The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms
#1554.16 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2021–2024 Reading commitment Medium Tasha Suri Last reviewed 2026-08-11
Overview
The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms is a completed trilogy of secondary-world fantasy novels by Tasha Suri: The Jasmine Throne (2021), The Oleander Sword (2022), and The Lotus Empire (2024), all published by Orbit. Set in an empire modeled on the Maurya period of Indian history, the trilogy follows Priya, a maidservant hiding a dangerous magical connection to her empire's sacred, temple-burning history, and Malini, an imprisoned princess exiled by her own brother for refusing to submit to a religious cult that burns living women as offerings. As their fates intertwine, the two women's growing rebellion against the empire's ruling family escalates from a personal alliance into open war, fought as much through political maneuvering and disguised identity as through direct combat. Suri builds the trilogy's magic around a network of deathless waters and sacred trees tied to the empire's suppressed pre-imperial religion, and the books have been noted for centering a central romantic relationship between their two women leads within an otherwise conventional epic-fantasy structure of succession and rebellion.
Epic fantasy, Romantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Burning Kingdoms Tasha Suri
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Jasmine Throne | 2021 | 1 | core | 4.08 (42,080 ratings) |
 | The Oleander Sword | 2022 | 2 | core | 4.30 (14,929 ratings) |
 | The Lotus Empire | 2024 | 3 | core | 4.31 (7,496 ratings) |
Core Canon = all 3 novels of the completed trilogy (Orbit, 2021-2024). No companion/Expanded Canon material found. Confirmed separate from Suri's earlier Empire of Sand / Realm of Ash duology (Books of Ambha, not admitted to this canon) -- different world, different characters, no shared continuity per sfadb's own separate awards listing for each series.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms? The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms? Publication order, starting with The Jasmine Throne. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms finished? Complete (2021–2024).
- How much reading does The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~1,027 pages).
- How is The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms ranked? #155 in this site's official ranking, based on 64,505 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #155?
Ranked #155 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.16 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (64,505 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #154, Rook & Rose (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 3 books · Complete · 65k ratings · Ranks #155 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Jasmine Throne (2021)
- The Oleander Sword (2022)
- The Lotus Empire (2024)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 2022: won: The Jasmine Throne
- British Fantasy Award (Best Fantasy Novel (Robert Holdstock Award)), 2022: nominated: The Jasmine Throne
- British Fantasy Award (Best Fantasy Novel (Robert Holdstock Award)), 2023: nominated: The Oleander Sword
- Hugo Award (Best Series), 2025: nominated: The Lotus Empire; Series-level nomination for The Burning Kingdoms as a whole.
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel (reader poll)), 2022: finalist: The Jasmine Throne; Locus reader poll placement: 7th place.
Related universes
- Same author Empire of Sand / Realm of Ash: Both by Tasha Suri; confirmed separate, unrelated worlds (; originally noted at ).
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Suggestions computed from what The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Rigante Epic fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.31
- Ash and Sand Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
- The Codex Alera Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
- The Daevabad Trilogy Epic fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.29
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.16 across 64,505 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Jasmine Throne / Burning Kingdoms admitted; Core Canon = all 3 novels of the completed trilogy; confirmed separate from Suri's Empire of Sand / Realm of Ash accepted 2026-08-11
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: The Jasmine Throne Tier 2
- sfadb: Tasha Suri Tier 1
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-11
Rule: Core Canon = all 3 novels of the completed trilogy. No companion material was found. Confirmed separate from Suri's earlier Empire of Sand / Realm of Ash duology (Books of Ambha); a different world and cast, not admitted to this canon.