“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. Heart-wrenching and heart-pounding, The Final Strife is an unmissable debut.” -Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter “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. “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 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 “Saara El-Arifi deftly facets every layer of her debut. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.Īs 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. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible.

But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom-and their hearts. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.Īnoor 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. 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. Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.īlue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.Ĭlear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, Autostraddle There are no Chosen Ones here, only bad choices and blood.”-Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

“A game-changing new voice in epic fantasy. 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.

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