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| Categories | United States |
| Author | Saara El-Arifi |
| Publisher | Del Rey (June 21, 2022) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 608 pages |
| Item Weight | 2.1 pounds |
| Dimensions |
6.41 x 1.8 x 9.52 inches |
I. Book introduction
In the first book of a visionary fantasy trilogy with its roots in the mythology of Africa and Arabia that “sings of rebellion, love, and the courage it takes to stand up to tyranny” (Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree), three women band together against a cruel empire that divides people by blood.
“The Final Strife is the real deal: epic fantasy turned on its head in the most compelling way imaginable.”—Kalynn Bayron, bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Book Riot
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.
Editorial Reviews
“Saara El-Arifi deftly facets every layer of her debut. Epic in scope, its world building as intricate as filigree, The Final Strife sings of rebellion, love, and the courage it takes to stand up to tyranny, following three women whose journeys will keep you gripped to the last.”—Samantha Shannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree
“With a heroine with bite, a supporting cast of flawed but deeply human characters, and world building that is raw, unforgiving, and richly textured, The Final Strife is the real deal: epic fantasy turned on its head in the most compelling way imaginable.”—Kalynn Bayron, bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart
“El-Arifi tells a tale as fierce as its characters, plunging you into a sandy, stratified world until you can feel the grit between your teeth. Heart-wrenching and heart-pounding, The Final Strife is an unmissable debut.”—Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter
“El-Arifi is a game-changing new voice in epic fantasy, and The Final Strife is a triumph of a book, full of rage, charm, and a cast of misfits you can’t help but root for. There are no Chosen Ones here—only bad choices and blood.”—Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne
“The Final Strife is everything you could ever hope to experience in fantasy—magnificent worldbuilding, unpredictable plotting, entertaining twists and turns, gorgeous slow-burn romance, and characters you’re rooting for from the start.”—London Shah, author of the Light the Abyss series
“The Final Strife has a rich world with a complicated story about what happens when the hero—or their heroic actions—may not be who or what you thought they would be. The interweaving of the three women’s stories kept me turning the pages.”—C. L. Clark, author of The Unbroken
“Epic, gripping, and searing, The Final Strife weaves a fascinating tale of destiny, magic, and love set in a richly imagined yet brutally divided world. Its unexpected, gritty heroine is one you cannot help but root for, and the story will stay with you long after the last page.”—Sue Lynn Tan, author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess
“An expertly layered world that is equal parts beautifully rendered and brutal in its depiction; a protagonist who is as likely to save the day as she is to ruin it; delicious tension—I loved every page.”—Ciannon Smart, author of Witches Steeped in Gold
“The undercurrents of friendship, betrayal, and sapphic love, and the twists and turns of the competitive trials and political intrigue, come together to kick off a magnetic and appealing new series.”—Booklist
“El-Arifi debuts and launches the Ending Fire series with a fast-paced epic fantasy inspired by Ghanian and Arabian folklore. . . . El-Arifi keeps the pages flying even while building an intricate secondary world, allowing readers to learn its rules through action rather than exposition. This sets a high bar for the series to come.”—Publishers Weekly
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of June 2022: A debut that reads like a masterwork, The Final Strife introduces a beautifully realized and painfully human cast against the backdrop of one of the most compelling fantasy landscapes I’ve ever read. Simply put: I love this book. It’s a true epic filled with mystery, adventure, romance, and…blood magic. Lots of blood magic. I was instantly taken by Sylah, Anoor, and Hassa’s struggles to change the world they were born into, a divided empire built on the bones of colonialism and class subjugation. While The Final Strife kicks off a new trilogy, this first chapter tells a compelling story of its own, with a conclusion that will leave you desperate for more
About Saara El-Arifi
Saara El-Arifi is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Final Strife, the first part of a trilogy inspired by her Ghanaian and Arabian heritage. She has lived in many countries, had many jobs and owned many more cats.
She was raised in the Middle East until her formative years, when her family swapped the Abu Dhabi desert for the English Peak District hills. This change of climate had a significant impact on her growth—not physically, she’s nearly 6ft—and she learned what it was to be Black in a white world.
El-Arifi knew she was a storyteller from the moment she told her first lie. Over the years she has perfected her tall tales into epic ones. She currently resides in London, UK, as a full-time procrastinator.
II. [Reviews] The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
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Here is a summary of the book Review “The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi“. Helps you have the most overview of the book without searching through time. |
1. SAMANTHA SHANNON review The Final Strife
More coherent review to come, but here’s my blurb:
‘Saara El-Arifi deftly facets every layer of her debut. Epic in scope, its world building as intricate as filigree, The Final Strife sings of rebellion, love, and the courage it takes to stand up to tyranny, following three women whose journeys will keep you gripped to the last.’
This is a phenomenal debut, and a sapphic epic you’ll never forget. Devastated that I can’t read the next one immediately.
Note: I received a free Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher.
2. CHELSEA HUMPHREY review The Final Strife
“Remember, my friends: love gives you strength, but retribution gives you purpose.”
It feels good getting back into dense fantasy novels with thorough world building and calculated plotting. At 600+ pages, was this book perhaps a little on the long side for the first entry in a trilogy? Probably, and it did take me awhile in the beginning to pick up speed, but that was partially due to taking my time to insert myself fully in the atmosphere that Saara El-Arifi has created. Once I had a grasp on the nuances of the book, though, I felt like the story took off and found myself sad that it was over, at least for now. If you enjoy a thick read that has been thoughtfully crafted with no detail spared, you definitely need The Final Strife in your life. The maps in the hard copy are GORGEOUS, and I cannot wait to see how all the covers for these books tie together once the other two books are released.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley.
3. LONDON SHAH review The Final Strife
I absolutely loved The Final Strife, the first instalment in the Ending Fire trilogy. EL-Arifi has blown me away with her talent for storytelling.
This thrilling beauty is everything you could ever hope to experience in fantasy—magnificent and layered worldbuilding, unpredictable and intricate plotting, endlessly intriguing and entertaining twists and turns, gorgeous slow-burn romance, riveting action, outstanding voice, rich in detail, and of course believable characters you’re rooting for from the start. Looove Sylah, Anoor and Hassa to bits (also, the humour is wonderful—Sylah is too much! :D) This novel is also so effortlessly and beautifully diverse <3
The author weaves her debut novel with great passion, sensitivity, thrill, confidence, skill, and originality; and most especially, with the heart of a poet. Truly extraordinary storytelling; I was utterly enthralled throughout. I highly recommend this novel for all. I’m in awe and can’t wait for the next instalment!
El-Arifi is such an exciting and original new talent in fantasy, and I look forward to watching her soar.
Note: I received an advance review copy of the book from the publishers.
4. JENN review The Final Strife
“but what i’ve learned, what i’m learning, is not to let those hurts define you. use them like we use the anger, craft yourself from those little hurts, block by block. build a fortress of pain, a castle even. and lord over it.”
to be an ember is to have power, to have control and dominance. blood running red as a summer dusk. to be a duster is to be stuck, disvalued and despised and disacknowledged and beaten. blood blue as the waves that are supposed to continue forever. to be a ghosting is to be invisible, to have your own tongueless, armless language. to be hated so much you don’t exist in a legal form, blood being invisible and literally transparent. the intersection of the three? resistance.
“a dancer’s grace, a killer’s instinct, an ember’s blood, a duster’s heart.”
the stolen were born to ember’s in power, replaced with duster children and raised in the kindness of duster homes. sylah was stolen. all she knows is the survival of the dusters, the warm relief of a joba seed, the drug she’s addicted to, and her allegiance to the resistance. anoor is sylah’s opposite, daughter of the elite, but not by blood: hers is blue. and then we get to know hassa: a ghosting who taught sylah her language, who has taken on so much in her years. though we don’t see much of hassa in this book, she is there, and she is powerful.
giving fantasy synopses is tiring. but, you get it. the final strife, the stolen, sylah’s grump to anoor’s sunshine, sylah’s determination to anoor’s frill.
“and like the tidewind, her essence had found its way into the cavities of sylah’s life, relentlessly beautiful.”
sylah and anoor spend the majority of these 640 pages… together. i was taken by their interactions, absolutely loving the changes their characters undertook as they began to understand and support each other. sylah, depicted on the gorgeous cover, could be considered the main character, but i could see myself in anoor! give me more fantasy fatties who fight and aren’t the best at it. who are soft and read books and like to think a lot. i love anoor!!
and of course, this book is sapphic. sylah and anoor, that’s all i want to say. another thing about the characters: sylah struggles with addiction. even in such a heavy fantasy setting, this is real, and the way it’s written and respected within the story made my heart hurt for her.
as you can tell, the worldbuilding in this book is astronomical. it’s what made me, a usually small-brained weary of fantasy person fall head over heels in the best of ways. this is adult fantasy!! this book is a brick! i cannot lie, i was super intimidated because at first, it took me a hot second. but once you’re in, you’re in. it’s african and arabian inspired, and you can see so much culture in el-arifi’s words. but more than anything, the HISTORY. the COMMENTARY. this is a high fantasy and yet so many elements of this book had me in awe. the history in this world is beautifully inspired by world history in our own, and there was so much to focus on, everywhere i looked i found myself surprised. for example, the intricate commentary on colonisation, especially when it came to the ghostings. history nerd in me was screaming, and it was so good and enhanced my experience a lot.
there’s a tournament and wind of blue sand killing every person and thing in it’s path. there’s lies and secrets and hurt and comfort and bargaining and chosen ones and giant lizards. and, there’s the blood magic of the embers, haunting and gruesome and so integral to the world.
The final strife was the first book in a trilogy, and even though i want everyone to read this immediately, the wait will kill me!! there was most definitely a cliffhanger and the second book has not been announced so i will be hung up on these characters for the foreseeable future. there’s so much depth and life and history and love in the stories this book tells. it’s easily the best told fantasy book i have ever come across, and will be recommending it for years to come.
Content warnings: discrimination, systematic maiming, slavery/servitude, violence and injury, drug addiction and withdrawals, poisoning, kidnapping, child abuse, fatphobia, diet culture
5. ADAM review The Final Strife
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi – Fantastic novel, well worth reading
Set in a world so well crafted that it is easy to accept, this novel kept me rapt while reading. When I wasn’t reading, my mind kept coming back to the story and the concepts it explores.
As a fantasy it felt fresh and new. The characters felt real, each with their own flaws and strengths. The plot twists felt based in the story’s foundation and didn’t feel forced.
It’s a great read and I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.
6. FIFI review The Final Strife
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi – A great new fantasy
This story follows Sylah who lost her adopted family in a massacre and is now basically drowning in drugs and fighting. Her adopted brother Jond comes back from the dead suddenly and he wants her to join him in an event called Aktibar in order to become the new Warden of Strength. She suddenly discovers who her real mother is and decides to go and confront the fake daughter of her mother, but instead she ends up being captured by this daughter, and enters into a deal with Anoor to help Anoor win Aktibar and become the new Warden of Strength, and in turn she would teach Sylah bloodwerk, not knowing that Sylah has other plans. While training, Sylah begins to learn a lot more about their world and realizes that the wardens maybe hiding things from the people, such as the truth of their kingdom, and she’s trying to find out the truth since it may change everything.
When I first read about this book I thought it was more of a young adult story, but I would say this is bordering more on new adult to an adult fantasy. There is quite a bit of gore and violence, after all this is a world where people suffer from injustice and prejudice based on the color of blood you have. It’s terrible and heartbreaking, but eye-opening at the same time. Sylah has the blood of an Ember and so could make good in this world but instead she wants to help those who suffer, unfortunately her depression is getting in the way of that. I think it becomes very eye-opening once she realizes how much bigger the world is and how much more secrets or are they being kept from the people, and I think that really makes her determined to do better as a person and help those who suffer.
I really enjoyed the story, and the world despite how violent it is. The characters were OK in my opinion, I never really connected with any of them. Sylah and Anoor had the largest growth for sure. Sylah overcoming her depression and addiction to drugs, and Anoor going from a completely spoiled and obsessed with material things princess to someone who truly wants to be better and do better for the people. That to me is one of the things that was well done with this book was making me go from despising a character to actually begrudgingly liking them 😂
It is a very well written story, and eye-opening. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group, for the free digital copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
7. RAYN READS review The Final Strife
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.
El-Arifi does a spectacular job at describing the elements of the wardens empire. There are many intricate details that are seamlessly added into the story that fortify the world El-Arifi built. Sylah’s character growth throughout the entire book was enjoyable to read especially because Sylah is a flawed hero who intimately knows the struggles of all sides of the empire. Having blood classes was a thought provoking concept considering nobody can control how they are born, and paralleled many human right problems today.
This book took me a little bit to get into because things were happening at weird rates. Big reveals would be casual moments in the book while small details were sometimes chapter long affairs. There were multiple big factors that occurred in the beginning of the book that I felt lost their impact because they were not built up. In some cases this was nice because it felt like it drove the story along and added a faster rate to the book.
This book would be a perfect read for somebody who is trying to get into high fantasy. El-Arifi’s ability to create a strong complex world but then explain it in an easy and seamless way is a impeccable talent. Again, the blood-classes was though provoking and fortified that nobody is unequal especially when considering things a person cannot control.
I received this book for free from the publisher with no obligation to write a review, I am choosing to write a review.
8. AKACYA review The Final Strife
I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating.
Content warnings: fantasy racism, drug abuse, violence, child abuse
Sylah grew up being told she would lead the resistance, but this plan changed after she watched her family murdered in front of her. Anoor, on the other hand, grew up being told she was nothing by her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. The two make an arrangement to help each other, but this arrangement grows into something more.
My favorite thing about this book was definitely the worldbuilding! The way the world was presented to the reader was very intricate and, instead of telling everything there is to know about the world by a certain point, different aspects continued to be exposed throughout the story. The story was inspired by Ghanian folklore and Arabian myths. I’ve never read anything with these two cultures blended together, but I thought it was really neat and I’m so excited to continue to learn more in book two!
9. JESS review The Final Strife
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!
This book is incredible and I can’t wait to read more in this trilogy!
This is epic fantasy at its best. A detailed world that bases a person’s worth on the color of their blood. Embers have red blood, Dusters blue and Ghostings translucent. This story is definitely dark but I liked that because it made everything so real for me while I was reading.
The main characters grow throughout the story and I loved the f/f enemies to lovers relationship, not to mention, opposites attract also. This book was thrilling and surged with life. I didn’t realize I would get so hooked but I am happy I did.
I cannot recommend this more!
Out June 21st!
TW for addiction, abuse and death.
10. RACHEL review The Final Strife
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi is an amazing fantasy/fiction/scifi novel that is the first in a fabulous trilogy: The Final Strife. It is just amazing!
This first book is just so exciting. There is action, adventure, intrigue, magic, suspense, romance, and surprises around several corners.
The author does a fabulous job in setting the scene, foundation, and world-building in book one. The character cast is expansive, creative, and intricate. I also loved the totally unique blend of a multitude of cultures and layers.
I loved Anoor and Sylah. They are likable, realistic, flawed, and characters that I was drawn towards from the very beginning.
The balance between magic and fantasy with reality, intrigue, politics, blood, love, loss, death, and promise for change that the author carefully weaves together into this tapestry of gold is just breathtaking!
I can’t wait to read more!
5/5 stars
Thank you NG and Del Rey/ Random House Publishing Group for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 6/21/22.
III. [Quote] The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
The best book quotes from The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
“remember what it felt like…being part of something bigger. Something that carries you along like a grain of sand. You can’t fight it—you don’t want to—because alone you are just one grain. Together you are the desert.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” It was the type of apology that one person does for a collective. A pathetic assurance that everyone was sorry for the bigotry committed, even if they didn’t show it. It was the apology of the bystander,”
“I have always been envious of the Abosom and their faith in a God they cannot see. Today I am envious of you, child, of the faith you have in others. To be that open is to be free.”
“I’ve realized a world run by people who think they are better will never be better for everyone.”
“When has anyone ever calmed down after being told to?”
Book excerpts: The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
Chapter One – The Day of Descent
I have been searching for any trace of the Sandstorm to complete my tale. Though the wardens claim to have killed them some years ago, I have no confirmation of where or when. It may be my aging eyesight, but I can’t see the end of the story. The rumors are thin, wisps of smoke that I can’t grasp. I will continue to search. I will continue to hope.
—Note found in Griot Zibenwe’s villa
Bang-dera-bang-dera-bang.
The drumbeat still thrummed through Sylah’s veins as she weaved her way back home.
The raw pink of dawn promised a blistering heat, and Sylah tilted her head and basked in the sun’s rays. The trinkets in her braids chimed.
She ran her tongue over the joba seed tucked in the gap between her front teeth. The warmth induced by the seed was dissipating, leaving her cold. Hugging her arms to her chest, she noticed for the first time she held an empty bottle of firerum. She threw it at the wall of a derelict villa, which was filmed with blue sand. It had been a strong wind last night. At times its pounding had even eclipsed the drums.
But not the drumbeat in her memory.
Bang-dera-bang-dera-bang.
The sound came again and with it an unmistakable tremor of fear that woke people from their beds. Now Sylah listened and realized she knew the cadence of the rhythm, and it wasn’t from the song in her mind. It was the pounding of the Starting Drum, indicating the beginning of a trial.
It was the sound of death.
Bang-dera-bang-dera-bang.
Dredge-dwellers began to seep out of their decrepit homes and stream toward Dredge Square. Sylah found herself being carried along in the current.
The square was full of Dusters and Ghostings, blurry-eyed from a night of drugs, sex, or alcohol. Or in Sylah’s case, all three. A dozen officers of the warden army stood to attention in front of the rack, the wooden device used for executions. Like ripe bruises, the army’s purple uniform was enough to instill fear in anyone north of the Ruta River—anyone without red blood.
Sylah spotted Hassa in the crowd and pushed her way toward her.
“How’s it hurting?” Sylah greeted the Ghosting girl.
Like the beetle she had been named after, Hassa was small with dark eyes. The color was unusual for a Ghosting, as light-colored eyes were often a feature of their translucent blood. But it didn’t matter if you were a Ghosting or Duster, everyone who lived in the Dredge had the same hollowed-out look. It was a mandatory uniform, an expression of squalor and poverty enforced by malnutrition and childhood labor.
You look like shit. Have you even slept? Hassa signed.
Sylah ignored Hassa’s observation and pointed toward the officers. “Have you seen this guy’s talent?”
Hassa followed Sylah’s gaze to the officer with the Starting Drum strapped to his chest. He was beating the rhythm with absolute dedication, his muscles clenching and releasing with military precision.
He was born to play the drums, Hassa agreed.
Sylah snorted. “Bet he wanted to join the playhouse, but his mother made him enlist in the army. Poor little Ember.”
Hassa smiled, revealing the spongy flesh of her severed tongue. Her tongue, like her severed hands, had been taken from her at two mooncycles, like they were for every Ghosting in the empire. Their limbs and tongues were cut off and sent to the wardens to tally against the number of Ghosting births as a penance for a rebellion four hundred years old. As a result, Ghostings had developed a complex language that used all elements of their body. It was a subtle language, one invented in defiance of the rulers that still condemned them.
The drum stopped, though the vibrations of dread rippled out for moments afterward. The captain, identified by his striped green kente epaulettes, stepped forward.
“In the name of the four wardens, blessed by Anyme, our God in the Sky, we bring forth the accused.”
A prisoner in shackles was brought forward between the officers’ ranks. Sylah inhaled sharply between her teeth. “A griot.”
They raided his villa a few strikes ago, no warning, Hassa signed. He told his final story last night.
Sylah vaguely remembered a griot entering the Maroon, but she had been preoccupied with chewing a record number of joba seeds.
“What did they get him for?”
Writing letters.
“Bastards.”
Bastards, Hassa agreed, using her left wrist against her shoulder in a slashing motion.
Sylah scowled up at the podium where the officers stood. How she hated them and everything they represented: fear, oppression, pain. She rubbed her neck as the captain continued.
“The accused deliberately and maliciously plotted and engineered acts of rebellion against the Wardens’ Empire through the written word. A crime punishable by death. May Anyme be our guide. May Anyme absolve you of your sins.”
The griot’s head hung low, his gray locs trailing the dirt in front of him.
“We pronounce you guilty of treason.”
Sylah muttered, “They’re always guilty.”
Hassa nodded sadly. The trials always ended the same way.
A hush fell over the crowd as a ripper was spotted.
Rippers were Dusters, forced to turn on their own kind. It was their job to turn the lever that separated the two jaws of the rack. Their uniform was deep blue. Less washing that way.
Sylah shivered and ran her tongue over her teeth probing for any residual joba seed juice, but the husk was dry. She spat the remains onto the ground.
“Ach.” Hassa bared her teeth at the globule on the ground.
It’s turning your teeth Ember.
“Ember?”
Hassa signed the word again. Sylah had been learning to understand the Ghosting language since she’d met Hassa six years ago, but she still stumbled now and then. “Ah, red.” The two words were differentiated by an additional turn of the elbow. “Well, I don’t care.”
You should. The drug is very bad for you, it could kill you. The sign for “kill” was a wrist across the throat. For some reason the gesture made Sylah smile.
It’s not funny.
Sylah met Hassa’s stare and reached into the satchel at her waist. She pulled out her final seed and, with precision, squished it into the gap between her front teeth. The bitter juice took effect immediately, and she closed her eyes for a blissful moment.
The euphoria vibrated through her veins faster than the tidewind. The feeling was so loud, so all-encompassing, that she was carried away from the scene before her.
But she’d seen enough rippings to know what happened next.
The prisoner would be chained to the rack’s wooden bed with four manacles separating their limbs wide. Then the ripper would turn the lever and with each turn spread the wooden bed—and with it, the prisoner’s limbs—even wider. First you would hear the prisoner’s joints popping, then the cartilage tearing. Eventually, the skin would rupture, blue blood dripping. Sometimes a larger chain was wrapped around their midriff, so that their limbs were left intact, but their vital organs cleaved apart with each click, click, click of the lever.
Embers were never subjected to the horror of a ripping; their trials involved courtrooms and juries, although occasionally Embers would cross the Ruta River to watch those who had been condemned for doing something particularly nasty. The rack was tilted toward the audience for this very purpose. Nothing better than a family outing to watch a rapist get ripped to shreds.
If Sylah were in charge, the rippings would be the first thing to go, the racks broken, the splinters scattered like confetti.
Sylah opened her eyes, her blissful contentment at odds with the horror: fourteen turns of the rack and the griot was still alive.
Sylah whistled softly. “This griot’s got some real stomach.” A laugh burst out of her. “Well, no, I guess he hasn’t.” She gestured to the entrails on the ground.
People around her murmured sounds of dissent.
“Oh, f*** off, it’s not like you haven’t seen it before. They do it once a mooncycle.”
Sylah. Hassa tugged on Sylah’s arm. Be quiet, you’re going to draw the officers’ attention.
But the joba seed saturated Sylah with confidence.
“Why should I be quiet? What’s the point when it could be any of us next?”
Hassa turned to Sylah and pushed her backward through the crowd. Though Sylah stood two handspans taller than Hassa, the joba seed robbed her of her stability, and Sylah drifted backward like a feather.
Sylah, get up. Hassa was standing over her.
“When did you get up there?” The warmth of the joba seed enveloped her, and as exhaustion settled within her bones she lay backward, her plaits fanning out.
They were braided with trinkets, fragments of a family she no longer had and that carried with them the frayed threads of memories and so were cherished above all else. Some she wove lovingly in her hair each mooncycle. Others, a leaf, a melon rind, had simply appeared uninvited and masqueraded as valued tokens.
….
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