The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (they/them)
The rundown:
Firuz-e Jafari (they/them), of Sassanian heritage and a practitioner of blood magic, has fled with their family to the neighboring Free Democratic City State of Qilwa to avoid the spreading persecution and slaughter of blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Despite their status as a refugee, Firuz quickly finds work as an assistant to healer Kofi, but shortly after they settle in, the two uncover a mysterious new disease that leaves bruises on its victims and preserves dead bodies. The discovery of a series of rotting bodies sparks fears of another plague and reignites prejudice against blood magic users. When one of Kofi’s patients falls ill to the mysterious disease, Firuz throws caution to the wind and attempts to heal him with blood magic, resulting in the patient’s gruesome death. In order to survive and finally find a fresh start for their family, Firuz must uncover the origin of the new disease while navigating bias, oppression, and generational trauma.
The review:
The best novellas leave me wanting more without leaving me feeling like something’s missing because of the shorter length. Jamnia’s debut largely delivers, tackling major issues/themes such as migration due to war, marginalization, and xenophobia and otherness with nuance, delicately weaving them into the bedrock of the story in this Persian-inspired world. This is the kind of book where pressing questions are asked and explored, but not answered. Where the “villain” actually has a really good point. It’s complicated, and Jamnia at no point pretends they know the answer. Despite these heavy themes, the book feels fresh and new, thanks to the medical-mystery plot and a very cool take on blood magic, and unexpectedly cozy, particularly with its loving portrait of family, both found and blood. And I love the queernormative fantasy world with richly drawn characters, including aro/ace protagonist Firuz. I did find the sociopolitics a bit hard to follow at first, but, frankly, that’s just the nature of complex fantasy world-building. Could this story/world have supported a full-length novel? Yeah, sure. But the short page count and intricate world-building make for a quick, satisfying read.
Goes well with:
Pair this with S.A. (Shannon) Chakraborty’s must-read fantasy series, The Daevabad Trilogy. Kim Stanley Robinson’s plague/alternate history novel, The Years of Rice and Salt would also be a good companion read. TBOQ could have easily been (part of) one of the sub-books that the novel is divided into. And because I am nothing if not a fan of books that mix magic with real-world conflict, N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy would also work well for readers who enjoyed this aspect of TBOQ.