I also found the references to blood magic and the history of the world fascinating. I don’t often read book with nonbinary characters so this was a slightly different read for me. It’s a short book but so much more than the sum of it’s pages. I never really felt like I was reading a fantasy novel because the world and characters were so real and vivid. In the early sun-swept hours of the morning, when purples and pinks smeared across the sky like blood, Firuz-e-Jafari looked for a 9 August 2022, ebook, 194 pages, #ARC from the publisher via edelweiss_squad) In order to survive, Firuz must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle socio-political constraints, and find a fresh start for their both their blood and found family. The illness is spreading quickly through Qilwa, and there are dangerous accusations of ineptly performed blood magic. Despite the status of refugees in their new home, Firuz has a good job at a free healing clinic in Qilwa, working with Kofi, a kindly new employer, and mentoring Afsoneh, a troubled orphan refugee with powerful magic.īut Firuz and Kofi have discovered a terrible new disease which leaves mysterious bruises on its victims. the police from one Alexander Ellis, an Obeah-man, in Morant Bay, Jamaica, in May 1887. Powerful and fascinating, The Bruising of Qilwa is the newest arrival in the era of fantasy classics such as the Broken Earth Trilogy, The Four Profound Weaves, and Who Fears Death.įiruz-e Jafari is fortunate enough to have immigrated to the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa, fleeing the slaughter of other traditional Sassanian blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Obeah is said to be the use of spells, rituals and amulets. Persian-American author Naseem Jamnia has crafted a gripping narrative with a moving, nuanced exploration of immigration, gender, healing, and family.

In this intricate debut fantasy introducing a queernormative Persian-inspired world, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of blood magic discovers a strange disease that causes political rifts in their new homeland.

Blood Spells by Alicia Ellis