Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah, on the coast of the Red Sea. Intisar used to write grants and develop projects to address community health and infant mortality with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. She is the author of The Sunbolt Chronicles, and the Dauntless Path novels, beginning with Thorn.

Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi's, and much worse fates than execution. Betrayed and captured along with her charges, it will take everything Hitomi can summon to save them—and herself.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Intisar's mighty girls have been lighting up the field of young adult fantasy literature for years. Hitomi might be the mightiest of them all; a gutsy young heroine in the glittering tradition of Tamora Pierce, utterly believable and compelling. – Charlotte E. English

 

REVIEWS

  • "This has to be one of the most unpredictable stories I've ever read, a new twist at every turn, and as the book is incredibly fast-paced, that means a breathtaking ride."

    – Pauline, Fantasy Review

  • "Thrilling and captivating, Sunbolt is by far one of the best novellas I've read. I highly recommend this for fantasy fans - you'll be enchanted by the book's mysterious world and strong characters!"

    – Rachel, Moosubi Reviews

  • "I knew Intisar could write, but SUNBOLT blew me away. This is the most fun I've had with a YA book in quite a while… I loved that the heroine was smart and tough without being stupid or immature, that there were strong and intriguing relationships between the heroine and a number of male characters with nary a sniff of love triangles or instalove, and that the book ran a lean, breathless pace without an ounce of padding on its bones. Intisar Khanani is a talent to watch."

    – Author Suzannah Rowntree
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

"Mgeni! Stay a moment; I have your future for you."

I grin, turning towards the voice. Mama Ali sits beneath the cloth shade of her market stall, her husband's catch heaped on the wooden counter before her: mounds of sardines, glinting silver bright in the sun. Today there's also a single little octopus that must have gotten tangled in his nets, it's fleshy body turned over to show the white of its tentacles.

With her wide smile and heavy girth, Mama Ali is a well-known fixture of the fish market, her laughter booming across the crowded aisles and her penchant for sharing people's futures indulged in even by the locals. Her son, ten years old and shrewder than a hundred year-old owl, perches beside her, watching me.

"You can keep my future, Mama Ali," I reply. "It will probably do you more good than me."

My words draw laughter from the women at the surrounding stalls. The market stalls are packed tightly together, and every counter offers up the bounty of the sea, scenting the air with salt and sea. Above the stalls flap brightly-colored cloth shades, protecting both the women and the fish from the sun's heat.

I hear someone ask what she missed, and a woman replies, calling me mgeni again. My smile slips a notch. I may have adopted the traditional, brightly colored long skirt and tunic of the local women, as well as the tightly wound head wrap, but my sand-gold skin and the slant of my eyes will always mark me as someone else. Mama Ali may use the term as an endearment, but the echoes I hear now brand me as an outsider.

Mama Ali holds out her hand imperiously, a queen demanding tribute from the riffraff that forms her court. "Come, my friend, keeper of secrets, let us see what we can."

"What will you give me?" I ask, hoping 'keeper of secrets' is just a phrase she uses on potential customers. Regardless, I don't have the coin to pay her, so I may as well be clear I won't be giving anything.

"Give you? Your future, muddle-brain! And, because you are always admiring my wares, I will give it to you for free."

"Oh, very well." I acquiesce none too gracefully, offering Mama Ali my hand. Trying not to fidget, I wait, her palms clasped around my hand. I may be running a little late, but there's no reason to think the meeting will have started on time. Besides, since I wasn't invited in the first place, no one will miss me. "Don't tell me I'm going to meet someone new, dark of skin and—"

"Short," Mama Ali agrees.

I nearly choke. "Short?"

She drops her voice. "Well, if I want to be sure it happens, short is so much more likely than tall, isn't it? At least," she nods her head to suggest the market, not to mention the rest the island, "here."

I laugh. I think this must be why Mama Ali and I get along so well. "Right. Short and dark."

"No." She pulls a frown. "For you, something different."

I glance towards the sky, gauging the angle of the late morning sun. Magic is one thing, but divining the future? Not so much. "I really have to—"

"You are going somewhere," Mama Ali intones, closing her eyes. I glance at her son in disbelief. Ali grins wide, his teeth showing pearly white against his earth-brown skin.

"I was before you stopped me," I agree.

Mama Ali heaves a theatrical sigh, squeezing my hand rather painfully. "Somewhere important," she clarifies. She tilts her head as if listening for something. And Mama Ali hears a lot—she has her pulse on the happenings of Karolene. Maybe there is something she knows. Has she heard something about the League? Or the Ghost?

She drops my hand, sitting back with a gasp. "Run!"