My Thoughts:
Ohhhhhhhhmmmmmyyyyyyy - fantasy fans. . .this is it. You must, you must, you must. El-Arifi has taken the baton from Okorafor and mixed African and Arabian mythology into a world building fantasy that enters the very packed YA fantasy market like the tidewind of blue sand.
In this story of colonization and revolution, the Wardens' Empire is made up of three social classes distinguishable by the color of their blood. The red-blooded Embers are the elite. They rule everything. The blue-blooded Dusters are the second class citizens that do most of the manual labor and live in the slums. The clear-blooded Ghostings are the slaves. After an unsuccessful rebellion over 400 years ago, their hands are cut off and their tongues cut when they are infants. The main character, Sylah, was born an Ember, but lives as a Duster. She and 12 other Ember babies were stolen from powerful Ember families and replaced by Duster babies. She was trained by the Sandstorm, a Duster-led rebel group, as one of 12 children to destroy the Empire from within in the Final Strife.
But this is just book one so there are secrets revealed, more secrets to come and more adventure to be had.
Classism, racism, colonization, genocide and lies, lies, lies.
From the Publisher:
Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.
Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.
Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.
As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.
Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.
Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.
Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.
As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.
Author: Saara El-Arifi
Publisher: Del Ray
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
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