Genre: Alternate History-type Fiction
Subgenre: re-named regions and historical events
Age Appropriate: Teens
Recommended for my sister: Um, YEAH
"...it always rains upon the Kindath." - Proverb-type saying
Jehane is a Kindath doctor who lives in the Kindath quarter of her city, Fezana. The Kindath people are looked down up, have higher taxes, and regulated to live only in their own area. Jehane is becoming known as an excellent doctor, partially due to her father's teachings and reputation. While she's struggles to pull out of the prejudice of being a female doctor, she has a harder time dealing with being Kindath. Due to her circumstances, she joins the calvary company of Rodrigo Belmonte as his company doctor. Ammar ibn Khairan is the illustrious poet/mercenary dealing with his exile and joins the strange group as something to do. The background events reflect the culmination of historical events that should put strong lines between Jehane, Ammar and Rodrigo, but their individual relationships bring a new perspective to their roles in the greater world.
The Lions of Al-Rassan takes a fictional look at a "fictional" event with fictional characters from "fictional" regions in the world. Fictional because one needs to know a little something about history to draw the correct parallels in the story. It doesn't make much of a difference in these story line, but adds a little interest. Knowing those parallels adds an additional layer of hidden social commentary on the time period, as well as a look into the current climate.
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This is one of the only books that I've read that has made me cry. Seriously, at least one tear down my face. It's not that other books aren't moving, but I'm not generally a crier for books or movies. It is amazing powerful, and frankly I'd recommend it to most anyone. I think I'm going to try to get my parents to give it a try. I will say, though, that if you're looking for my teary-eyes point, you'll have to finish the whole book. I admit that I was proud of myself when I figured out the historical parallels, which is partly why I didn't reveal it (though it's not a hard conclusion to reach).
It's really the characters that get to me. Usually, I identify with the main protagonist, which isn't unusual, but in this story I find myself feeling for each character. The story is primarily told from the view of Jehane, but it's third person enough that there are some additional parts that enhance the story from far away. The story has a good, hidden social commentary that might be applied to today's cultural issues. I've read this book a number of times, and when I needed a new one, I had to find one online. Try the internet if you want to find it, because it's not available as an e-book yet (from what I've found to date) and I can almost guarantee you can't find it in a normal bookstore. Really, though, read it. It's not urban fantasy or romance. I really would recommend it to anyone.
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Forward: Black Wings series
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