The Jasmine Throne is the 2021 first novel in The Burning Kingdoms epic fantasy series by Tasha Suri.
Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini’s chambers.
But when Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess desperate to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.
Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: No one is shedding any tears over the death of the condescending, bigoted, imperial lackey Lord Santosh.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Bhumika is a sweet, motherly woman who's just trying to protect all the people under her care. By slaughtering attackers with animated thorns.
- Big Brother Bully: Chandra's psychological abuse toward Malini turns out to not be new.
- Cain and Abel: Chandra has a fixation on "purifying" his sister Malini and his method of doing so is by trying to force her to burn herself alive and when she refuses he has her exiled and drugged into a stupor until either the drugs kill her or she volunteers for the fire.
- The Chooser of the One: The royal family of the client kingdom Alor all have prophetic true names that they are only to reveal when the time is right. These range from Mundane Utility (a princess several generations back had a name that was three pages of advice on how to handle a drought), to predicting the person in question's death, to this. A certain character's name prophesies that Malini, the imperial princess, is fated to rule. All the lords she recruited to fight for her compassionate-but-useless brother Aditya against their sadistic, fanatical emperor Chandra already know Malini is the real brains of the operation, but the prophecy helps her overcome the ingrained prejudice against a woman ruling in her own right.
- The Exile: Malini was exiled to Ahiranya after refusing her brother's order that she kill herself in a sacrifice.
- Fertile Feet: Due to Priya's powers, plants and flowers grow from the ground that she walks on with every step she takes.
- Friend to All Children: Priya is shown to have a knack around them.
- The Gift: Some time before the beginning of the first book, temple children began gaining supernatural gifts beyond what previous generations had if they managed to become twice or even thrice born. This turned out badly for them...for all except Priya, Bhumika and Ashok, that is.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: It's implied Rao and Aditya see the new Queen at the end of the novel like this.
- Kill It with Fire: Chandra sees this as honorable. Malini loses her closest companions due to it, but she survives. At some cost to her health in all forms.
- Manipulative Bastard: Malini is skilled at convincing people to do what she wants, whether through appealing to what she knows they desire or deceiving people by acting significantly more demure and weak than she is. This is one of the reasons Priya finds it hard to trust her once she realizes Malini was manipulating her, as well, and Pramila, Malini's appointed guardian/prison warden, accuses her of being manipulative and dangerous, warning Priya to take caution.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Chandra is in a precarious position and badly needs allies to keep his throne, but he's so tone-deaf, bigoted, and sadistic that he's merrily alienating basically everybody left and right—if pushing important and well-connected ministers out to build a "pure" government wasn't enough to make everyone hate him, burning beloved noblewomen alive sure did the trick. If he was a smidge more careful, building the rebellion against him would be more difficult, but basically all the provinces are just looking for an excuse by the time the book starts.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: Many of the Ahiranyi want freedom from their Parijati rulers, and an independent Ahiranya again. Some have become rebels, with sympathizers advocating it too.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Aloran royals never use their real names in daily life, because those are intensely personal prophecies. Rao is a nickname, whereas Malini's longtime friend and lady-in-waiting was just called Alori (the equivalent of calling a British girl "English").
- Pregnant Badass: Bhumika may be nearly nine months pregnant, but that doesn't stop her from using all the powers of the twice-born to full effect. She weaponizes the forest itself against her attackers and barely breaks a sweat.
- Public Execution: General Vikram has Ahirani rebels and their supporters crushed by elephants or burned alive publicly while he watches.
- Queer Establishing Moment: Priya casually says her preference would be to marry or at least make a home with another woman. This is even before she and Malini get together.
- Queer Romance: The main drive of the story involves the maidservant, Priya, becoming closer to the captive princess, Malini. It later becomes a full-blown romance.
- Seers: There is a religion that explicitly centers around seeing into one's future.
- Take a Third Option: The options for emperor seem to be either a power-hungry racist who gets off on burning women alive, or a kind but spineless ditherer. Even Malini thinks she has no choice but to back Aditya and hope she can push him around enough that he does a good job. But she has exactly the same imperial blood in her veins as Aditya and Chandra, and since they're in the business of violent revolution anyway, why not pick an empress?
- Temple of Doom: The book centers around a temple that's known to be cursed by the populace, and in which many people were massacred. It's left abandoned till the beginning of the first book, when Malini is imprisoned there. It's very difficult to climb and still retains its mysterious power. However, once Priya regains her connection to the temple, it becomes a lot more friendly (to her, that is).
- Transflormation: Many people are dying due to a mysterious disease that involves painful plant growths under their skin. The protagonist Priya begins the novel trying to help a boy who is dying because of this.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: The first novel revolves around what happens to society after a new king, Chandra, is installed. Suffice to say, widespread chaos and bloodshed seems to be following the reign. Especially since he's The Fundamentalist.
- You Can't Fight Fate: The Aloran attitude towards their true names. If your name says it, it is going to happen, and there's no way around it. Like Malini's lady in waiting Alori dying by burning alive, or Rao choosing Malini to be empress.
