NetGalley Synopsis:
For fans of The Poppy War, She Who Became the Sun, and The Will of the Many, a breathtaking fantasy novel about the daughter of an overthrown emperor from an exciting new voice
Khamilla Zahr-zad’s life has been built on a foundation of violence and vengeance. Every home she’s known has been destroyed by war. As the daughter of an emperor’s clan, she spent her childhood training to maintain his throne. But when her clansmen are assassinated by another rival empire, plans change. With her heavenly magic of nūr, Khamilla is a weapon even enemies would wield—especially those in the magical, scholarly city of Za’skar. Hiding her identity, Khamilla joins the enemy’s army school full of jinn, magic, and martial arts, risking it all to topple her adversaries, avenge her clan, and reclaim their throne.
To survive, she studies under cutthroat mystic monks and battles in a series of contests to outmaneuver her fellow soldiers. She must win at all costs, even if it means embracing the darkness lurking inside her. But the more she excels, the more she is faced with history that contradicts her father’s teachings. With a war brewing amongst the kingdoms and a new twisted magic overtaking the land, Khamilla is torn between two impossible choices: vengeance or salvation.
My Thoughts:
Dawn of the Firebird is an epic fantasy about vengeance, betrayal, love, determination and war.
This book wrecked me by the end. And I can’t wait for the next one! There will be a next one right? RIGHT???
Run, don’t walk, to grab the pre-order since this book comes out December 2, 2025!!
I can’t believe I have to say this but I know it’s probably necessary…THIS IS NOT A ROMANTASY. This book is for the epic fantasy lovers that want to embark on a dark and devastating journey. And this is why I LOVED it so much. I am not a Romantasy fan any longer (never was that much) and I really want more fantasy books like this one written by women with main characters who are women that explore SO MUCH MORE than romantic love and centering men (ew).
POV: First Person, Single POV
World-building: The story is based on islamicate lore per the author. This refers to the culture/society associated with Islam and Muslims but not the religion itself.
‘Islamicate’ would refer not directly to the religion, Islam, itself, but to the social and cultural complex historically associated with Islam and the Muslims, both among Muslims themselves and even when found among non-Muslims. [Venture I:58-59]
Source link for the above: https://teachingislam.org/islamicate/Islamicate.html
There is a glossary on the author’s website that shows how extensive the world-building is. It might sound familiar to other works including The City of Brass or The Stardust Thief in terms of the lore, however I can tell you it’s a unique take. It’s wonderfully extensive and complex.
Magic system: The author describes this as anime x jinn inspired. Many pages are dedicated to sparring/fight scenes (both where magic is used and not) that are well written and easy to follow the detail of each action. I never enjoyed fight scenes that much before but this book – wow!
Without giving away spoilers, I’ll say I really enjoyed the magic system and the possibilities that are revealed to the reader as the book goes on.
About the author (short bio from her website):
Sarah Mughal Rana is an MPhil student at the University of Oxford, studying at the intersection of economic policy and human rights. Beyond the page, Sarah co-hosts the On The Write Track podcast, where she spills the tea with bestselling authors. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies. When she’s not writing, you can find her diving into history rabbit holes or honing her skills in traditional martial arts. Sarah is the author of the YA title Hope Ablaze. Dawn of the Firebird is her debut fantasy trilogy for adults.
FYI – There will be a TV SHOW coming which will focus on a prequel story to the book with Jabal entertainment.
General thoughts/impressions:
One of the reasons I loved this book so much is that ultimately it’s about love and morality, but it doesn’t solely focus on one type of love such as romantic love. It encompasses many different relationships between the characters, parents-children, siblings, fellow students/soldiers, teachers, community, etc. It’s beautifully crafted and comes together at the end to leave readers staring at the wall for hours wondering how ever will they recover from this…
This is an epic and appropriately extensive in terms of relationships, communities, peoples, cultures, beliefs, etc. I realllllllly hope this is at least a duology or trilogy because it definitely felt like this was only the first saga of more to come.
The book explores much of war and how it impacts people but more specifically how propaganda and belief can be used to manipulate. Our main character ends up having experiences on each side of the war in the book so she sees the different perspectives and realizes that it’s not black and white as she initially was taught. Teaching one world to view the other side as the enemy of course makes it easier to destory them. But when we come to know the enemy, roles are reversed.
The author’s studies at Oxford regarding the intersection of economic policy and human rights. These topics are baked into the book, which makes it a dark and intense read but absolutely a journey worth taking.
This isn’t a happy story, it’s human. It’s emotional, haunting, and beautiful. It reflects humanity is many ways and both the love we may experience but also the fear and horrors especially in times of war or when greed of men destroys.
One of the most well done elements is strategy. It’s clever and engaging and I’ll say no more so as to not give anything away!
Initially, I wasn’t too sure about the main character but I loved her by the end! I believe this might be what is called an unreliable narrator which I find fascinating because we never truly can trust the ground on which we stand and for me, that makes the book more interesting to read. There are a lot of elements of psychology and memory and trauma that are explored with this character here as well as the darkness that accompanies the human mind in turmoil.
As you can tell, there is A LOT to say about this book, it’s one to get stuck in and the journey is absolutely worth it.
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Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.
