The Black Khan
-
- €8.49
-
- €8.49
Publisher Description
Book two of Ausma Zehanat Khan’s powerful, unforgettable new series, The Khorasan Archives.
Sides must be chosen.
Truths must be told.
Freedoms will be fought for.
To battle the cruel and controlling patriarchal force named the Talisman, members of a resistance group, the Companions of Hira, risked their lives to procure the Bloodprint – a sacred text that holds the power to overthrow this terrifying regime. Though they harnessed the magic known as the Claim, their plans now lie in ashes and their number scattered – with the two women at the centre of the plot – Arian and Sinnia – left facing the most harrowing tortures.
Yet hope flickers in the darkness.
The Bloodprint survived, secreted to Ashfall, seat of the Black Khan. But the Khan’s court is built upon shifting layers of intrigue and lethal conspiracy, with enemies whose motives are steeped in the shadows. Can the Khan guard the Bloodprint when treachery lurks in the wings and the Talisman gather at his door?
The Companions of Hira must reunite, break through Talisman lines, and infiltrate Ashfall to join their ally, The Black Khan. But can his word be trusted?
Reviews
Praise for The Khorasan Archives:
‘The Bloodprint is somewhere between N.K. Jemisin and George R.R. Martin. You’re going to love it’
Saladin Ahmed, author of Throne of the Crescent Moon
‘Sweeping its readers up for a fantastical journey across a broken yet beautiful Silk Road, The Bloodprint is extraordinary. The book is wonderfully written; its poetic prose and mix of history, faith, and adventure reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic Odyssey…this time with a pair of women warriors at the helm’
S.A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass
‘One of the year’s finest fantasy debuts’
B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy
About the author
Ausma Zehanat Khan holds a Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law with a specialization in military intervention and war crimes in the Balkans. She is a former adjunct law professor and was Editor-in-Chief of Muslim Girl magazine, the first magazine targeted to young Muslim women, and is the award-winning author of The Unquiet Dead and The Bloodprint, the first book in the Khorasan Archives. A British-born Canadian, Khan now lives near Denver, Colorado, with her husband.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This second installment of Khan's Khorasan Archives feminist fantasy series (after The Bloodprint) continues First Oralist Arian's quest for the Bloodprint, the codex promising to overthrow the Talisman, a male-dominated, Taliban-like regime enslaving women and obliterating literacy throughout Khorasan. Arian; Sinnia, her fellow Companion of Hira; and Arian's beloved Daniyar, the Silver Mage, are separately trapped and brutally tortured by Talisman members. They break free, unite, and seek the Bloodprint, held by Rukh, the Black Khan and potential Dark Mage, at Ashfall, the intrigue-infested capital that's under siege by Talisman forces. Bitter betrayals, testosterone-fueled male rivalry, erotic temptations, and dizzying shifts in allegiance abound. The author supplies a lush atmosphere based on Middle Eastern traditions, but her characters flounder in facile and often contradictory motivations. A six-page glossary of often confusing terminology can't make up for foggy and distracting linguistic stretches such as Arian's "disheveled" face. These diminish Khan's chief message: Arian succeeds by rejecting men who expect her to give up her individuality and her sworn duty. The challenging language makes it hard to get into this otherwise interesting tale.
