Empire of Gold turns dials on the Daevabad trilogy to 11, but demonstrates that more is not always better.

At the start of the book, Nahri and Ali are on the run together, back in Egypt. They've got Suleiman's Seal, but the vengeful Manizeh has the city, where she and ancient returned warrior Dara have pulled off a rapid conquest, and are comprehensively failing to win the peace. Removing the Seal from the city has broken magic, and djinn everywhere have lost their abilities. Dara and Manizeh's ifrit allies are the exception, and Dara is a terrifying war criminal, while the ifrits are insane slavers with hostile agendas all their own.

Ali and Nahri have to go on a quest to fix the world, which involves the water-demon marids (Sobek and Tiamat being the two most notable of the their member's), and Ali's hidden legacy as a descendant of the marids. As the book races towards final conclusion, Nahri is granted a weapon of incredible power from the non-inventionist peri air spirits, with instructions to use it to kill Dara, who's growing power is a blasphemous threat to all of creation.

I think for me, the moment that sums up the book is towards the end, where Nahri is dueling Dara and Manizeh while riding a flying shedu (a sphinx like creature), and Ali leads a fleet of recovered shipwrecks in an amphibious assault on the royal palace while an army of marids and ghouls fight in the seas below, and cursed blood rains from the skys. It's epic, the FX budget is through the roof, and it has all the impact of a DC movie showdown. There are good guys and bad guys and hidden legacies and bloodlines, and it all clashes together in sound and fury signifying nothing.

This series really blooms in the quieter character driven moments, and they're still here, but fewer and interspersed with generic fantasy action and tropey romance. Where City of Brass was clever, this book plays it straight, to its detriment. Still okay on a page-by-page level, but 25% too long, and a stock end to the series.