Luck is a fairy tale we use to make people feel better about the world being unfair as shit.

Man this book has come a ways since The City of Brass. At first we had a fairly straight forward portal fantasy: normal human girl goes through a portal (ish) to another world, discovers magic, and has adventures (again; ish). Then things escalate. Political intrigue. Old enemies. Revolution. War.

And now… Daevabad has fallen. Nahri and Ali are on the run, trying desperately first to survive and then… maybe, to come back and save the day. And perhaps learn all those dirty little secrets those (formerly) in power tried hard to hide all these years.

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.

I love the characters. Especially Dara, but the whole Nahri and Ali journey was great to read. And I even foundmyself rooting for Muntadhir, which after the previous books… I did not expect). Manizheh… I think Ghassan was a better villain overall, and it’s interesting that she made it as far as she did, but so it goes.

And I still love the worldbuilding–even if I’m still after 3 books not 100% sure what is a subset of what and who is a when. But I suppose that’s the point. Reality is messy. But it’s a fascinating world and I’m sad to be leaving it.

Overall it’s a solid conclusion to a great series. I’d be happy to read more in this world, but I’m always glad to see a series actually get it’s own small end, rather than just fading out as many do.

Find your happiness, little thief. Steal it and do not ever let it go.

Onward!