs. – Yaqub just stating facts in this book.

4 “Birthmark,” Ali managed, his voice pitched. “Completely natural. Since birth.” – Every single interaction between Ali and Yaqub was pure gold and I wish we had gotten more of it.

5 All Ali wanted to do right now was pray, to cry out to God and beg Him to make this right. – I love how Ali always turns to Allah and asks for His guidance and help.

6 Ali…I thought I made very clear to you I never intended to let you out of my debt. – This was a whole theme in this trilogy and I am here for it. I love them two so much.

7 Not wanting to be destroyed by despair doesn’t make you a coward, Ali. It makes you a survivor. – I think this is something we should all remember especially this year.

8 People are often afraid of what they don’t understand. – This line is very apt considering what is happening all over the world right now.

9 Don’t you sound like quite the revolutionary? People would call me a fanatic of I said that. – My heart felt for Ali who was constantly made out to be an extremist by those wanting to discredit him because they did not want to relinquish power.

10 I think it a mistake to judge the Creator by the misdeeds of mortals – Shannon really voicing all the things I feel in this book about my faith

11 There’s no one else here, my friend. You don’t need to keep up this front. – The fact that Ali and Nahri can only feel truly comfortable and vulnerable with each other and show their true selves is one of my favourite things about their relationship.

12 We die and we bleed and it’s a debt the powerful never repay. – The people always pay for the crimes of the powerful. This book is full of parallels with the real world and it hit me hard.

13 That made it worse, this passing of barbed baton between women who, no matter how clever, how powerful, would always be known y the men to whom they were attached. – This is such a poignant quote and honestly so relatable.

14 I would rather make a mistake than have my choices stripped away – I related to this so much.

15 “Our faith prioritises justice,” Ali argued. It tells us to stand for justice, no matter what. We are to be a community that calls for what is right, that stands as witness.” – I was so incredibly proud of Ali here and how no matter what he has gone through he has never compromised on his belief and this is what has pushed him throughout the trilogy.

16 It is not blasphemous to say this world is vast, that much of its history remains shrouded. There are things God set beyond our understanding. – This is something we should all remind ourselves because there is so much we don’t know.

17 It’s me Emir joon just me, no tricks – This scene had me so emotional

18 “May I confess something?” Ali gazed at her in open sorrow. “I never really wanted to be out of your debt” – Not me crying, nope.

There are so many more quotes I highlighted throughout the story but here are some of my favourites. Do share yours!

Authors I’m Grateful For

Growing up I never saw characters in books that looked like me and come from a similar culture so the last few years when we are finally getting these books, it has made me so incredibly excited and grateful to these authors who created these characters and fought for them to be published.

S.A. Chakraborty – It’s no surprise that Shannon is on this list. The Daevabad Trilogy are books that I love with all my heart and soul. I adore the story and the characters and I love that Shannon immersed us in the history too. I will forever be thankful that she gave me Alizayd, a practicing Muslim man who is driven by his religious beliefs, especially social justice. His journey to learning how best to bring justice for all to Daevabad was incredible to read. I felt so seen and I will always have a special place in my heart for these books and especially Ali.

Sabaa Tahir – The first time I saw a main character who was brown and the hero was Laia and Elias. It was an incredible moment for me and it was written by a Muslim woman. I loved these two so much because they were the first characters I saw who looked like me. I loved that the culture was woven into the story and discussions of colonisation was included in the story. It’s something I related a lot to.

S.K. Ali – Sajidah gave me Zayneb, an unapologetic Muslim teen who just wants to live her life but is angry because of all the injustice she faces because she chose to wear a headscarf and it marks her as Muslim. I related so much to her and I loved how she contrasted with Adam. I loved that we got a love story between two Muslim teens and it was all halal. I wish I had this book as a teen.

Hafsah Faisal – Hafsah gave me hope. A niqabi who published an incredible book and it was supported by so many. I saw her and I knew that those of us who are struggling to find our way to achieve our goals will get that boost because when do women in niqab get published by a mainstream publisher?!  

Yasmin Rahman – I sobbed after reading the first chapter of All the Things we Never Said because I felt so seen. The way Mehreen feels, how Islam is an important part of her life and she takes that into account when trying to work through her suicidal thoughts. It isn’t something that is discussed in the Muslim community and I hope that this book helps others. Yasmin also started the book with Bismillah and I just knew I would love it after reading that.

Is there any authors who you’re grateful to?

Books with Healers

This weeks prompt for The Empire of Gold readalong and photo challenge is to share books with healers! So here are some of my favourite books with healers/doctors.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – Of course we have to talk about Nahri and the family of healers she comes from. Magical abilities to not only heal themselves but also others serves Nahri really well on several occasions throughout the trilogy. My review is here

The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan – How could I not mention the Greek God Apollo, or as he is better known as, Lester. While his healing abilities are somewhat restricted in this series his kids are of course the Camps best healers, including Will.

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes – Pink who is one of Eva’s closest friends and the doctor on the ship. She ensures that everyone survives the dangerous missions they have to go on throughout the book.

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavours by Sonali Dev – Trisha who is our Elizabeth in the story, is a genius neurosurgeon in this story. She takes great pride in her ability to help people.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – Laia is taught by her pops to heal wounds and be a midwife for women in labour. She is able to use these skills many times in the story.

What books have you read with healers?

My Favourite Friendships

I love seeing wonderful friendships in books sometimes even more than the romantic relationships. I love how much they love and care for each other and how much they would do for each other. I love seeing the banter and sarcastic remarks and the sibling type arguing. I want to see more great friendships in books! So I thought I would share some of my favourite friendships in books.

Laia and Izzy in An Ember in the Ashes – I loved the friendship that built between them, the tentative way they started to get to know each other because they knew that this would be a weakness that the Commandant would use to hurt them but still decided to become friends, to have at least something good no matter what the Commandant did to them. The way they tried to protect and shield each other and risked their own lives to protect theirs. I really loved them.

Ali, Aqisa and Lubayd in The Kingdom of Copper – I adored their friendship and I was so glad to see that Ali finally met people who he could trust and who would be there for him without wanting something in return. They had such great banter and I loved all of their interactions. I love how they protected each other and some of my favourite scenes are of the three of them.

Cinder and Thorne in The Lunar Chronicles – I read this book years ago and still Cinder and Thorne’s friendship is one of my favourites. They have such witty banter and sass and I love how much they help each other despite only having met when they were both escaped prison. That Thorne stayed with her during her whole revolution despite knowing how dangerous it is and how Cinder did her best to protect him and never forgot him despite everything.

Ayesha and Clara from Ayesha at Last – I loved these two so much and how they had such a wonderful sister bond with each other. How Clara was always there for Ayesha and pushed her to achieve her potential and how Ayesha helped her with her relationship. They are so understanding and even a part of their families lives.

Will And Jem from The Infernal Devices – I absolutely adore these two and their parabatai bond is unlike any other in this universe. The way they look out for each other and care so deeply for each other that they would sacrifice their own happiness and even their life for each other. I also love how much they roast each other and have such funny sarcastic sassy banter. Them being sarcastic to each other is some of my favourite scenes.

Which books have your favourite friendships?

The Empire of Gold Readalong Announcement

I have an exciting announcement for you all today! Me and Zulfa are hosting a readalong for The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty!

The readalong will begin on 6^th Oct and end on 7^th November with an Instagram live chat with Shannon. We will also be sharing discussion posts and fun activities on twitter and Instagram over the month.

This readalong is quite relaxed and you can all read at your own pace. But we would love to see your updates so make sure you use #EOGReadalong in your tweets or posts so we can find them!

During the live we will also be asking Shannon all the spoiler questions so write down any you want to ask for the live! We will also be collecting questions so if you can’t make it you can give us the question to ask Shannon.

There will also be a giveaway which will be announced later but there may be some art involved…

Make sure to follow our social media to keep up with the readalong

Shannon’s instagram and twitter

Zulfa’s instagram and twitter

My instagram and twitter