THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME

Noor is a fantastical, multicultural city in South Asia, home to a tremendous variety of languages, religions, and cultures.

Eight years ago, however, Noor was attacked by a tribe of chaotic djinn called the Shayateen, resulting in many deaths. Only three humans survived the massacre, and Fatima was one of them. The ruler at the time, Maharajah Arjun, asked the djinn of order and reason, the Ifrit, for help safeguarding the city, and now, his son, Maharajah Aarush, peacefully rules over Noor alongside Zulfikar, the leader of the Ifrit. When one of the most important and powerful Ifrit dies, however, Fatima undergoes a radical transformation—one she doesn’t immediately comprehend—and wakes to discover that she now has the fire of the djinn within her. Now, she must find a way to protect her family and friends from a seemingly inevitable civil war while figuring out her new identity. Based on Islamic mythology and Arabic folklore, debut author Azad’s descriptive storytelling and complex characters give the novel a certain richness and texture missing from solely plot-based narratives; readers can vicariously taste foods from different cultures and partake of the sights, smells, and sounds of the city of Noor where Hindus and Muslims live side by side in peace and harmony. The novel also sensitively deals with the delicate issues of grief and trauma.

A must-read for lovers of fantasy.