Wenwei on Nostr: I’m #reading The Final Strife (Ending Fire, #1) by Saara El-Arifi, and it’s ...

I’m #reading The Final Strife (Ending Fire, #1) by Saara El-Arifi, and it’s taking every bit of self-discipline not to let it eat my whole day. The main character is messy, self-destructive, and difficult to like, but you feel her pain, and that’s what pulls you in. The world doesn’t reveal its brilliance right away, and while the premise itself isn’t especially original, it creeps up on you, winding tighter the more you read. When Arifi sat down with Samantha Shannon, I suspected I was in for something worth my time—and she hasn’t disappointed. Summary pasted below:

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. Book One of The Ending Fire Trilogy
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