on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 3/5
Started: 26 August
Finished: 26 August
Summary:
Every day for years, Zafira has entered the Arz, the forest only she can find her way out of after entering. Under the guise of The Hunter, Zafira has provided for her village, kept them alive in the desolate, snowy echo of what used to be fertile land before magic disappeared. Then Zafira is given an offer: If Zafira retrieves a book from the prison island of Sharr, magic will be restored, and she will be free to travel and live her life instead of hunting day after day to help her people survive.
Nasir, Prince of Death, does every horrible thing his father asks. He has killed more people than he can count, people good and bad, in the hope that his actions will grant him approval from his father, the Sultan, and a reprieve from the mental and physical torture his father has put him through. But he hates it. He hates the lack of honor in his kills, so far from the revered hashashin of old. When he is tasked with following the Hunter, and, once she finds the book, killing her and taking it back to the Sultan, he leaves to find her.
Sharr is infested with dark magic and even darker creatures, and survival is not guaranteed.
Thoughts:
This book was solid. Not amazing, not bad, just solid. The world building was simple but nice, easy to slip into without any of the confusion at the beginning that some fantasy books give. The characters were likable, the plot interesting, the surprises and twists a mix of predictable and wild. There was one "surprise, you're siblings!" moment between two characters whom I had previously thought had good romantic chemistry, so that was fun. But over all, this book was solidly good. I will probably read the sequel.
Words:
Diffidence (n) modesty or shyness resulting from a lack of self-confidence
Contrition (n) the state of feeling remorseful and penitent
Oud (n) a form of lute or mandolin played principally in Arab countries
Succor (n) assistance and support in times of hardship and distress
Meritorious (adj) deserving reward or praise
Inane (adj) silly; stupid
Laved (v) washed
Liniments (n) liquids or lotions, especially one made with oil, for rubbing on the body to relieve pain
Inspirited (v) encouraged or enlivened
Aniconic. (adj) symbolic or suggestive rather than literally representational
Minarets (n) tall, slender towers, typically parts. of a mosque, with a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer
Eminent (adj) used to emphasize the presence of a positive quality
Extolled (v) praised enthusiastically