Sunbolt

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.

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What’s Sunbolt About?

We start with a chase scene through a street market that might as well be scored by Alan Menken (although Jafar or Genie is to be found anywhere in the rest of the book, Hitomi would have no problem with a Jafar). Our protagonist, a thief—and someone of a clearly different ethnicity to everyone around her—is scrappy and nimble, getting away from her pursuers (quasi-official mercenaries) with the help of some of the sellers in the market.

We learn that this brash young woman is named Hitomi and she’s allied (somewhat) with a group calling itself the Shadow League, which is trying to stand up to an increasingly corrupt and oppressive government. The government is backed by the Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame (who is just about to be running everything through puppets).

Hitomi and some allies head out one night to save a powerful family from arrest and (likely) execution—and almost everything that could go wrong does. Hitomi and some of the family are captured. And then…well, this book about scrappy freedom fighters becomes something very different.

The World Building

At the beginning of the book, Khanani provides a guide to pronouncing some of the names in the book—I always appreciate that kind of thing (if one was grading, I’d have gotten a low B, incidentally, on my own). In her lead-up to that, she mentions that the fantasy world she’s created and the cultures within it “are primarily based on a variety of real-world historical cultures.” I wish she’d have listed (at least a partial list) of those cultures just for curiosity’s sake. I spent a little too much time wondering what X or Y came from after reading that. (and was very likely wrong 60+% of the time)

But ultimately, it doesn’t matter what those sources were, because she’s made them into something new and fit for her world. And whatever the backgrounds may be, they work really well for this novel—perhaps better than it do in our own. It’s familiar and yet foreign all at once. Khanani doesn’t drown us in details or anything like that (thankfully), but you have the impression that everything has been worked out thoroughly (whether or not it has been) and that this a fully-developed world with a fascinating history and a future worth saving.

We only get a hint of the magic system, but has a lot of promise. The variety of magical races (for lack of a better term) is great, and (again) familiar to a fantasy reader, but specific to Khanani’s world. You can’t help but want to learn more about both the magic system and the races, you get enough to carry you through the novel—but you want more.

So, what did I think about Sunbolt?

Sunbolt is short. Freakishly short for the genre, really. But that brevity works so well for this story. Like a wizard and punctuality, this book is precisely as long as it needed to be. It tells the story it needs to in a satisfying manner and then is done. Yes, it prepares you for the second book in the series, but not in a cliffhanger way.

I wouldn’t have minded if the book was longer if it meant we got to spend more time with the characters—but that’s what a sequel is for, right?

There’s a moment really early on that made me grimace—Khanani over-explained a moment robbing it of its power. And as I so often do, I murmured a silent plea (pointless since the book had been out for a decade) for her to trust her audience. But that was the only time that the book stopped me with something like that—most of the writing was subtle, nuanced, and smooth. I did have to stop a few times to re-read sentences because I liked them so much.

Hitomi—fierce, independent, determined, and over-her-head—is one of those characters you gravitate to immediately and while you know she’s making a blunder here and there, you can’t help but root for her. Sadly for her, her blunders tend to work out better than some of her plans—a treat for her readers, however.

I’m going to avoid a deep dive on the rest of the characters, although I think many of them deserve it. I’m not sure I trust everyone in the Shadow League, but they’re all intriguing characters—and I’d gladly read a Shadow League novel tomorrow to get to know them better. The villains are some of the worst I’ve run across this year, and you can’t complain about that. Then there’s someone who becomes rather important to Hitomi in the closing chapters…I think they could go down as one of my favorites of the year (and easily become someone I despise in a future encounter).

A well-paced story, with strong characters, and a great fantasy world to explore. That’s all the makings of a winner in my book. Sunbolt is a quick, fascinating read that will make you want to click on the order button for the sequel as soon as you finish.

Thank you to BBNYA for providing me with a copy of this book! I voluntarily leave this review!

Readers are introduced early on to the tenuous setting of Karolene, where guards may pull innocents from the streets without provocation. Hitomi herself is targeted within the first few pages as slurs are thrown at her appearance and guards give chase. But the people of the market refuse to allow her capture, and with the help of many a kind hand, she escapes. It’s no wonder Hitomi works with the Shadow League, seeking to thwart any plans of the Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

And it helps when Hitomi knows how to keep a secret. For she’s been keeping one all her life. Both her heritage and her ability in magic would land her in the Arch Mage’s sights. But when she enlists to help the Shadow League save a family from death, all she’s kept hidden threatens to be revealed. A simple plan to move the family out of Karolene is undermined by betrayal, and Hitomi finds herself captured along with the family she tried to save.

The secret league and hidden agendas of Blackflame will hook readers in as they traverse the streets of Karolene. And there are quite a few mysterious hints dropped at Hitomi’s magical potential. As she overcomes mishaps and challenges strewn across her path, Hitomi will show readers how determined she is to protect the family and save herself. And as she is drawn deeper into the supernatural side of the world, new bands of mythical creatures will come to light.

Vampires and Lynchthropes are a common sight in fantasy tales, but Intisar Khanani puts her own twist on them. Readers will be introduced to a few familiar traits, yet some surprising twists as well. Underlying tension and history among the races will also be teased, though you will be left wanting more information. There is a wealth of knowledge and world-building still left to be discovered in the series. While the magic system is introduced through Hitomi, there isn’t a clear path of how it works, or the ways in which spells can be crafted.

However, Sunbolt is exactly the book needed to set up the world and entice the reader into the possibilities still left to discover. There is unfinished business between Hitomi and quite a few characters like breadcrumbs dropped to lure readers back for answers. I’m certainly looking forward to the new path Hitomi has been placed on and what she will do with the knowledge she is set to attain.